Special Education Law Blog

Documentaries Accurately Portray Disability-Related Issues

Although there have been recent complaints that both actors and characters with disabilities are underrepresented on television, two excellent documentaries about disabilities have aired in the past year.  Journey into Dyslexia, which appeared on HBO in May of 2011, profiles students and adults who have dyslexia.  According to the HBO web page, many of the adult professionals who struggled to learn in school now consider their dyslexia a gift and a defining reason for their successes.   Critics called the straightforward interviews with the persons with dyslexia, including children, the most powerful part of the documentary, which was made by Academy-award winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond.  Among those interviewed are a professor at Johns Hopkins University, inventors, entrepreneurs, and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich.  Additionally, the HBO website accompanying this documentary is rich with information on dyslexia. Another documentary from the Sundance film festival on dyslexia is called The D Word.

People With Disabilities Greatly Under-represented on Television

The annual “Where We Are on TV” report issued last September by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) indicates that characters with disabilities are almost invisible on scripted primetime television (ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, and NBC).  Of 647 regular characters who appear on these networks, only five (less than 1%) have disabilities. In addition to regular roles, three recurring characters on primetime television have disabilities.  Cable networks have done comparatively better providing more regular  and recurring characters with disabilities.  In contrast, the American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau reported that 12% of Americans (36.4 million) have disabilities.  Christine Bruno, co-chair of the Tri-Union I AM PWD campaign which promotes inclusion of persons with disabilities in the arts and helped conduct research for the GLAAD study said, “We look to our stages and screens not only for entertainment, but to hold a mirror up to society.  Our industry has a responsibility to its artists and the viewing public to accurately reflect what we see on our streets and in our communities.”

Retention v. Social Promotion

A mother in the Bronx is arguing against the social promotion of her 11-year-old son with special needs because she believes he is not ready for 6^th grade.  What the mother is asking for seems reasonable—if her son has failed to master 5^th grade work, why would he be able to do 6^th grade work?  Yet, the school’s desire to socially promote the student is unusual.  But is the alternative, grade retention, a more viable option? 

Social promotion became popular in the 1970s due to fears that its alternative; namely, retention, led to issues with self-esteem for those students who were “flunked” a grade.  However, social promotion fell into disfavor in the 1980s with the recognition that students who were receiving high school diplomas were ill­-prepared for either college or work.  Social promotion went on to became a political issue when President Clinton, in his 1999 State of the Union Address, declared that, “No child should graduate from high school with a diploma he or she can’t read.  We do our children no favors when we allow them to pass from grade to grade without mastering the material.”  

Virtual Schooling Needs to Be Adapted for Students with Special Needs

Many of the same obstacles that exist in traditional bricks and mortar classrooms, are carried over to the virtual or e-learning environment. Given tight budgets and other constraints, virtual learning will have greater appeal to school districts,  but it is not a easy fit for many students with special needs. Critical technological, accessibility and curricular issues need to be worked out.  While I am a big proponent of technology, I have not yet found the virtual learning world to be a good fit for my son and many of the students I represent.  The following blog post is review of some of the current research and issues that pertain to virtual learning.

SLANT Successfully Used to Teach Students with Downs To Read by Pam Labellarte

I have recently run into a series of IEP teams that all seem to have been making the same claim that students with intellectual challenges can not learn to read beyond the most rudimentary level. When faced with lack of progress even on IEP goals, I am told that students "like that" just do not progress. It is enough to make my head explode when faced with the bias of low expectations. Schools feel that they have a literacy loophole that negates any need to show progress on a basic area of academic developement--literacy.

Pam Labellarte, an experienced special advocate and a parent of a child with Downs Syndrome who works for me, authored the following first person account of her struggle with school to recognize that her daughter can read if taught appropriately, and her wonderful success in recent years with the SLANT method.  At the end of the first person account is her tutor's Masters thesis on her work with SLANT with students with Downs and her data.  It is good stuff and should help in the future when faced with the same argument that students like that can not learn to read.

House Restores Funding Cuts for Special Education for Now

The House voted to restore the $557 million cuts for special education funding. It is not time to celebrate quite yet. First, the budget bills are far from final and there may yet be cuts before this process is over. Second, as CEC, a lobby group for educational issues, stated; "it amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul. That’s because under the [funding] amendment, the funds restored to special education will be taken from other [general] education programs."  Taking money out of general education funding will have a negative effect on students with special needs when they are in general education settings. President Obama's budget proposal contemplates modest increases in education funding. I will keep you posted on the budget battles as this unfolds so we can keep up the pressure on Congress.

 

Emergency Evacuation Should be Part of the IEP

One of the most overlooked parts of an IEP is what happens in the event of a fire or  natural catastrophe and students need to be evacuated from school building. For me personally, the thought is always an issue of accessibility but that is not the only issue. Some time ago, I represented a child in a Early Childhood program who had a terrible fright reaction associated with loud noises, and fire alarms certainly fell  into that category. According to her mother she could run and hide when faced with loud noises, and could very hard to find or even run out of the building; both situations present obvious and extreme dangers.  

Comprehensive Accomodations Manual is a Good Reference for Your Next IEP and for High Stakes Testing

At too many meetings issues related to accomodations and modifications get short time and little attention. If it is not on the computer IEP drop down menu or check list chances are good that there will be little to no discussions of the individual needs that your child/student has for particular accomodations.  This back of the IEP list of supports can be as important and sometimes more important than the goals or even the services. It is important to remember that for purposes of high stakes testing (e.g. SAT and ACT) if there has not been a history of the IEP containing accomodations that have been in fact accessed the student will likely not get support from ETS. It is important to document the need and use of accomodations years prior to taking high stakes testing.  The following is a very comprehensive and well organized manual of accomodations and modifications that is a useful reference as you get ready for your next meeting. Download AccommodationsManual.pdf.  See ETS research report on testing accomodations for writing . 

With the ACT and SAT testing coming up, many students have applied for testing accomodations. Some will be denied. You may want to consider using these resources from ETS to fashion an appeal. but it can be hard to get them to change their position.

 

Words of Wisdom for (and at) IEP Meetings

IEP meetings should be wonderful team building endeavors.  Therapists and teachers wouldn't argue with parents that children don't actually need more therapy, functional academics, or to eat or drink during the day.  Classrooms would be inclusive and progress on goals would be phenomenal. 

For example, at a recent meeting I expressed that it would be beneficial for my client to use his gait trainer (which would be provided at no cost to the district) for 30 minutes everyday in the hallways.  I was then told by the physical therapist that this was not a functional goal for him, and not part of his IEP.  I suggested we develop a goal for walking to a peer, teacher, or place in the school.  Than I explained how walking is a functional goal for the student.  All along I had thought that the physical therapists knew that walking was functional.  Tip #1 assume nothing.

Students with Disabilities Underrepresented in Literature

A recent study revealed that children with disabilities are rarely, if at all, featured in children’s books. In the last 35 years less then 24% of children’s books honored with the Newberry Medal had a main, or even supporting character with a disability.

 Children often read books seeking characters that they can identify with. Students with disabilities are left to look in most cases. The study found that “characters with disabilities were most likely to be supporting characters and were often used to boost the emotional growth of those without disabilities rather than to develop in their own right.” 

Among the concerning themes the researchers found are:

• The representation of characters with disabilities in Newbery books is not proportionate to the current school population of students with disabilities.
• White school-age characters with disabilities were overrepresented, black and Hispanic characters with disabilities were underrepresented, and Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaskan Native characters were not present at all.
• In some of these books, authors eliminated characters with disabilities through death, being sent away or discovery of miraculous cures.

 There have been recent movements though to create more inclusive literature. The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series follows Percy Jackson who is a student with a disability and his disabilities don’t diminish his status as a hero. There are other publishing companies that spotlight students with disabilities and their struggles and successes.