New guidance on the rights of students with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities.
Students with disabilities, like all students, must be provided the opportunity to fully participate in our public schools.
A critical aspect of participation is communication with others.
November 12, 2014: U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services issued Joint Guidance (Letter to Educators) about the rights of public elementary and secondary students with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities to effective communication.
Public schools are responsible for ensuring that communication with students who have hearing, vision, or speech disabilities is as effective as communication with all other students.
Three Federal laws address the obligations of all public schools to meet the communication needs of students with disabilities.
- IDEA requires that schools make available a free appropriate public education (FAPE), consisting of special education and related services, to eligible children with disabilities (including communication needs).
- Title II requires schools to ensure that students with disabilities receive communication that is as effective as communication with others through the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services.
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) requires schools to provide FAPE to a student with a disability.
Public schools must apply both IDEA and Title II requirements for effective communication when meeting the communication needs of students with a hearing, vision, or speech disability who are eligible for an IEP. (Compliance with IDEA can satisfy Section 504’s requirements to provide FAPE.)
This could mean that in some cases, as well as a program spelled out in a child’s IEP, the school may have to provide auxiliary aids or services under Title II that are not required under IDEA.
See K.M v. Tustin Unified School District. The Ninth Circuit addressed IDEA and Title II effective communication obligations.
In response – The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) says the new guidance “misses the mark!”
US DOE and DOJ Guidance On Communication Misses the Mark
“K.M. v. Tustin Unified School District victory could help thousands of students yet new guidance doesn’t quite go far enough.”
As COPAA noted “in its amicus brief in this case — public policy mandates affording children with disabilities the full benefit that all three statutes convey, not just the floor provided by one of them.”
DOE Guidance: Frequently Asked Questions on Effective Communication for Students with Hearing, Vision, or Speech Disabilities in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
The FAQ document is intended to help schools understand and comply with federal legal requirements on meeting the communication needs of students with disabilities.
DOE also released a Fact Sheet for Parents available in both English and Spanish.
My son is non verbal I’m asking for daily communication about my child ….
They give nothing , I have put together a daily communication binder … they are now saying we have to meet to determine if the communication log can be used !!! I KNOW NOTHING. That goes on in my sons day !!!
I’m having this same issue with my nonverbal autistic daughter. Her Teachers aide was arrested for abusing a special needs child or children in the classroom last year and only discovered after an entire classroom was trying to hold an entire classroom back because noone would listen. Class Dojo and a few words on paper is all we have. They never post on class dojo. I our daughter had over 35 injuries last school year. I don’t think we are asking for to much to have a direct line of communication with our children’s educators. They can’t speak to us after school. Something has to be done. It shouldn’t be a fight to know how our child’s day at school went.
My son has a cortical visual impairment which is a brain based vision disability. The school waived his right to a teacher of vision impairment and is allowing his special education teacher with no training on vision impairment to fill in. I’ve paid an advocate, I’ve paid an attorney, and I keep being told they are actively looking for a teacher of vision impairment so they don’t need to do anymore. They’ve been actively looking for 2 years. Someone please tell me what I can do. I’m out of money and fighting this has been a dead end. The neighboring county has a teacher of vision impairment, but I can’t enroll him there since I do not live in the county.
When you say “the school waived his right” I assume you mean the IEP team (including yourself, your advocate and lawyer) agreed?
Are you sure they are actually looking for a TVI? The nature of your son’s supports would (should) come from the evaluation process. If they did a Functional Vision Assessment they would have determined if he needed a TVI and/or an orientation & mobility specialist, or other specialized supports. Once the team makes that determination there really isn’t any option for the school…and a two year search is definitely not an option.
Does his IEP actually list anything like O&M or similar under “Related Services”, and does it call for a TVI or similar under “Support for School Personnel”?