Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

Perhaps.

If your child is eligible for special education, he may be entitled to virtually any nonmedical service he needs to benefit from special education. To get him services, you need to first learn what he needs and then request it. Here’s a reasonable strategy to increase the odds of getting him what he needs.

• First, get written reports from well-credentialed, private specialists. Make sure you fully understand the reports and they tell the school what services your child needs, why he needs them, and why they’re essential for him to benefit from special education. Share these reports with your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team.

• Then, send a written request for the services to the IEP Team’s case manager.

• While doing all of this, study the federal special education code and your state’s code.

Written Reports. By sharing written reports from well-credentialed specialists, you provide justification for your requests. You appear well informed. Perhaps powerful. Your reports increase the odds that the school will satisfy your requests.

Put It In Writing. School personnel are often overwhelmed with work (and unappreciated for the work they do). They may forget what you said. So use the power of writing, which federal law recognizes. If your child is eligible for special education, federal and state codes require that school personnel respond to your written request in a specified number of days with specific information, such as the data on which they based their decision.

Study the Federal Special Education Code and Your State’s. Understanding key special education regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations (34 CFR) and your state’s equivalent will help you to compose your request and will make clear that you’re serious about getting your child the services he needs. Here are several provisions that can help you get services. Pay particular attention to the italicized words:

• The purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 is “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living” [34 CFR § 300.1]. Ask yourself: Without these services, will my child likely succeed once he graduates from public school?

• “In developing each child’s IEP, the IEP Team must consider …. the concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child …. The results of the initial or most recent evaluation of the child; and the academic, developmental, and functional needs of the child” [34 CFR § 300.324]. Ask yourself: Has the IEP Team addressed the developmental and functional implications of the reports or only the academic?

• “In the case of a child whose behavior impedes the child’s learning [the IEP Team must] consider the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to address that behavior” [34 CFR § 300.324]. Ask yourself: Has my child’s reading disability created or complicated social, emotional, or behavioral problems?

If the IEP Team’s response to your request is, “We don’t provide this service,” and it doesn’t offer an alternative with similar benefits, bring up these two regulations:

• In general, “special education means specially designed instruction … to meet the unique needs of a child… Specially designed … means adapting, as appropriate to [your] child … the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction … to address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability; and … to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the [school]” [§ 300.39]. This means that special education is special: it should meet your child’s unique needs and have power sufficient for your child to make reasonable progress toward meeting the school’s academic standards. To benefit fully from this, make sure your child’s IEP has clearly and fully described his difficulties and has goals and objectives that justify the services you’re requesting.

• In general, “related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes speech language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Related services also include school health services and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training” [§ 300.34]. Note that this is only a list of possibilities; your child may be entitled to services not in the list.

If the IEP Team rejects your request and does not offer a suitable alternative, we suggest that you look carefully at the school’s written reasons, which it’s required to send you, and ask: Is the reasoning sound? Is the data sufficient? Should I consult an expert to review its reasoning and data? Should I consult an attorney who specializes in special education?

Although the advice in this column is not legal advice, it may prove valuable as will your study of your state’s special education code and the federal code. You can download the federal code from www.special-ed-law.com or the resources section of www.reading2008.com. The federal download has two sections: a discussion and the regulations. The discussion is enlightening; it tells you how the U.S. Department of Education interprets the code.

References

U. S. Department of Education (August 14, 2006), Code of Federal Regulations [for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004], 34 CFR Parts 300 and 301.

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