Are you the parent of a child with autism that has been denied needed
educational services, for your child? Have you been told by school
district personnel, that your child cannot receive a certain service,
because the price is too high? This article will discuss ways that you
can overcome these tactics used by some school personnel, for the
benefit of your child.
The
purpose of special education taken out of The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 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."
IDEA does not allow, school districts to
use the "money" card, to get out of providing needed educational
services to children with disabilities. The reality is, that many school
districts try this tactic many times a day. And the sad thing is, that
many parents believe them. Do not fall for this tactic! Stand up for
your child, as you are the only advocate that they will ever have.
For Example:
**School
administrator: "Mrs. Jones we would love to give Mary 90 minutes of
speech therapy a week, but our district is small, and we cannot afford
it."
**Bad reply from the parent: "Oh I totally understand, I didn't mean to ask for so much."
**School
administrator: "Oh I am sure that you didn't. But you have to
understand that we have a lot of children in our district, and we want
to help them all. How about 30 minutes a week?"
**Parent: "30 minutes will be fine."
The
problem with this conversation is, that the parent should have
discussed evidence she had of her child's need. The parent also did not
clarify, that the amount of time offered was for direct service. Many
times special education personnel will write down consultative services,
rather than direct services; without the parent being aware of it.
Same Example:
**School
Administrator: "Mrs. Jones we would love to give Mary 90 minutes of
speech therapy a week, but our district is small, and we cannot afford
it."
**Good Example from the parent: "Mr. Parker, my daughter
Mary needs 90 minutes of direct speech language therapy per week, to
make progress in her education. As you will see from the Independent
Educational Evaluation that I have here, the registered Speech/Language
Pathologist recommends 90 minutes of direct service per week. I am not
concerned with the school districts budget, but what I am concerned
about is Mary's right to receive a free appropriate public education."
**School
Administrator: "Why would you go and get an independent evaluation,
don't you trust our speech /language pathologist to recommend the best
for Mary."
**Parent: "The Speech/Language Pathologist that works
for this district, is only recommending 30 minutes direct service per
week, despite Mary's low test scores in areas of receptive and
expressive language. Mary needs 90 minutes of Speech Language therapy
per week, if you refuse to give it to her, I will consider filing for a
due process hearing.
**School Administrator: "Oh, you don't have to get nasty."
**Parent: "I was not getting nasty. Due process is my right, if I disagree with your decision, which I do."
School
administrator: "We will consult with out speech language pathologist,
and consider giving Mary the 90 per week of direct speech therapy."
**Parent: "Thank You."
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