It’s that time of year. Back to school shopping, first day of school social media posts, and well planned out lunches. But if you’re a parent to a child with a disability, you have the added anxiety of IEP meetings, checking in to see if your child and his teacher have all the needed supports, and wondering if your child will be meaningfully included.
Start the school year right by sharing information about your child, as well as what inclusion means to you. Being intentional about disability acceptance could be the key to friendships with typical peers in the general education classroom. Parents of typically developing classmates may not know what to say to their child about your child’s differences. They may even be apprehensive about having a child with a significant disability in their child’s class.
Dispelling any myths and educating parents about the benefits of inclusion is a great way to start out the school year.
I got you covered. Below is a parent-to-parent guide that you can print and share. Also included are tips to create your own customized “all about me” page highlighting your child.
I suggest you wait until the second or third week of school to share these resources with classmates’ parents. You want parents to spend time with these documents, and too much information is sent home at the start of the school year. This is a conglomerate of information I’ve seen and learned over the years as a non-attorney special education advocate. Feel free to print and share the PDF version below:
If you’re looking for an easy way to create a customizable “All About Me” page look no further than www.canva.com. Canva’s image-driven bold templates are sure to catch anyone’s attention. Check out the one I made for my son a few years ago:
Added Bonus: I have my son hand-deliver this to teachers during the first IEP meeting or Back to School Night before school begins. He also shares his most current work. This gives teachers a glimpse of a highly-capable student, instead of the weakness-based legal documents they’re used to reading about students.
How do you introduce your child and the idea of inclusion to teacher and classmates? Share any resources in the comments section below.
Everything is still possible in kindergarten, even for students with significant disabilities. Inclusion should come naturally, because all the students enter kindergarten at different levels. With the use of accommodations that changes “how” students with disabilities learn, many students with intellectual disabilities can meet the same kindergarten standards.
Still, expectations have changed a lot since I was in kindergarten 30 years ago. Writing journals, addition math problems, and mandatory reading levels are an actual thing now. I’m blown away by the standards kindergarteners must meet.
Thinking about how my son with Down syndrome would meet these new, rigorous standards made me nervous. I knew accommodations could help him access the kindergarten curriculum, but would he also need modifications to change what he’s taught and is expected to learn? Using modifications should never legally lead to a more segregated setting, but I knew from other family’s stories across the nation that often it does.
Ultimately, understanding my son’s potential, setting high expectations, and presuming competence helped guide his kindergarten year.
With three years of preschool under his belt, we decided to start the school year with only accommodations to allow our son to meet the same grade-level expectations as all the other kindergarteners. With so many students at different levels in his general education classroom, he often knew just as much as the majority of students in his class. Every family has to make their own choice about changing the grade-level content to meet their child’s needs. I’m an advocate of giving the student a chance to perform to grade-level standards with accommodations first, then moving on to modifications if needed.
My twin boys, who are in the same general education class do the same work, but their different ability levels are obvious. I admit that I compare the work that they bring home, and have been proud of how much individual progress both of them have made. Below you can compare a typical assignment they do each day.
Although my twin boys learn the same content, accommodations do change how my son with Down syndrome accesses that content. Here are his kindergarten accommodations:
paraprofessional
slant board
short writing utensils
foot rest
large font
less content on each page
more time to work on assignments and tests
Accept approximations for expressive assessments
Accept pointing to an answer rather than expressively saying an answer
visual cues and prompts
number line
sit near the instruction
visual timer
tablet with touch screen
small, one-click mouse
If the first semester of kindergarten was smooth sailing, the second half has tip the boat a bit. The few students who were behind my son have caught up in most areas. Some concepts, like “more or less” in math have been difficult for my son to pick up without a lot of concrete examples. Still, I’m glad I started with just accommodations. It gave me time to feel out the IEP team and kindergarten curriculum to see what was possible.
I learned that my son’s IEP team members would not use modified IEP goals as an excuse to pull him out of general education. They’ve agreed to push all resources into general education so far. That gives me more confidence to define how the content may change to meet his level. For example, because my son had difficulty counting to 100 expressively, the team created an IEP goal to start by counting to 30 by ones and 100 by tens. He can also point to numbers that he has a hard time saying expressively.
As my son goes into first grade, I know modifications to the curriculum will be an important way for my son to continue accessing the grade-level content at his level. Modifications allow students who are far behind their classmates to access the grade-level curriculum at their own level, or can change the grade-level curriculum completely.
Some great resources to help create appropriate modifications include’s Nicole Eredic’s new book “Inclusion In Action” with over 40 modifications for students with the most significant needs. Paula Kluth’s book “Universal Design Daily: 365 Ways to Teach, Support, and Challenge All Learners” is also a great gift to give your child’s general education teacher and will help all the students in the class.
What accommodations or modifications does your student use that helps them access the grade-level content? Share any resources that you have in the comments section.
Here’s a refrain we hear all too often in special education:
“Johnny’s LRE is the Autism Program. This program is 30 minutes away from his home school and is separate from the general education classroom, but Johnny has Autism so this really is the best program in the least restrictive environment for him.”
This statement can be heard in IEP meetings, found in blog posts, even written in scholarly articles. But the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and case law dispels the myth that the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is individualized or unique for each child. It is not. I repeat, the LRE is not individualized. Yes, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is individualized. Yes, the decision of a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) is individualized, but the LRE is a place…and it’s only one place: A REGULAR CLASSROOM.
The misuse of the LRE has led to the systematic segregation of kids with disabilities. It has led to kids who never get a chance to even try the LRE with appropriate supports as the law intended them to. They essentially lose their civil right to the Least Restrictive Environment. It has caused schools to fail to follow more than 40 years of research on how to best educated children with disabilities.
Now some of you may be thinking “Wow, that word segregation seems kinda harsh,” but I would implore you to look at this from a civil rights lens. When we speak of students of color being separated from white students we call it what it is: segregation. Why wouldn’t we do the same for students with disabilities, especially when Congress makes clear that their intent of IDEA is to ensure students with disabilities are educated alongside non-disabled students and to have access to the general education curriculum in a regular classroom with supports. Here’s the actual language from IDEA:
§300.114 LRE Requirements.
Each public agency must ensure that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled; and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the Regular educational environment occurs only if thenature or severity of the disability is such thateducation in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
The fact is IDEA demands that any move to a more restrictive placement be an issue of FAPE. A discussion of whether or not the child can satisfactorily receive a FAPE in a regular classroom must be discussed and tried first before moving to a more restrictive environment. The problem is: this too often doesn’t happen. Instead, students with certain disabilities are automatically labeled as too disabled to even try the regular classroom. Or the district puts them in the regular classroom without maximizing appropriate supports, and moves them as soon as trouble arises.
Case law reiterates Congress’ strong preference to have students with disabilities learning alongside their non-disabled peers in a regular classroom with supports.
Roncker Portability Test, 1983
–Can services provided in segregated setting be transported to the general education classroom?
–If so, then they must be provided in the regular classroom first. Special education is not a place. Services must be portable, and preferably brought into the regular classroom.
Daniel Two-Part Test, 1989
–Can meaningful education be provided in general education classroom with supplementary services and aids?
–If not the the student still must be integrated in regular education to the maximum extent possible.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently made it clear that children with disability must make “meaningful progress” on general education curriculum in light of their disability. This means school districts must ensure IEPs are “appropriately ambitious,” and follow IDEA’s statutory intent to serve those students in the LRE.
It is a red herring to say that a more restrictive placement is somehow a student’s Least Restrictive Environment. It distracts from the fact that placement is an issue of FAPE. If the school district determines a child must be placed in a more restrictive setting they must give a cogent, responsive reason why they have determined the child’s disability is so severe that the child cannot receive a Free and Appropriate Education in the regular classroom even with the use of supplementary aids and services.
We need to start saying what we mean and meaning what we say. Or in this case, we need to start saying what Congress meant by the LRE. By using the LRE in the wrong context we’ve creating a system where too many children never have a chance to be education in the place that Congress wants the child to start and where all the research proves is most beneficial: the regular classroom.
Let’s start today by changing our language around the Least Restrictive Environment. Have you or your child with a disability faced systematic segregation because of the misuse of the LRE? Tell me your story in the comments below.
The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) can be an intimidating document. It can also make or break a student’s experience in special education. Parents often sit passively in IEP meetings where pre-written goals are recited to them. It can often feel like you have no input, but it doesn’t have to.
Parents are often their child’s best advocate. Use your expertise to become the mastermind of your child’s IEP. Don’t leave it to school staff to write the IEP from their perspective. Interject your wants and needs for your child. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) gives parents the explicit right to be an equal member of the IEP team, and have their requests considered.
You might be thinking: “I do this. I’m always making requests and the school staff always say no.” But are your requests in writing? Are your requests formally made before and during an IEP meeting, not just in an email? Are you asking for Prior Written Notice explaining the school’s decision to accept or deny your requests? You’ve heard the saying: If it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist. You must formalize your requests, and require the school staff to formalize their denials. This last part is really important; most schools don’t want to formally deny parents’ requests because it creates a paper trail that parents can use in dispute resolutions.
Read on to learn how to formalize your requests:
You should be asking for a draft of your child’s IEP at least a few days before the meeting. A few days before the school sends you a draft IEP, send them a parent input form (see a sample parent input form below). Ask the IEP author to copy and paste your concerns into the IEP. It’s important to have your actual words inserted into the legal document. I do this for my own son and the families I advocate for, and I’m always amazed at how many of our requests are inserted into the draft.
Sending it ahead of time gives everyone a heads up of what to expect at the meeting. It cuts down on the time of the meeting, and allows the team to get to all of the parent’s concerns. For example, I notice in a lot of meetings the IEP team will spend so much time reading word for word about the present levels. Many parents have already read and accepted this information at the evaluation meeting. Present levels are often copied and pasted from the evaluation report. If you send in requests and get a draft IEP ahead of time, you might feel more comfortable skipping entire sections that you agree with or have already read.
Often the IEP team never gets to topics like Extended School Year (ESY) and special transportation, because they used up all the meeting time on the first half of the IEP. But if you wrote in the parent input form that you have concerns about these topics they must address them, either at the meeting or in a Prior Written Notice (PWN). Always ask them to answer all your requests in the PWN, even if you didn’t get to those concerns in the meeting.
Check out an example of a Parent Input form that I use for my own son and the families I advocate for. I got this from fellow advocate, Helen Caldart, at the Special Education Advocates League of Pierce County, WA. It’s easy to use and follows most IEP formats. Feel free to share and use with credit to Helen Caldart. You can find more of her amazingly helpful documents at www.sealk12.org.
How do you prepare for your child’s IEP and make official requests? Do you put your requests in writing? Tell me about your experiences with this below.
Extended School Year (ESY) is an under-used and misunderstood part of special education. I’ve struggled to get my own son with Down syndrome meaningful ESY services. I was told that ESY was just for students who have fallen behind. At the time, my son was in his first year of preschool and the school district argued that he hadn’t yet fallen behind. After reading the law myself I realized my son was eligible for ESY services in order to received a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE). I learned that I didn’t have to wait for my son to regress to get ESY services.
Extended School Year is any special education or related service provided to a student with a disability outside of the regular school year. The service must be tailored to the child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) and at no cost to the parent. Summer school instantly comes to mind when we think of ESY, but don’t limit yourself to this idea alone. It can be ANY time school is not in session (before or after school, and winter or spring break included). ESY services can also be for a particular related service like speech, OT, or PT. It can go beyond academics and must be customized for your child. For instance, any social-emotional, functional, or behavior needs your child may have. Schools can conduct ESY services themselves or pay for your child to receive the services from a private provider.
Just remember this key question: Is ESY services needed to ensure your child receives a Free and Appropriate Education?
In my son’s case I argued that he was at a pivotal moment in emerging speech skills. The district had initially argued that ESY was only for regression and recoupment. I found that my state’s ESY eligibility policy also included maintaining skill level or work on emerging skills.
It’s important to start gathering data now to advocate for ESY. You don’t want to wait until the end of the school year to ask for ESY for your child. The school should be collecting data during and after winter break, spring break, after school, etc. The more specific the data you and the school gather the more likely you can successfully make your case for ESY for your child. You can use IEP progress reports, test scores, evaluations, behavior charts, pre and post tests, and school work before and after breaks.
Advocacy Tips to get ESY:
Make sure you look for your state requirements for ESY: The federal regulations give states discretion as to how to approach ESY. Services can vary from state to state, but must comply with the federal basic guidelines that you read above. For example, states cannot limit the type, amount or duration of ESY. ESY must also be customized for the student. A quick google search will help you find these regulations. I usually type in “Washington State Special Education Regulations” into google, and when I get into the document I scroll down to the table of contents and look for Extended School Year.
Watch out for the “Regression and Recoupment” limit: Regression and Recoupment looks at how much information the student will lose over break and how long it will take them to relearn the information. Most states look at more than just regression and recoupment. Courts have said states CAN use only regression and recoupment to determine ESY, but they don’t have to limit their eligibility to just this determination. In my son’s case I argued that he was at a pivotal moment in emerging speech skills. The district had initially argued that ESY was only for regression and recoupment. I found that my state’s law included emerging skills, and was successful in getting his ESY by using this factor.
Using other factors to advocate for ESY: Some states have expanded what factors can make a student eligible for ESY. Some of these factors can include working on emerging skills, the degree of impairment, the child’s rate of progress, critical point of instruction where the school must continue provide services so the student doesn’t fall behind. Interfering behaviors that may prevent a student from receiving FAPE during the school year can also be a factor. Also, special circumstances like Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) concerns. This is a big one in the Down syndrome community. For example, a state may decide that a student must be included in a summer school environment so the student can remain in the least restrictive environment during the break and work with typical peers.
Use Case Law to make your case: Courts have interpreted ESY differently across the country. But some often cited cases include Cordrey v. Eukert (1990), which found that ESY is required to prevent serious skill loss. This case has also limited eligibility for ESY. This case reminds us that you really need to have specific data to get ESY for your child. Kenton County School Board v. Hunt (6th Circuit 2004) the regression must be more than normal regression that all students see over break, and will take longer to recoup than typical students. M.M. v. School District of Greenville County (4th Circuit 2002) asks if the child’s progress made during the school year will be significantly jeopardized if he doesn’t receive ESY.
We recently moved to a new state and my son is now in kindergarten. At our first IEP meeting I asked for the district’s ESY policy. His IEP automatically included a “no” check mark under the question “does this child require ESY services?” I specifically had to ask for a Prior Written Notice (PWN) stating that although he is not eligible for ESY yet, that the school would begin taking data to determine eligibility.
It may be up to you to initiate the ESY eligibility process. The federal law doesn’t give a timeline as to when ESY has to be considered; another reason to check your state regulations. Some districts are not going to broadcast that ESY is a viable option to ensure your child receives FAPE, and the quality of those ESY services will have to be reserved for a whole separate blog post.
Has your child received ESY services? What did you have to do to get him or her services? What type of services did he/she receive and was it worth it? Comment below.
