Amanda Morin - The Everything Parents Guide to Special Education: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Advocating for Your Child with Special Needs

Avon, Massachusetts

To all the parents who have worried in silence, cried in frustration, and learned to celebrate small victories and successes.

('speSHl ej'kSHn)

() Services, programs, and instruction specially designed to meet the individual educational needs of a student with a disability

IF YOURE READING THIS book, you probably have a child who has or may have a disability and you are concerned. Maybe your child is struggling in school and you dont know how to get help. Perhaps your child has been referred for Response to Intervention or for further evaluation for special education services, and youre not really sure what all of that means. Or maybe your child is already receiving special education services, and youre not happy with how its working and you dont know what to do about it.

Whatever the circumstances, you picked up this book because you wanted to know more about the special education process and how to navigate it to make sure your child gets the right help to make school easier. You are not alone in needing this help. Many parents feel helpless in the face of what seems like a daunting, tangled system of rules and regulations.

Sometimes sitting in meetings to talk about your childs strengths and weaknesses, and what services are available to a child with that diagnosis, can feel more like a contract negotiation than a conversation about an actual child. It can be frustrating and overwhelming to balance being your childs advocate with the need to work cooperatively with the school district to help your child.

This comprehensive, easy-to-read book is designed to teach you what you need to know about the laws that govern special education, the process of referring your child for special education, and what will happen once your child is referred. Its designed to answer the question Whats next? before you even have to ask it. It will walk you through the process of keeping organized records, asking the right questions, finding the right answers, and even what to do if you and the school district cant come to an agreement on what type of program your child should have.

No two children who need special education services are the same, but they are all covered by the same legal rights provided to them by the groundbreaking Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA has changed the landscape of special education and gives parents like you the power of an equal say in deciding what your childs educational program looks like.

Throughout this book, special education programs are referred to as special education services or special education. Nonspecial education programs are regular education or the general education classroom. That doesnt mean that your child is irregular; its simply a way to differentiate between the types of programs.

Knowing what these terms (and many others) mean and how they pertain to your child can serve to make you not only a good advocate but an informed one as well. Being able to back up your position with more than just a gut feeling can alleviate a feeling of helplessness and replace it with a feeling of satisfaction and purpose.

You will learn about the wide variety of disabilities children who qualify for special education have and the varied effects these disabilities can have on their ability to learn in the general education classroom. No matter what type of disability your child has, you will learn what types of services are available, what accommodations might be helpful, and how to work with the school to create an individualized education plan to meet your childs needs. Together, we can unravel that tangled system so you are confident enough to have a meeting about your child, not a negotiation for what services are given to a child with a certain diagnosis.

Until 1975, if you asked the question What is special education? the answer you got would be incredibly dependent upon whom you asked. One parent of a child with a disability might tell you it meant her child couldnt go to school with the neighborhood children; another parent might tell you that special education was the classroom where kids with physical or mental disabilities were taught away from the regular kids. Still others, both teachers and parents, might not even know what you were talking about if you asked them.

In 1975, Congress passed Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The law laid out a set of rules, regulations, and legal protections for children with disabilities that had never been seen before. It has been revised many times and, in 1990, was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

According to IDEA, the basic answer to the question about special education is simple: Special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. (IDEA, Sec. 300, Subsection/paragraph 39)

IDEAs simple answer doesnt mean that special education is simple, though, and it doesnt mean it looks the same for every child. In fact, IDEA makes sure that special education doesnt look the same for every child. Thats exactly what specially designed instruction means; your childs special education program will be created specifically to meet her individual needs.

Although it may sound a little backward, in order to make sure that children with disabilities are able to have that specially designed program, IDEA lays out rules that apply to all children receiving special education services. Those legally binding instructions provide the basics youll need to know in order to be the best advocate you can be for your child.

You already know that if your child has a disability that affects his education, hes entitled to an educational program that is built around his needs. However, now you need to know what IDEA says about how to make that happen. Some of the more important points you should know are:

• Your child has the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). This means that your child has the legal right to the same education as his peers without disabilitieswithout you having to pay for it. The school district must, at public expense, provide the support services, individualized instruction, and/or modifications your child needs to be able to learn what other kids are learning.