Tag Archives: Special Education

University of California Davis and Yale University study: Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap

5 Nov

University of California Davis and Yale University study: Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap
The National Center for Learning Disabilities described dyslexia in What Is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia at a Glance

Dyslexia is the name for specific learning disabilities in reading. Dyslexia is often characterized by difficulties with accurate word recognition, decoding and spelling. Dyslexia may cause problems with reading comprehension and slow down vocabulary growth. Dyslexia may result in poor reading fluency and reading out loud. Dyslexia is neurological and often genetic. Dyslexia is not the result of poor instruction. With the proper support, almost all people with dyslexia can become good readers and writers.

As with other learning disabilities, dyslexia is a lifelong challenge that people are born with. This language processing disorder can hinder reading, writing, spelling and sometimes even speaking. Dyslexia is not a sign of poor intelligence or laziness. It is also not the result of impaired vision. Children and adults with dyslexia simply have a neurological disorder that causes their brains to process and interpret information differently.

Dyslexia occurs among people of all economic and ethnic backgrounds. Often more than one member of a family has dyslexia. According to the National Institute of Child and Human Development, as many as 15 percent of Americans have major troubles with reading.

Much of what happens in a classroom is based on reading and writing. So it’s important to identify dyslexia as early as possible. Using alternate learning methods, people with dyslexia can achieve success.
http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/what-is-dyslexia

Dyslexia is a neurological and genetic disease.

Medical News Today reported in the article, What Is Dyslexia? What Causes Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain’s processing of graphic symbols. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material. It is typically characterized by difficulties in word recognition, spelling and decoding. People with dyslexia have problems with reading comprehension.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities1 says that dyslexia is a neurological and often genetic condition, and not the result of poor teaching, instruction or upbringing.
Dyslexia is not linked to intelligence.

What is dyslexia?

The problem in dyslexia is a linguistic one, not a visual one. Dyslexia in no way stems from any lack of intelligence. People with severe dyslexia can be brilliant.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) lived with dyslexia.

The effects of dyslexia, in fact, vary from person to person. The only shared trait among people with dyslexia is that they read at levels significantly lower than typical for people of their age. Dyslexia is different from reading retardation which may reflect mental retardation or cultural deprivation.

According to the University of Michigan Health System, dyslexia is the most common learning disability2. Eighty percent of students with learning disabilities have dyslexia.

The International Dyslexia Association3 estimates that 15% to 20% of the American population have some of the symptoms of dyslexia, including slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling, poor writing, or mixing up similar words.

The National Health Service4, UK, estimates that 4-8% of all schoolchildren in England have some degree of dyslexia.

It is estimated that boys are one-and-a-half to three times more likely to develop dyslexia than girls. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/186787.php

Since individuals manifest the condition of dyslexia in different ways, a debate is occurring about whether the diagnosis of dyslexia has meaning.

Science Daily reported in Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap:

Identifying children with dyslexia as early as first grade could narrow or even close the achievement gap with typical readers, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Yale University.

The data indicate that it is no longer acceptable to wait until a child is in third grade or later before undertaking efforts to identify or address dyslexia.

“If the persistent achievement gap between dyslexic and typical readers is to be narrowed, or even closed, reading interventions must be implemented early, when children are still developing the basic foundation for reading acquisition,” said Emilio Ferrer, a UC Davis psychology professor. He is lead author of the article published in The Journal of Pediatrics this month.

Ferrer and his Yale colleagues, Bennett and Sally Shaywitz, report the results of a longitudinal study of reading from first grade to 12th grade and beyond. Compared with typical readers, dyslexic readers had lower reading scores as early as first grade, and their trajectories over time never converge with those of typical readers. These data demonstrate that such differences are not so much a function of increasing disparities over time, but instead reflect marked differences already present in first grade between typical and dyslexic readers.

The authors also conclude that implementing effective reading programs as early as kindergarten or even preschool offers the potential to close the achievement gap…. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151102184216.htm

Citation:

Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap Intervention should begin in first grade, or earlier

Date: November 2, 2015
Source: University of California – Davis

Summary:

Data demonstrate marked differences already present in first grade between typical and dyslexic readers.
Journal Reference:

1. Emilio Ferrer, Bennett A. Shaywitz, John M. Holahan, Karen E. Marchione, Reissa Michaels, Sally E. Shaywitz. Achievement Gap in Reading Is Present as Early as First Grade and Persists through Adolescence. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2015; 167 (5): 1121 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.07.045

Here is the press release from UC Davis:

Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap, UC Davis study says
November 2, 2015

Identifying children with dyslexia as early as first grade could narrow or even close the achievement gap with typical readers, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Yale University.

The data indicate that it is no longer acceptable to wait until a child is in third grade or later before undertaking efforts to identify or address dyslexia.
“If the persistent achievement gap between dyslexic and typical readers is to be narrowed, or even closed, reading interventions must be implemented early, when children are still developing the basic foundation for reading acquisition,” said Emilio Ferrer, a UC Davis psychology professor. He is lead author of the article published in The Journal of Pediatrics this month.

Ferrer and his Yale colleagues, Bennett and Sally Shaywitz, report the results of a longitudinal study of reading from first grade to 12th grade and beyond. Compared with typical readers, dyslexic readers had lower reading scores as early as first grade, and their trajectories over time never converge with those of typical readers. These data demonstrate that such differences are not so much a function of increasing disparities over time, but instead reflect marked differences already present in first grade between typical and dyslexic readers.

The authors also conclude that implementing effective reading programs as early as kindergarten or even preschool offers the potential to close the achievement gap.
Related research in early intervention
The study builds on recent studies by UC Davis researchers and others that find that interventions in early reading are available and effective.

Ferrer is among a group of UC Davis faculty who recently received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to study and implement early reading intervention in schools in Yolo and Sacramento counties, and in Texas.
Additional information:
• Related: $3.5 million grant to UC Davis will help study early reading instruction
• Journal article
Media contact(s):
• Karen Nikos-Rose, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-6101, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu

Getting a correct early diagnosis of dyslexia, which is a learning disability is crucial to a child’s academic success.

Resources:

From One Teacher to Another
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/1Teacher2Another.html

Dyslexia
http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/questions/dyslexia

Dyslexia and Reading Problems
http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/dyslexia.htm

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

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Penn State study: Ethnic students and students of color underrepresented in special education classes

24 Jun

The University of Michigan Health System has a great guide, Learning Disabilities:

What are learning disabilities (LD)? 

If your child is not doing as well in school as they have the potential to, they may have a learning disability. Having a learning disability means having a normal intelligence but a problem in one or more areas of learning.

A learning disability is a neurobiological disorder; people with LD have brains that learn differently because of differences in brain structure and/or function.  If a person learns differently due to visual, hearing or physical handicaps, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage, we do not call it a learning disability.

Some people with LD also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder orADHD.

LDs can affect many different areas:

  • Spoken language—problems in listening and speaking
  • Reading—difficulties decoding or recognizing words or understanding them
  • Written language—problems with writing, spelling, organizing ideas
  • Math—trouble doing arithmetic or understanding basic concepts
  • Reasoning—problems organizing and putting together thoughts
  • Memory—problems remembering facts and instructions
  • Social behavior—difficulties with social judgment, tolerating frustration and making friends
  • Physical coordination—problems with handwriting, manipulating small objects, running and jumping
  • Organization—trouble with managing time and belongings, carrying out a plan
  • Metacognition (thinking about thinking)—problems with knowing, using and monitoring the use of thinking and learning strategies, and learning from mistakes

Why is early diagnosis and treatment so important?

When LDs are not found and treated early on, they tend to snowball.  As kids get more and more behind in school, they may become more and more frustrated, feeling like a failure. Often, self-esteem problems lead to bad behavior and other problems.  High school dropout rates are much higher for students with LDs than for those without [1].   These educational differences, in turn, affect the job and earnings prospects for people with LDs.  When LD is not noticed or not treated, it can cause adult literacy problems.   By identifying LDs early, your child will get the help they need to reach their potential.

How common are learning disabilities?

Educators estimate that between 5 and 10 percent of kids between ages 6 and 17 have learning disabilities [2]. More than half of the kids receiving special education in the United States have LDs [3]. Dyslexia is the most common LD; 80 percent of students with LDs have dyslexia [4].

What causes learning disabilities? 

Because there are lots of kinds of learning disabilities, it is hard to diagnose them and pinpoint the causes. LDs seem to be caused by the brain, but the exact causes are not known. Some risk factors are:

         Heredity

         Low birth weight, prematurity, birth trauma or distress

         Stress before or after birth

         Treatment for cancer or leukemia

         Central nervous system infections

         Severe head injuries

          Chronic medical illnesses, like diabetes or asthma

          Poor nutrition

 LDs are not caused by environmental factors, like cultural differences, or bad teaching.

When your child is diagnosed with a LD, the most important thing is not to look back and try to figure out if something went wrong. Instead, think about moving forward and finding help .http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/ld.htm

Once a learning disability has been diagnosed there are steps parents can take to advocate for their child. Scholastic has great advice for parents in the article, Falling Behind With a Learning Disability.http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/learning-disability/

Schools often test children to determine whether a child has a learning disability. Often parents may want to have an independent evaluation for their child. https://drwilda.com/2012/09/02/survey-most-people-dont-know-what-a-learning-disability-is/

Joy Resmovits reported in the Huffington Post article, More Minority Students Should Be In Special Ed, Study Says:

A study released Wednesday, led by Penn State education professor Paul Morgan, suggests that’s the case. Schools have been identifying too few minority students for placement in special education, he claims — in some cases, by a margin as large as 60 percent.

According to a U.S. Education Department study, in fall 2012, 1.08 million black students and 1.24 million Hispanic students ages 6 to 21 were receiving special education services. Of the 5.7 million total special education students, black students comprised 19 percent and Hispanic students 21.8 percent. That same year, 11.3 percent of black students and 8.2 percent of Hispanic students were placed in special education, compared with 8.2 percent of white students.

Morgan bases his conclusion on the assertion that civil rights activists and educators who say too many minority students are in special education have been relying on simple comparisons.

“If general school age population is 14 percent black, you would expect 14 percent of students who are black would be represented in special education,” Morgan said. “But 19 percent of the special ed population is black. That’s been taken as a disparity.”

This reported disparity led the federal government to mandate monitoring of the percentages of minority students placed in special education. School districts found exceeding expected percentages “due to inappropriate identification” are required to allocate 15 percent of a specific funding stream to reducing that number through early intervention, a program to help kids when they’re younger, instead of putting them in separate educational programs for their entire academic lives.

“Children who are minorities are more likely to be exposed to the risk factors that contribute to having a disability: more likely to be exposed to lead, born into poverty, fetal alcohol syndrome,” Morgan said. “You have to take that into account in terms of understanding who is under- or over-represented in special education. Research has not done that — it has relied on simple unadjusted contrasts….”                                             http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/24/special-education-minorities_n_7649330.html

See, Minority students are underrepresented in special education        http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150624100331.htm

Citation:

Minority students are underrepresented in special education

Date:               June 24, 2015

Source:           American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Summary:

A new federally funded study finds that racial, ethnic, and language minority elementary- and middle-school students are less likely than otherwise similar white, English-speaking children to be identified as having disabilities and, as a result, are disproportionately underrepresented in special education. These findings differ from most prior education research and contrast with current federal legislation and policies.

Journal Reference:

  1. L. Morgan, G. Farkas, M. M. Hillemeier, R. Mattison, S. Maczuga, H. Li, M. Cook. Minorities Are Disproportionately Underrepresented in Special Education: Longitudinal Evidence Across Five Disability Conditions. Educational Researcher, 2015; DOI:10.3102/0013189X15591157

Here is the press release from the American Educational Research Association:

For Immediate Release:
June 24, 2015

Contact:
Tony Pals, tpals@aera.net
office: (202) 238-3235
cell: (202) 288-9333
Bridget Jameson, bjameson@aera.net
office: (202) 238-3233

Study Finds Minority Students Are Underrepresented in Special Education
Finding Conflicts with Current Federal Legislation and Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2015—A new federally funded study finds that racial, ethnic, and language minority elementary- and middle-school students are less likely than otherwise similar white, English-speaking children to be identified as having disabilities and, as a result, are disproportionately underrepresented in special education. These findings differ from most prior education research and contrast with current federal legislation and policies. The study was published online today in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.

Authors Paul L. Morgan of the Pennsylvania State University, George Farkas of University of California, Irvine, and Marianne M. Hillemeier, Richard Mattison, Steve Maczuga, Hui Li, and Michael Cook, all of the Pennsylvania State University, found that racial and ethnic minority children are less likely than otherwise similar white, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled across all five of the surveyed disability conditions—learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, other health impairments, or emotional disturbances—and, so, are less likely to receive potentially beneficial special education services. Language minority children are less likely than otherwise similar children from English-speaking homes to be identified as having learning disabilities or speech or language impairments.

Long-standing and ongoing federal legislation and policymaking has attempted to reduce what has been repeatedly reported to be minority overrepresentation in special education. The U.S. Department of Education is currently considering issuing further compliance monitoring guidelines regarding minority overrepresentation.

“Our findings indicate that federal legislation and policies currently designed to reduce minority over-representation in special education may be misdirected,” said Morgan. “These well-intentioned policies instead may be exacerbating the nation’s education inequities by limiting minority children’s access to potentially beneficial special education and related services to which they may be legally entitled.”

The authors analyzed multiyear longitudinal and nationally representative data from the U.S. Department of Education. The analyses extensively controlled for child-, family-, and state-level variables. These included children’s own academic achievement and behavior, whether they were born with low birth weight, family socioeconomic status and access to health insurance, and their state of residence, among other factors.

“Prior studies have mostly looked at simple, unadjusted comparisons between the general population and the special education population, or differences among minority and non-minority students with controls only at the district or school level,” said Morgan. “Yet these studies have often not accounted for minority children’s greater exposure to factors that increase the risk for disabling conditions. In contrast, our study corrects at the child- and family-levels for minority children’s greater exposure to these risk factors, including the strong predictors of academic achievement or behavior for a school-based disability diagnosis.”

The study’s findings indicated that the underrepresentation of minority children was evident throughout elementary and middle school.

Additional results include:

  • African American children have odds of learning disability identification that are 58 percent lower than those of otherwise similar white children. African American children’s odds of identification for speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, health impairments, and emotional disturbances are, respectively, 63 percent, 57 percent, 77 percent, and 64 percent lower than otherwise similar white children.
  • Hispanic children have odds of learning disability, speech or language impairments, or other health impairments that are, respectively, 29 percent, 33 percent, and 73 percent lower than otherwise similar white children.
  • Children from non-English-speaking households have odds of learning disabilities as well as speech or language impairment identification that are, respectively, 28 percent and 40 percent lower than otherwise similar children from English-speaking households.
  • Children from families without health insurance are less likely to be identified as having speech or language impairments.
  • Children from families with lower levels of education and income are less likely to be identified as having other health impairments.

“This underrepresentation may result from teachers, school psychologists, and other education professionals responding differently to white, English-speaking children and their parents,” said Morgan. “Education professionals should be attentive to cultural and language barriers that may keep minority children with disabilities from being appropriately identified and treated.”

“Untreated disabilities increase children’s risk for many adversities, including persistent academic and behavioral difficulties in school,” Morgan said. “As a matter of social justice, we should work to ensure that all children with disabilities, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or language use, receive the care they need.”

Funding Note
Funding for this study was provided by the National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Infrastructure support was provided by Penn State’s Population Research Institute through funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

About AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national professional organization devoted to the scientific study of education. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook and Twitter.

http://www.aera.net/Newsroom/NewsReleasesandStatements/StudyFindsMinorityStudentsAreUnderrepresentedinSpecialEducation/tabid/16001/Default.aspx

All Children Have A Right to A Good Basic Education.

Resources:

Early warning signs of a learning disability

http://www.babycenter.com/0_early-warning-signs-of-a-learning-disability_67978.bc

How to know if your child has a learning disability

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/how-to-know-if-your-child-has-a-learning-disability/2012/05/08/gIQAvzLvAU_story.html

If You Suspect a Child Has a Learning Disability

http://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-testing/if-you-suspect-child-has-learning-disability

Learning Disabilities in Children

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Learning Disabilities (LD)

http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART ©

http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©

http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©

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School personnel must be aware of epilepsy among children with physical disabilities

17 Mar

The Epilepsy Foundation has a great synopsis of the issues for schools regarding children with epilepsy. In Educators, the Epilepsy Foundation says:

About 300,000 American children and adolescents have seizure disorders, also known as epilepsy. Today, thanks to regular treatment with medicines that prevent seizures, many children with epilepsy have these episodes infrequently or not at all and are able to participate fully in school activities. However, children who are still having seizures may run into problems at school, problems like isolation from other students, low self-esteem and a lower level of achievement. Fortunately, many of these problems can be overcome or prevented through appropriate management by an informed school staff, particularly the classroom teacher and the school nurse.
Scholastic Achievement
Most children with epilepsy develop and learn similarly to children without epilepsy; however, as a group their risk for problems with learning is increased threefold. Approximately 9 percent of children with epilepsy have IQ’s below 70, a percentage that is three times greater than in the general population.
Children who achieve seizure control relatively quickly with few side effects and no cognitive impairments generally have the best chance for average or above average educational achievement. However, it is worth noting that children with epilepsy with average I.Q. may not achieve up to their potential, and attention problems have been identified across the spectrum. Loss of school time because of previously undiagnosed seizures or medical tests may also affect performance, even among children who are otherwise doing well.
Students with epilepsy are at increased risk for academic underachievement, particularly in the basic skills of reading, language, and arithmetic. Many of them are found to be significantly behind their peers in academic achievement levels, ranging from 16 percent below grade in reading to 50 percent in general knowledge. In addition, children with epilepsy have been found more likely to have impairment of self-concept and behavior than are children with asthma. Children with severe epilepsy are also likely to experience social rejection from peers.
Social Issues: Teachers & School Nurses Promote Understanding
Teacher attitude is an important factor in a child’s social adjustment at school; programs for the school community form an important part of most Epilepsy Foundation programs in local areas. Such programs generally focus on teacher awareness of seizure symptoms, seizure management and full integration of the child within the community. School nurses also play an important role in the management of the child with epilepsy at school, especially in dispensing of antiepileptic medication during the school day, and in educating the rest of the school community about epilepsy.
Education Rights
Gaining access to needed educational services is often difficult for parents of children with epilepsy. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law which states that every child with a disability is entitled to a free, appropriate education in the least restrictive setting. Children with epilepsy may be entitled to special education and related services under the Act if having epilepsy affects their educational performance. Every state has laws providing for some kind of educational services for children with disabilities.
Students of all ages may face obstacles to participation in educational programs, sports or housing programs. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) forbids discrimination against qualified students with disabilities by educational institutions, including colleges and universities. If a school or college receives federal funds, the anti-discrimination regulations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 may also apply. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/livingwithepilepsy/educators/

Many children with physical disabilities also have epilepsy.

Special Education News posted Facts About Epilepsy Teachers Should Know:

A lot of teachers do not know but some children with physical disabilities will also suffer from problems like epilepsy.
Post by SEN Team | march 14th, 2013
There is a high chance of this occurring and because of that, special education teachers need to know the basic facts of what epilepsy is and how to deal with seizure first aid inside the classroom.
The Chance of Epilepsy Occurring
The occurrence of epilepsy in children is high. In a survey with over 200 children, there is a 0.5% chance of epilepsy from happening. Using this data, the special education services are making changes in the curriculum and teacher training in order for them to be able to handle epilepsy alongside another disability that the child is experiencing.

Teachers would have to understand how children are affected by these conditions. They need to learn what the long-term applications are in order for them to be able to adjust the well-being and daily functioning of the child.
General Facts and Myths about Epilepsy:
Truths:
1. Epilepsy can be diagnosed when seizures happen repeatedly without another trigger event.
2. Individuals who take correct treatment and medication can get rid of epilepsy.
3. There are over 40 various types of epileptic seizures with different range and ways of attacking a person.
4. Not every child with disability will have what they call tonic clonic seizure or grand mal.

False Statements:
1. A person can swallow their tongue when being attacked with seizure.
2. Epilepsy can be transferred from one person to another
3. People who have epilepsy have intellectual problems
What causes epilepsy?
Epilepsy occurs when there is a problem in the transmission and receiving of electrical activity in the brain. When an interruption occurs it can happen in different places in the brain and it will affect behavior, consciousness level as well as sensation and movement.

Children suffering from epilepsy will have a different brain activity, sometimes it will run at a much faster rate than what is normal causing the epileptic seizure to occur. Some types of seizure are easier to detect when compared with others.

Types of Epilepsy and Seizures
Other types of seizure are not easily detectable. Some seizures are described as simple or partial and will have no direct effect on the conscious level of the individual while the other will be described as more complex.

A person suffering will have an altered state of consciousness and it would be best for teachers to know the standard emergency procedures needed to help solve the problem while it is occurring in class.
http://www.specialednews.com/news/facts-about-epilepsy-teachers-should-know.htm

The Epilepsy Foundation also has great resources which explain to parents their children’s rights for an education.

In Elementary and Secondary Education Law, the Epilepsy Foundation advises:

IDEA and Your Right to a “Free, Appropriate Education”
IDEA, formerly known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 92-142), guarantees children with disabilities a “free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting.” This means that local school districts must develop and pay for an educational program that is tailored to the individual needs of the child with a disability. In some situations, the local school district may even be legally required to pay tuition at a private school or the cost of an outside provider if it is unable to provide the needed services in its own schools.
To qualify for protection under IDEA, a child must have a disability that adversely affects his or her ability to learn, and thus needs special education and related services. “Special education” includes instruction that is specifically designed to meet the child’s unique needs that result from a disability. It can involve adapting the content, methodology or delivery of the instruction. Disabilities covered under IDEA may include health impairments such as epilepsy, as well as traumatic brain injuries, learning disabilities, mental retardation and autism. (A child with epilepsy or another disability who does not qualify for services under IDEA may, however, qualify for services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as discussed below.)
By law, public schools are required to educate children with disabilities in the “least restrictive environment” possible. This means schools cannot place a child with epilepsy in a special education classroom, away from students who do not have a disability, simply because the child with the disability requires special services. Instead, the school must allow these children to be mainstreamed and provide the related service in some other way, such as having the child visit the nurse at a designated time each day to receive medication.
For a child with epilepsy, commonly requested related services include: health services (such as administration of medication in the event of a prolonged seizure), specialized recreation services (for a child with uncontrolled seizures), counseling (to compensate for the social adjustment aspects of epilepsy) and other non-instructional services. Specialized instruction may also be necessary to compensate for accompanying learning disabilities or other cognitive impairments resulting from frequent losses of consciousness or other impairment of attention or learning ability. In some situations, it may be appropriate for the child to receive this instruction once a week for an hour at a time, for example, whereas in other situations, the severity of a child’s disability requires he or she receive specialized instruction full time. Under IDEA, the school is required to provide effective educational services in the least restrictive environment, including any related services that may be necessary to educate the child…. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/livingwithepilepsy/educators/educationlaws/elementary-and-secondary-education-law.cfm

All children have a right to a good basic education.

Resources:

What Is Epilepsy
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/aboutepilepsy/whatisepilepsy/index.cfm?gclid=CKrPqJSmmr0CFc9AMgodchQA5w

Epilepsy and Your Child’s School http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/children-school

Epilepsy http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/epilepsy.html

Related:

Father’s age may be linked to Autism and Schizophrenia https://drwilda.com/2012/08/26/fathers-age-may-be-linked-to-autism-and-schizophrenia/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©
http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©
https://drwilda.com/

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Fordham Foundation report: Financing high need students

30 Nov

Lyndsey Layton wrote the interesting Washington Post article, Academic success in special education not linked to spending, study finds:

The amount of money spent by school districts on special education varies greatly around the country, and some districts that spend less than others are getting better academic results from students, according to a study released Wednesday.
The study, sponsored by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, suggests that some districts are overspending on special education, which has become a growing segment of school budgets around the country.
If all districts spent the median amount on special education, it would save $10 billion a year, according to the study, which was written by Nathan Levenson, a consultant and former school superintendent….
“People think intuitively that more spending must mean better outcomes,” Levenson said. “This paper shows that is just not true.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/academic-success-in-special-education-not-linked-to-spending-study-finds/2012/09/04/b8865018-f6bf-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html

See, Could Cutting Special Ed. Spending Improve Student Achievement? http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2012/09/a_new_analysis_of_special.html

Special Education Web.com defines special education:

What is Special Education?
There is no single definition of Special Education, some of them are mentioned below. Thus, Special Education is:
• educational programs for students whose mental or physical ability, emotional functioning, etc. require special teaching approaches, equipment, or care within or outside a regular classroom
• programs designed to meet special learning needs of students
• also known as special ed or additional support needs, teaching that is modified or individualized maintenance to students with exceptional needs or disabilities
• specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities
• education, often in separate special schools, for children with specific physical or mental problems or disabilities
• education of physically or mentally disabled children whose needs cannot be met in a mainstream classroom (the Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines special education as an education that is modified or particularized for those having singular needs or disabilities)

Special education covers education for students, which are in want of additional support so as to succeed in studies. It also pertains to education for those students unable to compete in a regular classroom conditions. Since in the United States every child has the right to get an education, irrespective of the intellectual faculties one can receive school education and master basic skills.
For students who are not fitted to a mainstream course some special education services providing separate classrooms. Occasionally, special education services may facilitate children with a particular problem. For instance, children with speech defects may run a speech therapy, and special occupational therapy might be prescribed for students with physical problems. This is common practice in grammar schools on the basis of pull out. Such students will be called out of the classroom to exercise needed procedures, in all other respects they will attend ordinary lessons.

Now and then student with permanent problems like autism could be provided with a special aide in the classroom so that to study on equal terms. Special education doesn’t mean that a child has reduced mental faculties, this is not necessarily so. Fairly often very intelligent students receive services to facilitate their accommodation to the school settings.
Children of preschool age may also receive special education services. Those parents worried about speech, physical delays, or major health problems of their child, may appeal to the Special Education Local Plan Area program as soon as their kid is three if they’re interested in that. According to state and federal law, SELPA must pursue research for those students who prove to be at risk for developmental lag or those with a worsened state of health.
http://www.specialeducationweb.com/idea/sense.htm

The cost of educating special needs children can be costly to districts.

The New America Foundation posted the article, Individuals With Disabilities Education Act – Cost Impact on Local School Districts:

It is well-established that special education enrollment and aggregate costs have increased markedly in recent years. At the same time, there have not been proportionate increases in federal special education (IDEA Part B) appropriations or state education spending. Regardless of federal and state special education funding, however, local communities under IDEA must provide a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to children with disabilities, no matter how high or low those costs are in the case of an individual child or how high they are for a group of children with disabilities. As a result, special education spending by local districts has consumed a large portion of increased education funding nationally — 40 percent of the increase by one estimate — since the late 1960s.
Larger Population of Students with Disabilities
The population of students served under IDEA has grown at nearly twice the rate of the general education population. During the twenty-five year period between 1980 and 2005, the IDEA population increased by 37 percent, while the general education population grew by only 20 percent. Moreover, students served under IDEA today account for about 14 percent of the total education population, up from about 10 percent in the 1980s.
The sudden increase in the percentage of the student population served by IDEA can be attributed to multiple factors. A significant portion of the increase in special education enrollment can be attributed to greater identification of students with disabilities from birth to age five and these students’ participation in IDEA preschool and early intervention services. Another reason for the increase is that Congress widened the definition of “disabled” under IDEA in 1997 to include the population of “developmentally delayed” children ages three to nine.
Rising Special Education Spending
Primarily because of the quickly expanding population of children with disabilities, special education spending has increased at a much faster rate than general elementary and secondary education spending. During the 1999-2000 school year, the United States spent $50 billion on special education “support” services and an additional $27.3 billion on regular education for disabled students ($77.3 billion in total).1 Special education support costs accounted for 12.4 percent of the $404.4 billion total spending on elementary and secondary education. With regular education expenses included, students with disabilities accounted for 19.1 percent of total national elementary and secondary education spending in 1999-2000, an increase of 13 percent from the 1977-78 school year….
Declining State Support for Special Education
In general, state contributions to special education spending have not kept pace with escalating special education expenditures. In 1987, state funding accounted for 56 percent of special education spending and local funding accounted for only 36 percent.2 In 1999-2000, the average state share of special education spending had dropped to 45 percent, and the average local contribution had risen to 46 percent, based on data from 39 states.3
Local school districts have had trouble covering such a high percentage of the $50 billion spent on special education services. Heavily impacted districts with a disproportionate number of high-need, high-cost disabled students struggle the most, particularly if the district is small or rural. Of all disabled students, approximately one-half of one percent, or around 330,000 students, require more than $100,000 in special education services per year. Given that federal and state funding formulas do not take the distribution of high-cost disabilities into account, districts with concentrations of these high-need students have much more substantial spending obligations….http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/individuals-disabilities-education-act-cost-impact-local-school-districts.

The Fordham Foundation wrote the report, financing the Education of High-Need Students.

Citation:

Financing the Education of High-Need Students
November 24, 2013
Issue/Topic:
School Finance
Additional Topics
Author:
Matt Richmond
Daniela Fairchild
School districts face an enormous financial burden when it comes to educating our highest-need students. Financing the Education of High-Need Students focuses on three specific challenges that are often encountered when districts—especially small ones—grapple with the costs of serving their highest-need special-education students.
Districts and states could put these recommendations into practice today, without waiting for reforms or help from Washington:
1. District Cooperatives: Many districts—including charter schools, which often comprise their own mini-districts—do not have the requisite size and capacity to serve high-need students effectively and affordably. Multi-district co-ops allow for both economies-of-scale and better service-delivery for these children.
2. Student Funding Based on Multiple Weights: Special education funding systems based on average student needs may be easily administered, but they can also lead to inefficient and ineffective resource allocations. Weighted student funding is a tiered system of resource allocation that allows for a more rational and efficacious distribution of funds, enabling districts with more high-need pupils (or pupils who require more dollars to pay for their IEP-mandated services) to receive more money while jurisdictions that need less receive less. Basing those weights on services needed by children rather than disability diagnoses significantly improves the accuracy of this system.
3. Exceptional-Need Funds: Districts (especially small ones) sometimes find themselves overwhelmed by the high cost of educating one or two particularly needy children. This type of fund, managed and predominantly financed by the state, acts as an insurance mechanism for districts that can’t cover the full cost of educating high-need pupils along with all others under their purview. http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/financing-the-education-of-high-need-students

Moi discussed learning disabilities in Survey: Most people don’t know what a learning disability is. https://drwilda.com/2012/09/02/survey-most-people-dont-know-what-a-learning-disability-is/
Once a learning disability has been diagnosed there are steps parents can take to advocate for their child. Scholastic has great advice for parents in the article, Falling Behind With a Learning Disability. http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/learning-disability/ Schools often test children to determine whether a child has a learning disability. Often parents may want to have an independent evaluation for their child.
PBS’ Reading Rockets has great information for parents who want an independent test for their child in the article, Having Your Child Tested for Learning Disabilities Outside of School. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/4529/

Resources:

Early warning signs of a learning disability http://www.babycenter.com/0_early-warning-signs-of-a-learning-disability_67978.bc

How to know if your child has a learning disability http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/how-to-know-if-your-child-has-a-learning-disability/2012/05/08/gIQAvzLvAU_story.html

If You Suspect a Child Has a Learning Disability http://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-testing/if-you-suspect-child-has-learning-disability

Learning Disabilities in Children http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Learning Disabilities (LD) http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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Parents can use tax deductions to pay for special education needs

24 Oct

Moi discussed special education in Fordham Institute study: Spending and special education  https://drwilda.com/2012/09/10/fordham-institute-study-spending-and-special-education/   In Survey: Most people don’t know what a learning disability is, moi said:

The University of Michigan Health System has a great guide, Learning Disabilities:

What are learning disabilities (LD)?
If your child is not doing as well in school as they have the potential to, they may have a learning disability. Having a learning disability means having a normal intelligence but a problem in one or more areas of learning.

A learning disability is a neurobiological disorder; people with LD have brains that learn differently because of differences in brain structure and/or function.  If a person learns differently due to visual, hearing or physical handicaps, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage, we do not call it a learning disability.

Some people with LD also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

LDs can affect many different areas:

  • Spoken language—problems in listening and speaking

  • Reading—difficulties decoding or recognizing words or understanding them

  • Written language—problems with writing, spelling, organizing ideas

  • Math—trouble doing arithmetic or understanding basic concepts

  • Reasoning—problems organizing and putting together thoughts

  • Memory—problems remembering facts and instructions

  • Social behavior—difficulties with social judgment, tolerating frustration and making friends

  • Physical coordination—problems with handwriting, manipulating small objects, running and jumping

  • Organization—trouble with managing time and belongings, carrying out a plan

  • Metacognition (thinking about thinking)—problems with knowing, using and monitoring the use of thinking and learning strategies, and learning from mistakes

Why is early diagnosis and treatment so important?
When LDs are not found and treated early on, they tend to snowball.  As kids get more and more behind in school, they may become more and more frustrated, feeling like a failure. Often, self-esteem problems lead to bad behavior and other problems.  High school dropout rates are much higher for students with LDs than for those without [1].   These educational differences, in turn, affect the job and earnings prospects for people with LDs.  When LD is not noticed or not treated, it can cause adult literacy problems.   By identifying LDs early, your child will get the help they need to reach their potential.

How common are learning disabilities?
Educators estimate that between 5 and 10 percent of kids between ages 6 and 17 have learning disabilities [2]. More than half of the kids receiving special education in the United States have LDs [3]. Dyslexia is the most common LD; 80 percent of students with LDs have dyslexia [4].

What causes learning disabilities?
Because there are lots of kinds of learning disabilities, it is hard to diagnose them and pinpoint the causes. LDs seem to be caused by the brain, but the exact causes are not known. Some risk factors are:

  • Heredity

  • Low birth weight, prematurity, birth trauma or distress

  • Stress before or after birth

  • Treatment for cancer or leukemia

  • Central nervous system infections

  • Severe head injuries

  • Chronic medical illnesses, like diabetes or asthma

  • Poor nutrition

LDs are not caused by environmental factors, like cultural differences, or bad teaching.

When your child is diagnosed with a LD, the most important thing is not to look back and try to figure out if something went wrong. Instead, think about moving forward and finding help. http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/ld.htm

Once a learning disability has been diagnosed there are steps parents can take to advocate for their child. Scholastic has great advice for parents in the article, Falling Behind With a Learning Disability. http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/learning-disability/

Schools often test children to determine whether a child has a learning disability. Often parents may want to have an independent evaluation for their child. https://drwilda.com/2012/09/02/survey-most-people-dont-know-what-a-learning-disability-is/

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that parents may be able to deduct some expenses associated with the expenses of their special needs child.

In Special Tax Deductions for Special Education, the WSJ reports:

There are numerous tax breaks for education, but the most important one for many special-needs students isn’t an education break per se. Instead, it falls under the medical-expense category.

Although students with disabilities have a right to a “free and appropriate” public education by law, some families opt out and others pay for a range of supplemental therapies.

Such families can use Uncle Sam’s medical-expense deduction for help coping with costs, say experts. But many parents and tax advisers overlook it.

“Parents are busy helping their children, and tax preparers often don’t ask about medical expenses unless the taxpayer is old or ill,” says Bernard Krooks, a New York attorney who is past president of the Special Needs Alliance, a nonprofit group with members specializing in disability law.

In fact, tax rules allow medical deductions for “diagnosis, cure, mitigation, or treatment…primarily to alleviate or prevent a physical or mental defect or illness” (IRS publication 502).

That can include the cost of a school or program if prescribed by a licensed health-care professional. It might even cover costs for a special two-year college certificate program for students with severe learning disabilities, such as the Reach program run by the University of Iowa, which costs as much as $40,000 a year.

The deduction also can be used for additional therapies. Regina Levy, a Los Angeles CPA with two special-needs children, offers a partial list: occupational therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, physical therapy, social-skills groups and “hippotherapy” (horseback riding), among others.

Beyond Taxes

IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, can be found at www.irs.gov. Here’s where to find other help:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203537304577030453437780894.html

Here is information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS):

Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses

This publication explains the itemized deduction for medical and dental expenses that you claim on Schedule A (Form 1040). It discusses what expenses, and whose expenses, you can and cannot include in figuring the deduction. It explains how to treat reimbursements and how to figure the deduction. It also tells you how to report the deduction on your tax return and what to do if you sell medical property or receive damages for a personal injury.

Medical expenses include dental expenses, and in this publication the term “medical expenses” is often used to refer to medical and dental expenses.

You can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the part of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). If your medical and dental expenses are not more than 7.5% of your AGI, you cannot claim a deduction.

This publication also explains how to treat impairment-related work expenses, health insurance premiums if you are self-employed, and the health coverage tax credit that is available to certain individuals.

Current Products

Publication 502 (HTML)

Recent Developments

Corrections to 2011 Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses – 15-FEB-2012

Other Items You May Find Useful:

All Publication 502 Revisions

Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans

Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return

Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions

Form 8853, Archer MSAs and Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts

Form 8885, Health Coverage Tax Credit

Other Current Products

Comment on Publication 502Send us an email or use the Comment on Tax Forms and Publications web submission form to provide us feedback on the content of the products we give you to help you comply with tax law.

Caution: If you have a tax-related question, please go to Help With Tax Questions or call our toll-free number at 1-800-829-1040 (Individuals) or 1-800-829-4933 (Business). We cannot respond to tax-related questions submitted from this page.

Although we cannot respond individually to each email, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 2012-08-04

All Children Have A Right to A Good Basic Education.

Resources:

Early warning signs of a learning disability http://www.babycenter.com/0_early-warning-signs-of-a-learning-disability_67978.bc

How to know if your child has a learning disability http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/how-to-know-if-your-child-has-a-learning-disability/2012/05/08/gIQAvzLvAU_story.html

If You Suspect a Child Has a Learning Disability http://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-testing/if-you-suspect-child-has-learning-disability

Learning Disabilities in Children                                    http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Learning Disabilities (LD)                                                         http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART © http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©                                 http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda ©                                                                                https://drwilda.com/

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Fordham Institute study: Spending and special education

10 Sep

Lyndsey Layton has an interesting article in the Washington Post, Academic success in special education not linked to spending, study finds:

The amount of money spent by school districts on special education varies greatly around the country, and some districts that spend less than others are getting better academic results from students, according to a study released Wednesday.

The study, sponsored by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, suggests that some districts are overspending on special education, which has become a growing segment of school budgets around the country.

If all districts spent the median amount on special education, it would save $10 billion a year, according to the study, which was written by Nathan Levenson, a consultant and former school superintendent.

Levenson gathered data from 1,400 districts representing more than one-third of K-12 students in the United States, making it the largest and most detailed collection of special education staffing and cost data available.

“There’s not a lot of research around spending in special education because I think it’s a topic that makes lots of people uncomfortable,” Levenson said. “No one wants to balance budgets on the backs of very needy children.”

Levenson focused on 10 pairs of school districts in five states — Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. The districts that made up each pair were roughly the same size, with equal numbers of special education students and similar demographic characteristics.

In each pair, one district had higher achievement among its special education students while spending as much or less than the other district.

“People think intuitively that more spending must mean better outcomes,” Levenson said. “This paper shows that is just not true.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/academic-success-in-special-education-not-linked-to-spending-study-finds/2012/09/04/b8865018-f6bf-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_story.html

See, Could Cutting Special Ed. Spending Improve Student Achievement? http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2012/09/a_new_analysis_of_special.html

Citation:

Boosting the Quality and Efficiency of Special Education

By Nathan Levenson / September 5, 2012

Foreword by Chester E. Finn, Jr. , Michael J. Petrilli

Download the study

Here is what Chester Finn and Michael Petrilli say about the study in the Flypaper piece, Maintenance of inefficiency:

The roadblock? A federal “maintenance of effort” (MOE) requirement in the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA, the federal special-education law) that handcuffs states and districts by requiring that special-ed spending never decline from one year to the next. In times of plenty, this mandate discourages efforts to make productivity gains; when revenues shrink, it means that special-education spending will consume an ever-growing slice of school budgets.

For one brief shining moment, Secretary Duncan appeared ready to end the MOE silliness. Then he caved to the powerful special-education lobby, which refused to accept anything other than expenditures escalating into perpetuity.

While economic realities alone should be reason enough to jettison requirements that dictate a spend-spend-spend approach to special ed, a new Fordham study by Nathan Levenson provides an even more compelling reason for doing away with MOE: Spending more on special ed simply may not do much for kids.

How is this possible? While public education is never very hospitable to innovation, efficiency, or productivity boosters, special education has generally been downright hostile. Despite statutory and regulatory tweaks from time to time, our approach hasn’t really changed since the federal law was passed more than thirty-five years ago, even as so much else in K–12 education has changed in important ways. That does not, regrettably, mean our traditional approach has worked well. Indeed, change is desperately needed in this corner of the K–12 world, as any look at the (woeful) achievement data or (skyrocketing) spending data for special-needs students demonstrates. To oversimplify just a bit, general (i.e., “regular”) education is now focused on academic outcomes, but special education remains fixated on inputs, ratios, and services.

That’s a shame, since the same basic dysfunctions that ail general education afflict special education too: middling (or worse) teacher quality; an inclination to throw “more people” at any problem; a reluctance to look at cost-effectiveness; a crazy quilt of governance and decision-making authorities; a tendency to add rather than replace or redirect; and a full-on fear of results-based accountability. Yet the fates (as well as the budgets) of general and special education are joined. In many schools, the latter is the place to stick the kids who have been failed by the former—a major cause of the sky-high special-education-identification rates in many states and districts. Further, there exists in many locales the unrealistic expectation that every neighborhood (and charter) school should be able to serve every youngster with special needs at a high level.

Enter Levenson, former superintendent of the Arlington (MA) Public Schools. In his new study, Boosting the Quality and Efficiency of Special Education, he and his team identified school districts that get similar (or superior) results for special-education students as their peer districts, yet do so at significantly lower cost. They are doing right by kids and right by the bottom line. Both at once. And their practices are eminently imitate-able.

Levenson & co. also developed a national database on special-ed spending—the largest and most detailed ever built. It contains information from almost 1,500 districts, representing 30 percent of U.S. schoolchildren. The database shows that special-education spending and staffing vary wildly—much more so than it does for regular education. Principally driving this variation are huge district-to-district differences in staffing levels.

Some districts hire almost three times more special-ed teachers (per thousand students) than do others. The difference for paraprofessionals (teachers’ aides) is greater than four times. Levenson calculates that, if the high-spending districts adjusted their staffing levels in line with national norms, the country could save (or redirect) $10 billion annually. That’s not chump change! For example, it’s more than twice the total sums invested (over multiple years) in Race to the Top.

The potential for additional savings—and better services for kids—is greater still. To its discredit, longstanding federal law bars the teams that develop Individualized Education Programs for disabled pupils from considering the cost of the interventions and services that they are recommending. Untangling federal barriers to efficiency and effectiveness in special education is the job of Congress—yet no one in Washington seems the least bit interested in tackling an IDEA reauthorization anytime soon. That’s a huge mistake.

Levenson draws on his research to offer a few simple, but assuredly not simplistic, solutions. Make general education better, he says, so that fewer kids get directed into special education. Once youngsters are in special education, design interventions for them that take cost-effectiveness into account—a benefit both for the kids and for the taxpayer. Focus on recruiting better teachers, not more teachers (and aides, specialists, etc.)—for general and special education alike. And scrupulously manage their caseloads. http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2012/maintenance-of-inefficiency.html#body

The Huffington Post highlights key findings of the report.

In the article, Special Education Spending Reduction To National Median Could Save Districts $10 Billion: Study, the Huffington Post reports:

According to Levenson’s report, there are federal law barriers that prevent officials from making special education more cost effective. For instance, the “maintenance of effort” provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) prohibits districts from considering cost when selecting services and interventions provided under a disabled child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). As such, the costs are not shared with the staff making special education decisions, thereby impeding them from choosing the more efficient option.

Levenson outlines four additional policy recommendations for improving special education outcomes and efficiency — three at the federal/state level, and one at the local level.

  • An end to maintenance of effort requirements.

  • Preserving and strengthening the Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s (ESEA) subgroup accountability and reporting, including those provisions pertaining to students with special needs. While the current accountability mechanisms of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) have many shortcomings and unintended consequences, it is important not to throw out the baby with the bath water. It is critical to measure the achievement of students with disabilities and hold districts accountable, lest we return to complacency regarding low achievement.

  • Permitting greater flexibility in the use of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds.

  • At the local level, that districts carefully manage pupil loads for special education teachers. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/districts-could-save-10-b_n_1858345.html

There are different disabilities covered by the Disabilities Education Act.

The U.S. Department of Education has a website which discusses federal law at http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home The National Center for ADHD has a good synopsis of the disabilities law.

IDEA also grants increased parental participation and protection for students. 

Who qualifies?

Children between the ages of 3 and 21, who meet the eligibility criteria in one of thirteen qualifying disabilities and who require special education services because of the disability can qualify for services under IDEA. The categories of disabilities are; autism, deaf/blind, deafness, hearing impaired, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment including blindness, and other health impairment. To be eligible, a student must have a disability that adversely affects her or his educational performance and must need special education in order to receive an appropriate education. 

How can IDEA help my child?

Children who qualify under IDEA are provided with services and accommodations individualized to their needs. At its most basic IDEA entitles a child suspected of having a disability to a comprehensive evaluation by a multi-disciplinary team provided at no cost to parents. If the child is determined to need special education and related services an Individual Education Program (IEP) will be implemented based on the specific needs of the child as decided by the team, including parents. 

Once covered under an IEP, students with disabilities are re-evaluated at least every three years and their IEP is reviewed whenever a change in placement occurs, which is often annually as transferring from grade to grade is considered a change in placement. 

Additionally, students covered under IDEA are granted other protections and safeguards. Suspension for 10 cumulative days within the school year may result in a Manifestation Determination to decide if a link exists between the child’s behavior and her or his disability.  If a child covered under IDEA is suspended or expelled, she or he is still entitled to special education services. In the event that parents disagree with the school’s decision and request an impartial due process hearing, the “stay-put” provision will be enacted ensuring that the child remains in her or his current educational placement until administrative proceedings conclude. Exceptions include when the child brings a weapon or drugs to school or is determined to be a danger to her or himself or others.  http://www.help4adhd.org/education/rights/idea

Moi discussed learning disabilities in Survey: Most people don’t know what a learning disability is. https://drwilda.com/2012/09/02/survey-most-people-dont-know-what-a-learning-disability-is/

Once a learning disability has been diagnosed there are steps parents can take to advocate for their child. Scholastic has great advice for parents in the article, Falling Behind With a Learning Disability. http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/learning-disability/ Schools often test children to determine whether a child has a learning disability. Often parents may want to have an independent evaluation for their child.

PBS’ Reading Rockets has great information for parents who want an independent test for their child in the article, Having Your Child Tested for Learning Disabilities Outside of School. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/4529/

Resources:

Early warning signs of a learning disability                   http://www.babycenter.com/0_early-warning-signs-of-a-learning-disability_67978.bc

How to know if your child has a learning disability http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/how-to-know-if-your-child-has-a-learning-disability/2012/05/08/gIQAvzLvAU_story.html

If You Suspect a Child Has a Learning Disability http://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-testing/if-you-suspect-child-has-learning-disability

Learning Disabilities in Children                                      http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Learning Disabilities (LD)                                                         http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ld

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

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