Many parents are aware of their child's diagnosis (or the symptoms of the diagnosis), but perhaps have never formally received a diagnosis for their child from a physician. Why is a diagnosis important? A child must have a diagnosis that fits within 13 categories of disability in order for that child to be eligible for special education services.
I've created a handy chart that links a diagnosis to the category under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which is the first step in determining eligibility for special education.
You can download the chart here:
IDEA Disability Categories
Please also feel free to share this information with parents of kids with disabilities.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Friday, January 10, 2014
Your Tax Dollars Are Being Used to Deny Education to Disabled Kids
Many of you probably don't know there are laws that exist to protect the rights of disabled kids, but perhaps none more important than the special education laws. I'm quite sure that even fewer of you know that your tax dollars are being used to deny those disabled kids their lawful education and thereby violating the laws. So, your taxes are being used to violate or, at a minimum, obstruct the law.
Here is how this works:
1. Special education laws guarantee that kids with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) adapted to meet their individual needs. Makes sense, right? Just because a child is in a wheelchair or has a neurological problem doesn't mean they should be denied an education, correct? Yes, correct, because it is the law of our country and it is also our moral duty.
2. Your taxes go to fund public education. Thus, the public schools in your district are, partially, funded by your tax dollars. They are also funded, partially, by federal and state government money. Boards of education or school district administrations determine how to spend those dollars - new football uniforms? new books? supplies? building repairs? etc.
3. School districts struggle with special education laws because they have tight budgets and sometimes it is expensive to comply with these laws. Yet, the reality is that they simply need to redistribute that budget to comply. Indeed, schools get extra money from the federal and state governments depending on the number of disabled kids in that school district. So, maybe the football team can go another year with the same uniforms in order to assure that the disabled kids get an equal education. Or maybe they have to contract with a different school supplies vendor who will offer a discount.
4. But, instead of taking some of those cost-saving or redistribution of budget measures, many school districts elect to fight against enforcement of the special education laws. Some school districts - either blatantly or unknowingly - violate those laws by denying services or the educational needs of those children. The school administrations hire attorneys to represent them and battle parents who are simply trying to get an equal education for their disabled child.
Now, let me stop for a minute and focus on that fact. The parents of children with disabilities didn't ask to have a disabled child. They had no choice in the matter. Often, they have no choice on where they live - it is usually tied with where their job / source of income is. So, they are already dealing with the stress that their child has a disability and are probably incurring substantial medical expenses to address the disability. And, the people that they hoped to trust most with the education of their child - the local public school district - is putting up a fight with them.
5. Now, it's probably obvious that the school district has to pay for the attorneys they hire. Where do you think that money comes from? It comes from the school district's budget. And if we circle back to #2 above, the school district's budget comes from, in large part, YOU - the taxpayers. So, the legal fees being spent to fight against parents who are trying to help their disabled child is money you have given to the schools for public education.
And, this is no small amount. Some special education cases are fought with such vigilance, that school district attorneys rack up tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars in bills. The other trick they would pull is when someone tried to find out how much was spent, the school districts would claim the attorney's bills were privileged and confidential information and would not release them.
Well, that is no more. Because those legal fees are being paid by tax dollars, the attorney's bills are public records that must be disclosed just like other public records. Recently, the California Supreme Court said that such attorney's fees invoices are public records and must be disclosed under that state's public records act. I believe that every state's public records act will be, if it isn't already, applied in that same way.
It is time that you know that your tax dollars are being spent to deny kids with disabilities a free public education, the same education that non-disabled kids receive without any dispute. This is immoral and if you want to stop it, you need to get active in your local board of education or show up to meetings and complain about this.
Take some action and stop this nonsense!
Here is how this works:
1. Special education laws guarantee that kids with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) adapted to meet their individual needs. Makes sense, right? Just because a child is in a wheelchair or has a neurological problem doesn't mean they should be denied an education, correct? Yes, correct, because it is the law of our country and it is also our moral duty.
2. Your taxes go to fund public education. Thus, the public schools in your district are, partially, funded by your tax dollars. They are also funded, partially, by federal and state government money. Boards of education or school district administrations determine how to spend those dollars - new football uniforms? new books? supplies? building repairs? etc.
3. School districts struggle with special education laws because they have tight budgets and sometimes it is expensive to comply with these laws. Yet, the reality is that they simply need to redistribute that budget to comply. Indeed, schools get extra money from the federal and state governments depending on the number of disabled kids in that school district. So, maybe the football team can go another year with the same uniforms in order to assure that the disabled kids get an equal education. Or maybe they have to contract with a different school supplies vendor who will offer a discount.
4. But, instead of taking some of those cost-saving or redistribution of budget measures, many school districts elect to fight against enforcement of the special education laws. Some school districts - either blatantly or unknowingly - violate those laws by denying services or the educational needs of those children. The school administrations hire attorneys to represent them and battle parents who are simply trying to get an equal education for their disabled child.
Now, let me stop for a minute and focus on that fact. The parents of children with disabilities didn't ask to have a disabled child. They had no choice in the matter. Often, they have no choice on where they live - it is usually tied with where their job / source of income is. So, they are already dealing with the stress that their child has a disability and are probably incurring substantial medical expenses to address the disability. And, the people that they hoped to trust most with the education of their child - the local public school district - is putting up a fight with them.
5. Now, it's probably obvious that the school district has to pay for the attorneys they hire. Where do you think that money comes from? It comes from the school district's budget. And if we circle back to #2 above, the school district's budget comes from, in large part, YOU - the taxpayers. So, the legal fees being spent to fight against parents who are trying to help their disabled child is money you have given to the schools for public education.
And, this is no small amount. Some special education cases are fought with such vigilance, that school district attorneys rack up tens (sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars in bills. The other trick they would pull is when someone tried to find out how much was spent, the school districts would claim the attorney's bills were privileged and confidential information and would not release them.
Well, that is no more. Because those legal fees are being paid by tax dollars, the attorney's bills are public records that must be disclosed just like other public records. Recently, the California Supreme Court said that such attorney's fees invoices are public records and must be disclosed under that state's public records act. I believe that every state's public records act will be, if it isn't already, applied in that same way.
It is time that you know that your tax dollars are being spent to deny kids with disabilities a free public education, the same education that non-disabled kids receive without any dispute. This is immoral and if you want to stop it, you need to get active in your local board of education or show up to meetings and complain about this.
Take some action and stop this nonsense!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
What Every Parent Should Know About Mediation (Special Education)
New article just published on mediation and five things that parents should know about mediation in special education cases. Kindly published by my friends at The Special Education Guide:
http://www.specialeducationguide.com/blog/what-every-parent-should-know-about-mediation/
http://www.specialeducationguide.com/blog/what-every-parent-should-know-about-mediation/
Monday, December 2, 2013
New Article: Evaluating a Child for Disability: The Wrong Way and the Right Way
Article on the wrong way and right way to evaluate a child for a disability is available on Special-Ism.com website at this URL:
http://special-ism.com/evaluating-a-child-for-disability-the-wrong-way-and-the-right-way/
http://special-ism.com/evaluating-a-child-for-disability-the-wrong-way-and-the-right-way/
Saturday, November 9, 2013
What to Expect at an IEP/504 Meeting - Free download
You can download the seminar slides and all supporting documents for my recent seminar "What to Expect at an IEP/504 Meeting" at this webpage:
http://schoolkidslawyer.com/mda
I hope it helps! Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like more information on this topic.
http://schoolkidslawyer.com/mda
I hope it helps! Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like more information on this topic.
Tales from the Front - Actual (Illegal) Statements Made by School Personnel
I did a seminar recently. My seminar was on
what to expect at an IEP/504 meeting.
Here are some of the comments I heard from parents spoken to them by
school districts:
"We are at our quota of eligible disabled students
already. We can't have more."
"Evaluations must be done in the summer time."
"Your child (with muscular dystrophy) is not allowed
to use a wheelchair in school."
"[A disciplinary action against a child with a
disability and IEP] is completely an internal school matter. You don't need to worry about it."
[From a case manager] "I'm not sure what to do. What do you want me to do?"
"You want a person assigned to your child (in a
manual wheelchair) to ensure they get out of the school during an emergency? We
don't do that."
"[A child with MD but not in a wheelchair] is not
entitled to use the elevator. She must
use the stairs." (Child falls a
lot).
"Your child is depressed." (No, exhausted from
fatigue by the middle of the school day.)
"She needs to be on anti-depression medication so that her grades
improve."
[Child has received 50s and 60s on math tests, yet child
got a "B" on her report card].
----------------------
I heard these statements with great dismay. They are not only false, hurtful, and deceitful, they are illegal. The law protects against all of these things, but too often parents don't know that the schools are wrong.
If you think the school is telling you incorrect things concerning services or accommodations for your disabled child, please contact a special education lawyer or advocate and ask questions.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Stop the Bullying Madness - That Means YOU, Parents!
On January 6, 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law one of the toughest anti-bullying civil rights laws in the United States. As with most laws, the creation of the law was the easy part. The difficult part is the enforcement. Most states have anti-bullying laws (some, like New Jersey apply to cyberbullying) but the training and implementation of those laws has been sporadic at best; ineffective at worst.
There continue to be events in which kids are committing suicide or having emotional problems because they are being bullied. The old schoolyard bully who openly picks on a fellow student has gone by the wayside, primarily because such bullies have gotten smarter. Now they have resorted to anonymous (or what they believe is anonymous) cyberbullying - texting or posting on social media - to intimidate other kids.
- There is the 12 year old Rebecca Sedwick who jumped off a building to her death because of incessant text bullying by her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend and a group of girls that Rebecca thought were her friends. Thankfully the Sheriff arrested two of the girls responsible after they boldly and stupidly remarked about their involvement in the bullying and death of Rebecca. http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/10/16/rebecca-sedwick-cyber-bullying-arrests
- Joel Morales, a 12 year old boy from Harlem committed suicide after relentless bullying. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/05/harlem-boy-commits-suicide-after-harsh-bullying.html
- In Buffalo, NY, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer committed suicide after being consistently bullied at school. http://cartersville.patch.com/groups/schools/p/bullying-in-america-reaches-home
There are so many of these incidents that this blog post could go on for pages. It is disgraceful.
But there are plenty of laws on the books supposedly to prevent this. Here is a great page (PDF file) that summarizes the various state laws on bullying: http://www.cyberbullying.us/Bullying_and_Cyberbullying_Laws.pdf
In my opinion, however, it is not laws that will stop bullying. It is parenting. Parents of both bullies and victims need to pay attention to their children and their activities and spot the signs of bullying. In many of these cases, the parents saw some of the signs, but chose to ignore them with the age-old response of "kids will be kids." No! Bullying is not kids being kids. Bullying is a crime and it is hurtful.
So, parents and school personnel need to learn the signs of bullying, spot them, and do something about it. Proactive. I keep seeing commercials that tell kids to speak up about bullying. Why are we putting the onus on kids who are in the most precarious of positions in the bullying scheme? Why are we taking the pressure off of parents from being parents? Parents of victims need to protect their children and, if need be, report it to the authorities and consider removing their child from the school environment if the school will not take action.
But my strongest admonition is for the parents of bullies. YOU need to take responsibility and parent your kids. This means discipline; this means controlling your child's actions; this means teaching your children that bad actions, such as bullying, have bad consequences. It is not an excuse to say you can't control your children. You are the adult; you are the parent. You accepted that role the second you knew that you were going to have a child. So you must examine your own actions, because bullies often beget bullies. And, trust me, if I learn that one of my clients was bullied, I'm not just coming after the child who bullied my client - I'm coming after you, the parents too.
Let's wake up and stop this bullying madness. Please. TODAY!
If anyone has a bullying problem, please contact my office for assistance. Phone: 267-209-0783; Web: http://schoolkidslawyer.com; Email: info@schoolkidslawyer.com.
Robert C. Thurston, Esq.
There continue to be events in which kids are committing suicide or having emotional problems because they are being bullied. The old schoolyard bully who openly picks on a fellow student has gone by the wayside, primarily because such bullies have gotten smarter. Now they have resorted to anonymous (or what they believe is anonymous) cyberbullying - texting or posting on social media - to intimidate other kids.
- There is the 12 year old Rebecca Sedwick who jumped off a building to her death because of incessant text bullying by her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend and a group of girls that Rebecca thought were her friends. Thankfully the Sheriff arrested two of the girls responsible after they boldly and stupidly remarked about their involvement in the bullying and death of Rebecca. http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/10/16/rebecca-sedwick-cyber-bullying-arrests
- Joel Morales, a 12 year old boy from Harlem committed suicide after relentless bullying. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/05/harlem-boy-commits-suicide-after-harsh-bullying.html
- In Buffalo, NY, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer committed suicide after being consistently bullied at school. http://cartersville.patch.com/groups/schools/p/bullying-in-america-reaches-home
There are so many of these incidents that this blog post could go on for pages. It is disgraceful.
But there are plenty of laws on the books supposedly to prevent this. Here is a great page (PDF file) that summarizes the various state laws on bullying: http://www.cyberbullying.us/Bullying_and_Cyberbullying_Laws.pdf
In my opinion, however, it is not laws that will stop bullying. It is parenting. Parents of both bullies and victims need to pay attention to their children and their activities and spot the signs of bullying. In many of these cases, the parents saw some of the signs, but chose to ignore them with the age-old response of "kids will be kids." No! Bullying is not kids being kids. Bullying is a crime and it is hurtful.
So, parents and school personnel need to learn the signs of bullying, spot them, and do something about it. Proactive. I keep seeing commercials that tell kids to speak up about bullying. Why are we putting the onus on kids who are in the most precarious of positions in the bullying scheme? Why are we taking the pressure off of parents from being parents? Parents of victims need to protect their children and, if need be, report it to the authorities and consider removing their child from the school environment if the school will not take action.
But my strongest admonition is for the parents of bullies. YOU need to take responsibility and parent your kids. This means discipline; this means controlling your child's actions; this means teaching your children that bad actions, such as bullying, have bad consequences. It is not an excuse to say you can't control your children. You are the adult; you are the parent. You accepted that role the second you knew that you were going to have a child. So you must examine your own actions, because bullies often beget bullies. And, trust me, if I learn that one of my clients was bullied, I'm not just coming after the child who bullied my client - I'm coming after you, the parents too.
Let's wake up and stop this bullying madness. Please. TODAY!
If anyone has a bullying problem, please contact my office for assistance. Phone: 267-209-0783; Web: http://schoolkidslawyer.com; Email: info@schoolkidslawyer.com.
Robert C. Thurston, Esq.
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