The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted to ensure that children with disabilities received a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), including preschool services, designed to help the child make meaningful educational progress. Chapter 14 of the Pennsylvania Regulations further provide protection for children with disabilities. Often, school districts’ interpretation of the mandates of IDEA and Chapter 14 conflict with parents’ understanding of the rights, programs, and related services that their disabled children need. Other times, parents are simply unaware that their child is eligible for any services, or for services above those offered by the district. It is crucial to optimizing the benefit of the law to these families that parents understand the law and how it is interpreted so they can ensure that their child truly receives an appropriate program, individualized to their needs, with specially designed instruction, accommodations, and related services.
The process begins with an Evaluation Report, which identifies the child with a disability who requires specially designed instruction, which, in turn, leads to a notice of a conference regarding an Individualized Education Plan (“IEP”). This conference can be a parents’ best opportunity to establish a productive plan. It is often intimidating, though, with extensive and lengthy educational documents that are not easily interpreted. Parents often have their first opportunity to see these documents at the IEP conference, when they are surrounded by a variety of educators who work for the school district responsible for providing the appropriate program. The rights of children with disabilities to independent evaluations, specially designed programs that include summer or extended school programming (ESY), and compensatory education if an appropriate program was not previously provided can be “lost in the shuffle.” Parents need help to identify their child’s rights, secure appropriate educational services, and ensure that their specialized program is properly implemented in the early intervention or school setting.
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