Making Special Education Actually Work

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There was a time in my life when I gravitated to drama.  Many people do.  It’s more exciting than the mundane business of doing the dishes, doing your homework, cleaning your bathroom, paying your bills, and all of the things that are actually necessary to keep your life moving forward.

Other people’s drama can sure be a lot more interesting than facing your own issues, which makes it an engaging distraction.  Creating your own drama to which other people flock is also a way to successfully avoid dealing with the real issues in your life.  It’s like hosting a party – you’re too busy making sure that everybody else is having a good time to think about yourself.

And, there are plenty of opportunities for drama in special education.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re a parent, a teacher, an administrator, or even a student. There’s usually something going on that you can make a big deal over if you really want to.
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On January 16, 2010, I posted an article about a federal report on the use of improper seclusions and restraints of children in our nation’s schools. These practices have been used mostly on children with disabilities, resulting in injury, trauma, and death. Read the rest of this entry »

Pursuing remedy to special education violations is an emotionally draining task for any parent.  It’s easy for some parents to go on the warpath, leaving nothing but scorched earth after everything is said and done, and that’s a terrible way to try and solve a problem of any kind.  It’s an incredibly harmful approach to use in a situation involving children, handicapped or not. Read the rest of this entry »

In special education, the implementing regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) establish the basic framework of how the process is supposed to work, but it’s the case law that comes from due process cases and their appeals that refine the use of some terms in many cases.  Often, the case law summarizes bits and pieces of the regulations taken from different legal citations to arrive at the formal definition of a particular term, such as the definition of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”). Read the rest of this entry »

At this time of year, a lot of kids on IEPs are attending or getting ready to attend Extended School Year.  In California, where I’m located, it seems to be standard operating procedure for school districts to designate a set number of days in pre-defined classes for ESY, usually 20 days at 4 hours each in an SDC, often with a reduction in related services.  This appears to be done this way based on the availability of teaching staff and the willingness of individual districts to finance these classrooms over the summer months. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2009-2010 school year has come to an end for most families whose schools follow a traditional calendar.  I’m taking a big, deep sigh of relief myself as I wrap up all of the paperwork generated by the flurry of activity that always happens right before the end of the year as everybody tries to cram in as much as they can at the last minute. Read the rest of this entry »