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Education Law

Special Education Law Blog

A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, an attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, his law clerk, Suzanne Geller, and other guest authors.

Post Frequency: 1.1/day

Last Entry: February 25, 2011 at 02:04:00

NY Court Rules Parents Entitled to Retroactive Payment of Tuition

Posted on February 25, 2011
School district's have a nearly infinite ability to argue for the most strained construction of the law. The make these arguments because given the conservative nature of the judiciary they may just meet with a positive reception to their strained...

Transition Amendment Bill A Step Up for Students

Posted on February 23, 2011
Congressman Gregg Harper is the only member of Congress with a child with Fragile X. He is putting his life experience to good use in his proposed amendment to the transition provisions of IDEIA. He has proposed a bill that...

List of Transition Assessments to Share with School

Posted on February 23, 2011
School personnel claim to have expertise in all things educational. When it comes to transition assessments, too often the attitude is "what is that" or just do career cruising. Career crusing may be part of the process but it should...

School Answering Machine Good for Laughs

Posted on February 22, 2011
Even though this answering machine message pokes fun at parents, it is good for a hearty laugh. We all need to be able to laugh at ourselves. Leave it to the Aussies to have the nerve to create this recording...

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Death of Child in School Leads to Possible Liability

Posted on February 21, 2011
Imposing money damages on schools for violations of IDEA rights and other violations is far from easy. Parents are often dismayed to learn that very blatant and egregious violations of their rights will not support an action for damages. Failing...

House Restores Funding Cuts for Special Education for Now

Posted on February 18, 2011
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....

Local School Districts Already Facing Big Cuts

Posted on February 16, 2011
It seems even more unthinkable that the feds would cut $500 million from special education when local school districts are contemplating and about to approve stiff cuts in funding and services. Big cuts are being proposed at the state level...

Virtual Law Office to Allow Parents Access to Legal Representation

Posted on February 16, 2011
I am proud to announce that today I have launched the first virtual law office that represents parents of special needs in the area of special education law and guardianship! (This virtual law office will be in addition to my...

Tell Congress to Oppose Bill which Cuts Half a Billion Dollars in Special Education Funding

Posted on February 15, 2011
This is a critical time to step up make your voice heard. Congress and especially the Tea Party members think the way to balance the budget is to make drastic cuts to special education. If you have never called or...

New Report on STDs and Teens

Posted on February 14, 2011
A recent report finds that many students who claim to abstinent from sexual activity are testing positive for STDs. While the report focuses on teenaged students generally it further highlights students with special needs who are especially vulnerable for a...

Illegal Holds, Restraint and Seclusion by Nicole T. Jorwic

Posted on February 11, 2011
Here is a message to school personnel "take your hands off the students!" I was recently at a school for a meeting for one of my clients. The meeting had gone well and I was exiting the building ready to...

School District's Gathering Information on Parents

Posted on February 09, 2011
School district's frequently surprise me with the depth and scope of knowledge that they have on parents. A typical first conversation I have with opposing counsel goes something like: "are you aware of the fact that the parents are on...

Autism Rates Triple in California Since 2002

Posted on February 06, 2011
A just released study shows that from 2002 to the present the rate of autism being diagnosed has tripled in the last 8 years in California. That is a simply shocking statistic that should be on the front page of...

Cough Meds May Hurt More Than They Help

Posted on February 04, 2011
It is cold and flu season. Before you give your child with special needs cough medicine consider the following. Children with special needs frequently do not metabolize medications, even over the counter products, the same as their typcial peers, as....

Emergency Evacuation Should be Part of the IEP

Posted on February 03, 2011
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...

Count Your Blessings? by Lori Miller Fox

Posted on February 02, 2011
People say we should count our blessings, and I couldn?t agree more, except when those ?blessings? spring from the mouths of unwelcome, disrespectful strangers. I don?t know about you, but I can too often recall some truly blessed moments spent...

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

Posted on February 01, 2011
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...

Special Education Litigation on the Rise?

Posted on January 28, 2011
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....

Traumatic Brain Injuries in the Spotlight on American Idol and Beyond

Posted on January 28, 2011
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...

Words of Wisdom for (and at) IEP Meetings

Posted on January 27, 2011
IEP meetings sould 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...

Guidelines for Effective Educational Testing Part 2

Posted on January 25, 2011
Here is the continuation of the last post to help guide parents and advocates through the testing process: Testing Errata Always be attuned to the possibility that the test scores may be erroneous. Although hard to detect on the face...

Guidelines for Effective Educational Testing Part 1

Posted on January 24, 2011
In this age of RtI where testing is claimed to be a "thing of the past," even though that position is hogwash, it is even more important to fully understand the language and process of testing. This posting is part...

Adults with Developmentally Disabilities Facing Dire Circumstances

Posted on January 23, 2011
Over this past year I have increasing represented families whose children need residential placements. While I have no illusions that simply placing a child in residential is the answer to all prayers, it is almost always a the final culmination...

Steps towards Making a Strategic Plan for Your Next IEP

Posted on January 21, 2011
?The following is derived from several presentations that I have made over the last few years. I follow these steps as a matter of course. It has been my experience that following these steps will significantly increase the potential of...

Special Education Directors Do You See Yourself?

Posted on January 19, 2011
This cartoon would be very funny if it were not so true. Maybe school personnel should check it and see themselves especially in this era of RtI.

Matt's Big Transition Success Story

Posted on January 12, 2011
A number of year ago I represented Matt as he fought for reimbursement and payment for PACE, a high quality transition program, run by the teaching university at National Louis in Skokie. While we won a partial victory at hearing,...

Location App to Keep Students Safe and Sound

Posted on January 12, 2011
AbleLink Technologies today announced the release of Community Sidekick, an innovative iPhone application designed for individuals with special needs who wish to provide automated location updates to friends and family members as they travel in the community...

The British Medical Journal calls Dr. Wakefield's Autism Study an "Elaborate Fraud"

Posted on January 06, 2011
Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who originally published a study that linked MMR to autism, was called to task by the British Medical Journal. The Journal is set to publish a series of articles by an investigative journalist who spent...

Students with Disabilities Underrepresented in Literature

Posted on January 06, 2011
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...

New Application for Apple Products tries to Protect Students from Sexting

Posted on January 04, 2011
This fall Apple started to develop a technology that could help prevent sexting . This technology would allow parents to block incoming or outgoing texts containing certain words. Considering the recent incidents of sexting in the news, this would allow...