Special Education Law Blog

Demonizing Parents: Orange County Special Education Alliance

That you can’t fight city hall is a time-honored truism, but how much harder does it become when different city halls join forces to fight you?  Parents in Orange County, California unfortunately are discovering just this fact as they advocate for services for their children with special needs.  Since 2005, 28 school districts plus the Orange County Department of Education have formed an alliance, which among other functions, contributes financially to school districts engaged in legal battles against parents. 

The Orange County Special Education Alliance was ostensibly formed to ally school districts in their ongoing campaign against parents. A single school district is a formidable opponent but fighting a coalition of districts that gives me a headache just to contemplate. Again lets remember they are not the victims of parents in the vast majority of cases.

Effects of Romney/Ryan Health Plan on Children and Adults with Disabilities

Bill Clinton, in his address to the Democratic convention this month, decried the effects of the proposed Medicaid restructuring on the elderly, the poor, and families with children who have autism, Down syndrome, or other severe disabilities. Clinton, who said that he didn’t know what these families would do under these cuts, asserted that he knew what he would do: “I’m going to do everything I can to see that it doesn’t happen. We can’t let it happen.” We as parents of children with disabilities and those that care about children with disabilities need to vote for the vital interests of our children, and make sure our children with disabilities, who are over 18, register to vote and do vote. Medicaid is just one of the many issues that must be on the radar of voters for this election.Approximately 60 million Americans—including 29.5 million children, 15.2 million adults, 8.2 million people with disabilities, and 6.1 million seniors--rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs. These numbers include 40% of our nation’s poor, 20% of those with severe disabilities, and nearly two thirds of residents of nursing homes. 

Romney’s Educational Vouchers a Disaster for Special Education Students

Schools are not like private corporations. Governor Romney’s goal to privatize, voucherize, and let the market determine winners and losers is simplistic. The reality is we do not have to wait to project that under his system special education students will be losers. To be clear, I advocate on a regular basis in appropriate cases for students to be tuitioned out to private schools with their IEPs intact, even if that school is more restrictive because it has what the child needs to receive a FAPE.

 As a primary part of his education platform, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is proposing a pro-choice, pro-voucher system that will allow parents to choose which schools their children can attend.  Romney is arguing that market forces and competition will force improvements in public schools.  Additionally, Romney is proposing to allow federal Title I and IDEA funds (which will also likely be cut) to become “portable” for low income and special needs students.  These funds would follow the students to any district or public charter school, private school where permitted by state law, or toward tutoring or online courses. In theory, these proposals sound wonderful.  Who wouldn’t want their children, both regular and special education, to go to the best possible schools?  These proposals, however, could be disastrous for special education students.

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.”

Neurofeedback may Benefit Kids with ADHD

Children who have ADHD often have difficulty regulating brain activity. A new study, conducted by German and Swiss researchers, demonstrates that neurofeedback training may help. Neurofeedback is a method of training the brain, or shaping brain wave activity which for some children results in improved behavior and reduction of hyperactivity and impulsivity. The technique doesn't work for everyone and is not a replacement for drug treatment, but may be used as a companion, as MSNBC reports.

Children in the study worked on a game like computer program that had them activate or deactivate portions of the brain and they were rewarded with points. After two weeks of the computer program they used red and blue cards to practice the brain activation and deactivation. The other group of children took part in group therapy sessions. Results indicated that parents and teachers, although to a lesser extent, reported great improvement in the children who took part in neurofeedback. It was also noted that kids did better when parents encouraged, rewarded, and reminded them to practice with the red and blue cards. In all eight children learned to successfully regulate brain activity while nine did not.

Coat Drive Helps Students in Need

I spend a lot of time advocating for students which can sometimes mean fighting with school personnel. When I come across a story like this expressed on youtube, I had to share it.  A coat drive at Chicago school provided warm coats for students for students in need. It is very heart warming to see students have this basic need met. Now if all students could receive proper nutrition, books, and all of the other essentials we would be in a better place.. but for now I am happy to see these kids get coats.

 

Special Education Litigation on the Rise?

A recently published article reveals that the number of reported special cases has increased over time. That does not square with the numbers and my experience in Illinois. The empirical data shows an overall decrease in cases going to hearing. It may be that more cases are being brought by schools to block IEEs. Also given the increasing evidence of zero tolerance for behaviors, more students are backed into a corner and need to sue to protect their rights since there is no partner to find common and reasonable ground to negotiate. Child find is another area that is ripe for litigation in the wake of so many misconceptions regarding RtI (more on this later). All of these are likely areas for dispute but not as much in Illinois even though, in the city I am filing many due process cases ostensibly over abuse of the RtI process.

Traumatic Brain Injuries in the Spotlight on American Idol and Beyond

In the past month traumatic brain injuries have been getting a lot of media attention, from press coverage of the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to the recent American Idol episode where contestant Chris Medina shared a personal story of his fiancée’s struggle. Medina  told “Idol” judges Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson that two months before their wedding, his fiancée was in a serious accident. She sustained serious brain damage, and was in a coma for a month and a half.

Mr. Medina told the judges that after she awoke, “Everything changed.” This is a phrase that all traumatic brain injury survivors and their families can relate to. His fiancée is not partially paralyzed and looks like a shadow of the person in the photographs from before the accident that were shown on the show.

TBIs occur when an external force traumatically injures the brain. BI can cause a host of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects, and outcome can range from complete recovery to permanent disability. Because of the range of effects TBIs can be difficult to plan for and accommodate in the school setting. It is important that individuals with TBIs and their families work with the school to assure that supports are in place for students with TBIs to progress and receive a free and appropriate public education.

"Independence versus Education" At Issue in Service Dog Case

An IEP team in Michigan rejected the request of a young student with CP to bring her service dog to school, stating that the services of an aide were sufficient to meet her needs. The ACLU has undertaken litigation on behalf of the student.   An aide is fine in many circumstances, however, where the student can be more independent with the help of a dog instead of a person, the choice seems obvious. I always advocate for the view that, even for small children the future is now, and if she can achieve a high degree of independence now and going forward with a dog, that will be much more effective for her on a job or in college than reliance on an aide.

It appears that service dog cases are one of the new legal frontiers in special education law, as there have been so many cases that have been litigated recently and apparently more to come. Some states such as New Jersey are taking legislative steps to guarantee the right to bring service dogs into schools.

Hard Economic Times Creating More Physical Barriers

When you are in a wheelchair (which I experience vicariously through my son everyday) a cracked sidewalk is a major obstacle. On more than one occasion, especially in urban areas, we have been forced into the street to make our way to doctor's appointments, restaurants any other places in the community. Lack of funds for maintenance, especially in hard economic times, has created enormous access issues on public sidewalks. Well I am happy to report that in Texas and other places around the country, people with disabilities are filing ADA lawsuits for safe and barrier-free access to public sidewalks.  The stakes are high but you should not have to risk your life just to access the community.