"Our 11 year old son has autism. His mental functioning is at the level of a very young child. Since he was placed with an aide for most of the day, his aggressive behavior at school increased. We met with the IEP team to discuss our concerns - they agreed that the aide's inappropriate behavior was triggering his problems."
"Six weeks ago, he cursed the aide. The school filed charges against him for 'sexual misconduct.' He has at home since. A teacher comes to the house 2 or 3 times a week for an hour. He receives little instruction and none of the related services (speech therapy, occupational therapy) in his IEP. What can we do?"
As the school year winds down, we are receiving scores of emails from parents and teachers about children who are being suspended, expelled or "sent home" from school.
These children are removed from school for weeks -- or months. They are not being placed in appropriate alternative educational settings. They are not receiving the special education and related services in their IEPs. They are not receiving a free appropriate education (FAPE).
In Behavior Problems & Discipline: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know, you will learn about the child's right to a free appropriate education, the IEP team's role, procedural safeguards, functional behavior assessments, behavior intervention plans, alternative educational settings, and manifestation terminations.
The article includes a list of useful publications and resources for parents and teachers. URL: https://www.wrightslaw.com/heath/disc.behave.why.htm
Learn more about behavior problems and school discipline issues.
Read more articles by Sue Heath in Doing Your Homework.
2. Question of the Week: Male Aides for Female Students?
"My 15-year-old daughter has a mild mental disability. She does not yet know that some physical touch is improper. The school wants to use a male aide to help her with bathroom and feminine hygiene needs. I am not comfortable with this. What can we do?"
Advocate Pat Howey answers, "Until this young woman learns safe behavior, she is at high risk for physical and sexual abuse ... "
In Male Aides for Female Students? Pat suggests ways to get the school to reconsider their plan and offers a list of IEP goals and objectives to help this young lady live safely and independently.
URL: https://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/malepara.hygiene.htm
Read more articles by Pat Howey in Ask the Advocate.
3. Disability News to Interview Pat Howey on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Pat Howey, author of Ask the Advocate articles and member of the Wrightslaw Speakers Bureau will be a guest on Disability News Radio on Wednesday, May 3 at 7 p.m. (EDT).
Disability News Radio is hosted by Monica Moshenko and is broadcast on the Internet every Wednesday at 7 p.m. (EDT) and every Sunday at 9 p.m. (EDT).
Monica will interview Pat about the upcoming Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy program in Rochester NY on May 17. This program is sponsored by Greater Rochester S.A.F.E.
Pat is knowledgeable - and she is very entertaining. If you miss the interview, it will be streamed for several days. Please join us and tune in to Disability News Radio on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
4. Update: IDEA 2004 Regulations
"Can you give us a status report on the the IDEA 2004 regs? I thought they would be published months ago."
We can try. The proposed IDEA regulations were published by the Dept of Education on June 10, 2005. (Dept of Ed Issues Proposed IDEA 2004 Regulations) After the proposed regulations were published, the public had 75 days to comment on the regulations. (see IDEA Regulations on Fast Track, Expected in June)
The first expected date for the final regulations was December 2005 or January 2006. This date was changed to March 2006, then to "Summer 2006." At a recent conference, we heard a rumor that the final regulations may not be published until "after September 2006."
Because the Department of Education has not provided information about these delays or when they expect to publish the regulations, we do not know when the final regulations will be published.
We can tell you what happened when IDEA was reauthorized in in June 1997. The Dept of Education did not publish the final regulations until January 1999 - 19 months later. Will this administration take longer than 19 months to issue regulations? We will have an answer to this question in July 2006.
When the final IDEA 2004 regs are published, we will send an Alert to newsletter subscribers. Please ensure that your subscription does not lapse over the summer!
This Update on IDEA 2004 Regulations is available at https://www.wrightslaw.com/news/06/idea.regs.0502.htm
5. Coming Soon! Wrightslaw Programs in MA, NY, PA, DE
Wrightslaw offers a variety of special education law and advocacy programs taught by experts in the field of special education law and advocacy. The Spring 2006 schedule includes these programs:
May 11: Springfield, MA - Special Ed Law & Advocacy Training by Pete and Pam Wright.
May 17: Rochester, NY - Special Ed Law & Advocacy Training by Wayne Steedman and Pat Howey; sponsored by Greater Rochester SAFE.
June 7: Wilkes-Barre, PA - Special Education Advocacy Training by Pat Howey,;sponsored by Supporting Autism and Families Everywhere - SAFE.
June 14: Rehoboth Beach, DE - Special Ed Law & Advocacy Training by Pete and Pam Wright at the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel; sponsored by The Arc of Delaware.
Full 2006 Schedule l Program Descriptions
Online Training Countdown! Progress report from Pete & Pam (we are doing training programs!)
We are scheduling programs for 2007. If you are interested in bringing a Wrightslaw program to your community, please read Conference Information.
6. Subscription & Contact Info
The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal and advocacy issues, cases, and tactics and strategies. Newsletter subscribers also receive "alerts" about new cases, events, and special offers on Wrightslaw books. Subscribe
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