by Diane Wiscarson
When the school called for yet another meeting about my son’s problems in the classroom, I wasn’t surprised. To be fair, we already knew of some of our son’s serious issues. He was a difficult child to parent and by age nine, had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Bipolar Disorder. I was worried about the meeting but also looking forward to getting some help from the school. I figured they were the professionals, right?
By all accounts, the meeting seemed to go great! My child was put on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and the school would help teach him skills. The IEP outlined two goals: 1) to get my son to sit still, and 2) to get him to “behave.” I thought these were perfect goals, because both were things we could not accomplish at home, even with the help of medication, a psychiatrist, and a psychologist.
Lucky for me, this first IEP meeting occurred while I was in law school. I soon learned that special education law is where disability law and education law intersect. I found there were laws and procedures to protect students and ensure their special education needs were met.
I also soon realized that sitting still and behaving were not actually appropriate IEP goals. And, even if they were, there was no special teaching, no matter how excellent or long-term, that would “teach” the ADHD and Bipolar Disorder out of my son. So, we went back to the drawing board to craft an IEP that would support my son’s education, complete with measurable goals and realistic objectives.
Just as mine did, your child has a right to special education services when certain criteria are met. Your child must have a disability that causes an adverse impact at school. Then the district must look at whether the student needs “specially designed instruction” (SDI) to benefit from their education. If so, the student is entitled to, and the district is required to, develop an IEP to meet the identified needs.
Once your child is found eligible for an IEP, the confusion begins. A frequent question of parents is, “Where is the list of services available?” The short answer is, there is no list.
Your child’s IEP should contain services and accommodations that are necessary for your child to benefit from their education. In legal terms, the IEP needs to be “reasonably calculated to provide educational benefit.” This means that if your child needs SDI for reading, writing, or math, it will be provided. It also means that if your child has social, emotional or behavioral issues at school, those will be addressed. Your child could receive services from a Speech-Language Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist, a Psychologist, or a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Almost anything you can think of that is needed for a child to benefit from their education can be on the IEP and provided by the school district, laptops, text-to-speech software and/or equipment, sophisticated communication devices, and even training for parents.
The caveat here is “need.” The district has to provide what is necessary for your child to benefit from their education, not what is best, or even what would be beneficial or helpful.
The key to writing a good IEP is to be informed about your child’s needs, and to have supporting data such as a neuropsychological evaluation or other medical or mental health assessments. Once your child has been identified for special education services, read any data or reports the district prepares. Talk to all the specialists involved, whether school district or privately paid providers. Get written reports from your private providers, which the district must consider. If you don’t understand the information, ask for further explanation until you understand. Make a list of what you think your child needs at school to benefit from their education.
The single best piece of advice that I ever received as a parent is the same advice I now give to clients almost daily. Get everything in writing. Get copies of all of your child’s school records. Confirm conversations in writing. Make requests in writing. Disagree in writing. If it is not written, there is no way to prove what happened, create a record, or get someone to follow through on a previous promise.
Lastly, remember that as a parent you are the MVP on your child’s IEP team. When Congress passed special education laws, they set those laws in place and required parent participation. As a parent, I had, as you do, the right to be heard and to participate in decisions about your child. It is a parent’s right to advocate for their child, and once the process is understood, parental advocacy can be rewarding and beneficial to both you and your child.
Author Diane Wiscarson worked her way through the IEP system for her son, and in so doing, found her passion for helping other families navigate special education and the law. Since graduating from law school and founding Wiscarson Law almost 20 years ago, she has helped more than 2,500 Oregon and Washington families obtain appropriate services and placements from the region’s public school districts. To learn more, visit wiscarsonlaw.com.
