Category: Inclusion

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How School Boards are Using Endrew F. Supreme Court Case Against Students with Down Syndrome

A recent U.S. Supreme Court case that was meant to be a watershed moment for the Down syndrome community and all students with disabilities, has quickly turned into yet another way to try and segregate our children.

The Endrew F. can be compared to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling for African American students. In Endrew F., The Supreme Court unanimously ruled schools must be held to a “markedly more demanding” standard when educating students with disabilities. But school boards are using the high court case to make an argument for continued segregation of students with the most significant disabilities.

Read Related Post Here: Realizing the Promise of the Endrew Supreme Court Case

It’s been 10 months since the Supreme Court created a new standard that requires special education students to meet academic standards and advance grade to grade. In that short time two cases revolving around the segregation of students with Down syndrome have put in question the promise of Endrew F.

As these two cases advance to the Ninth and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the question will be: How will the courts interpret Endrew F. for students with intellectual disabilities? Can these students only receive “more meaningful benefit” in a self-contained class?

Read Related Post Here: 7 Research Studies You Can Use at Your Child’s Next IEP Meeting to Win the Fight for Inclusion

If you’ve read this blog before, or have any knowledge of inclusion for students with Down syndrome, you know there’s NO research that shows more academic benefit for students with the most significant disabilities in self-contained classrooms.  In fact, every research study done since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act first became law in 1975, shows the regular classroom with proper supports provides all students with the best outcomes.

In both of the current cases at the federal appellate court level, R.M. v. Gilbert Unified School District and L.H. v. Hamilton County Department of Education, the parents and their supporters (COPAA, NDSC, NDSS, and other disability rights organizations) argue the boys with Down syndrome are in fact making progress in the regular classroom. You can read more about the cases below.

Read Related Post Here: L.H. v. Hamilton County Department of Education and R.M. v. Gilbert Unified School District

But the National School Boards Associations filed an amicus brief against the boys, and in favor of the school districts that want to segregate them. The organization that supports more than 90,000 school board members argues “academic benefit is the key factor for a court determining whether a school district has provided services in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).” The organization believes Endrew F. strengthened the importance of the educational benefit factor in LRE determinations. They stressed that school personnel are the experts when deciding if progress has been made and if placement should change, and courts shouldn’t “second guess” this judgement.

Read the National School Boards Association amicus brief for the R.M. Gilbert Unified School District here and for the L.H. v. Hamilton County Department of Education case here. 

Special Education Attorney and Professor, Susan Marks, is troubled by the National School Boards Association interpretation of the ruling. “They are essentially using Endrew F. as justification for trumping the LRE if a school team believes that a student would have greater academic progress in a separate program. Another troubling issue with the National School Board’s reasoning is their assertion that courts should give deference to the school professionals in making such determinations. However, we know that the IDEA gives parents a substantial role in developing their child’s program,” Susan Marks explains.

Special Education Advocates and Attorneys agree if the courts accept this troubling interpretation of Endrew F., parents will find it increasingly more difficult to access an inclusive placement. Still, many are confident the boys with Down syndrome in this case will prevail, because of the evidence that they made meaningful progress in regular education.

What do you think about these cases? Who do you think will prevail and why? Why are we still fighting for inclusion of students with the most significant disabilities? Tell me what you think below.

 

 

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How a Tennessee Boy with Down Syndrome’s Family Fought School Segregation and Won

Deborah Duncan Rausch says it took countless sleepless nights researching and even selling her home to fight her son, Luka’s, public school district and win. She doesn’t want any other family to have to do the same just to get their child included.

Deborah with her son, Luka

Deborah says it started in their hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee when she realized starting in preschool Luka would be segregated from his peers and set on a non-academic path to nowhere. The family moved to Hamilton County to a magnet school in Chattanooga that initially accepted Luka with open arms. But starting in 3rd grade, as high stakes state testing began, the school started pushing for a segregated setting even though Luka was making progress.

The district wanted to place Luka for half his day in a self-contained classroom in a school outside of his neighborhood. “The segregated class follows no state curriculum or standards. There’s no homework or grades. No accountability,” Deborah explains.

Read Related Post Here: Ninth Circuit Court to Decide if Student with Down Syndrome Can Stay in General Education Classroom

Deborah pushed back and started advocating for other families facing the same prejudice in her school district. “It was so important to me because I knew it was endemic. They were trying to segregate my son as a 9-year-old. It was worth selling my house to pay the $75,000 in legal fees to force the school district to follow federal law. But what about the families that can’t?” Deborah asks.

Knowing Luka would not receive a Free and Appropriate Education in the Least Restrictive Environment if he stayed, Deborah moved her son to a Montessori School where he continues to attend today. After a five year battle with the school district, the family eventually prevailed at the district court level in Tennessee. The District Court ruled that a self-contained class is more restrictive than necessary, but that the family would not receive reimbursement for the private Montessori School.

She didn’t stop there. “I’m in finance, so I know you have to follow the money,” says Deborah. She started digging deep, making numerous Freedom of Information requests, and soon uncovered an incentived funding formula that keeps students with disabilities in her county in a cycle of segregation. “Our district’s formula pays more in segregated setting receiving the exact same level of service, than if they were in regular setting. We filed suit against Tennessee’s Department of Education for violating their fudiciary duties. They quickly settled with us, because they knew we were right,” Deborah explains.

“We can’t go any place in our town without parents coming up to us and thanking us for what we did. They say they felt helpless,” Deborah describes.

Read Related Post Here: 7 Research Studies You Can Use at Your Child’s Next IEP Meeting to Win the Fight for Inclusion

The family’s battle for inclusion is still not over. Hamilton County Schools actually filed an appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Federal Appeals. “They have no ground to land on, but it allows them to delay reimbursement of our legal fees. They just look vindictive and have spent a lot of taxpayer money just to violate the law. We finally decided to cross appeal for reimbursement of the Montessori school private tuition,” Deborah explains.

12-year-old Luka

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that families can be reimbursed for private school tuition if the public school IEP was found to be inappropriate, and the if the private school placement is deemed to be the most appropriate available option (School Committee of the Town of Burlington v.Department of Education of Massachusetts). “The District Judge even stated Luka made progress at the Montessori School, and he ruled the public school was inappropriate. I think he knew there was a clear violation, but just didn’t want to penalize the school district by making them pay for the private school tuition,” Deborah explains.

Even after all of the family’s success, Deborah would never recommend suing. “I would recommend learning everything you can about your child’s rights. Get connected to a local advocacy agency. No parents should go into an IEP meeting alone. Always have an advocate with you. Schools will negotiate if pushed. Fewer district will go as far to segregate as ours did,” Deborah says.

“And If you don’t care at all about disabilities, care about the the cost of taking parents to court. We could be pushing a million dollars for my son’s case, and not a single student has been educated with that money. That money should have been spent on training teachers, co-teachers, advocacy training for parents. Everyone should be outraged by that.”

A ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court for L.H. v. Department of Education of Hamilton County could take months or even a year. I will keep you posted on any updates about the case.

Have you or someone you know had to fight a similar battle for inclusion? Are you frustrated that we’re still fighting this fight more than 30 years after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed? Tell me about it below.

 

 

 

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Inclusion Evolution’s Top 5 Posts of 2017

This blog started as a research project into how to include my son in kindergarten and beyond. In seven short months I’ve learned so much, and I hope you have too. I appreciate your readership, and as I look back on the top posts of this past half year I realize what’s important to you.

Inclusion in school tops the list, which is good because that’s where I want my focus to be in 2018. As part of the Special Education Advocacy Training course I’m taking through the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, I hope to document what I learn and in turn help my readers on their journey to inclusion too.

Thank you so much for following along on our journey! I appreciate all of you!

 

Inclusion Evolution’s Top 5 Posts of 2017

  1. 7 Research Studies You Can Use At Your Child’s Next IEP Meeting To Win the Fight for Inclusion

  2. Federal Appeals Court to Decide If Student with Down Syndrome Can Stay in General Classroom

  3. 5 Tips for Including Students with Down Syndrome in a General Classroom

  4. Teaching Your Child with Down Syndrome to Read

  5. Why Your Child Needs a “No Consent” Letter for Restraint and Seclusion

What was your favorite post of 2017? What would you like me to cover in the new year? Let me know in the comments below.

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Why I Want My Son With Down Syndrome to Live a Life of Interdependence, Not Independence

Recently I wrote a blog post lamenting my mortality as it relates to my son with Down syndrome. Parents are often a child with a disability’s first and most important advocate. While the post started off with me whining that no one can replace me, it ended on a more realistic, less narcissistic note. I will probably die before my son, and he will be just fine without me. How, you ask?

Read Related Post: The Immortal Mom: Why I Can Never Die

He will do just fine, because he will have a “Circle of Support” that will allow him to lead a successful life of interdependence. You read that right: not independence, “interdependence.”

This idea is not mine. Many parents of children with disabilities facilitate this idea of interdependence every day, and one in particular has coined the phrase “Circle of Support.”

National recognized speaker, author and advocate, Janice Fialka, shared her son’s journey to interdependence with me via phone the other day. You may recognize her 30-year-old son, Micah, from the upcoming documentary “Intelligent Lives.”

Micah lives exactly 471 miles from home (I had to smile over the phone, because of course his mom knew the exact mileage), and has worked for the University of Syracuse as a teacher’s assistant for the past 5 1/2 years. He also has an IQ well below what most people would consider functional for a life of independence and “success.” Micah’s mom, Janice, says Micah’s success is 30 years in the making and includes help from dozens of friends.

“My advice to families is to seek out support. At first I felt awkward, uncomfortable, angry or too shy to ask for help. I soon realized Micah needs more than just me,” says Janice.

Micah (center) with his most inner circle–his family.

Fialka says families need to drop their love affair with independence. We all need a circle of support to be successful. “It’s important to learn the value of interdependence. Learn to ask for help and let people in. We had to be intentional about this with Micah,” explains Janice. Micah’s family became intentional about interdependence in elementary school by creating a “circle of friends.” First they invited friends in his class to hang out with Micah at lunch time, recess, and at home.

“Micah is poised now, but he could be very annoying when he was younger. He just didn’t know how to interact with people. I can remember crying because we invited friends over and Micah would be standing in the corner not playing with his guests,” Janice describes. The “Circle of Friends” got more complicated in middle school, but Janice was able to build relationships with eight families who continued to interact with Micah. By the end of high school, Micah had a group of friends rally, petition, and eventually help Micah sue a local university to allow him to live on campus and attend college courses there.

Read Related Post: Social Media Give Self-Advocates Voice

“When you ask Micah now, he will tell you he’s always had lots of friends. But he spent countless weekends at home alone. He’d call five friends and no one could meet up,” remembers Janice. Still, the family continue with the intentional interaction, and it really paid off. “When Micah was offered a job seven hours from home, he was the one that came to us an said ‘I’m going to need to create a circle in Syracuse if I’m going to live on my own.’ We knew then what an impact the idea had on Micah’s life,” Janice says.

Janice wants parents to know it’s “not about letting go, but holding on differently.”

What an impactful message from a mom who’s been there and gets it. You can order Janice and Micah’s new book, “What Matters: Reflections on Disability, Community, and Love,” here. Listen to an interview Janice gave to NPR here.

Tell me what you think about the idea of a “Circle of Support” for your loved one with Down syndrome below. How have you already begun this journey? What challenges and successes have you found in helping your loved one seek a successful life of interdependence?

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College Students with Down Syndrome REACH for True Inclusion

College may not be for everyone, but for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) post-secondary programs have historically been completely out of reach. Since 2008 the federal government has given incentives to higher education programs who open their doors to students with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities.

Since the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act a decade ago, more than 260 college programs have been created for students with ID. But only the minority of these programs include a 4-year, all inclusive program for students with ID. The College of Charleston’s REACH program is one of them.

Read Related Post: InclusiveU: What College Should Look Like for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

“I love it here. I am treated like a person, not like a disability. My classes are hard but I get all the help I need. I have lots of friends who don’t care about my disability, we don’t really talk about it,” explains a students with Down syndrome attending the REACH program.

The REACH program models a typical college experience. Students take regular classes and live on campus. The 4-year program started in 2009 with a grant from the College Transition Connection program, and has four areas of focus: academics, social, independent living, and career development.

Program Executive Director, Edie Cusack, says student success in the program often requires training parents and professors to change their mindset. “There’s an acceptance process for parents too. We’re really looking for them to let go. We often get parents at orientation who say ‘maybe that student can do it, but my child cannot.’ By the end of the program they’re proven wrong.”

“We also conduct specific inclusion training with professors, who often have no background in teaching techniques for students with intellectual disabilities. We promote UDL, scaffolding instruction, and stress high expectations that academic learning will take place,” explains Cusack.

Read Related Post: College Scholarships for Students with Down Syndrome

REACH boasts a 93% post-program employment rate, and a 75% independent living rate. Cusack says students spend the last six months of the program finding employment and independent living supports. Students must also complete an internship in a career field of their choice.

“I believe in the dignity of risk. Stopping people with disabilities from taking risks and making mistakes is stopping them from living a full life. A cool side effect of the program is the idea of disability is shifting. No one turns and looks and stares when our students with Down syndrome goes into cafeteria. In fact we have a student with Down syndrome currently who has been entered into the lottery to dorm with typical students because she’s on-par for living skills,” Cusack says.

There are no national standards or accreditation process that post-secondary programs must follow to serve students with ID. Think College works as a clearing house for more than 260 college programs, and is working with the federal government to develop standards. You can learn about other college programs here.

A bill was just released to the House of Representatives to reauthorize the 2008 Higher Education Act last week. Some worry that gains that have been made under the 2008 version, could be lost in the current bill that calls for deregulation. You can read the bill here.

You can find out about the College of Charleston’s REACH program here. Is your loved one with Down syndrome going to college? What other post-secondary programs have you learned about that serve students with ID? Share what you know below.