Contact Us

866-787-9270

About Us

Matt Cohen's Special Education, Disability

and Human Services Law

E-Newsletter  
June 2012

It's Annual Review/IEP season and frustration is in the wind. Despite the difficulties parents often experience, IEP meetings can be very positive and productive.   Many of us experience this much less then we would like, but here are some things that I have experienced recently that are indicators of a positive process (and even outcomes) in IEP meetings:

1.  You knew most of the people at the meeting and they knew you.  

2.  More importantly, most of the staff at the meeting actually knew your child and had a good idea of his/her functioning. 

3.  Even better, the staff conveyed a genuine interest and concern about your child and had real positive  comments about them.  

4.  You knew what the meeting was going to be about and the agenda and that was what actually was discussed.  

5.  Staff informed you in advance of any important information that was new or different. 

6.  You were given a draft IEP to review......

For the rest of the article, click here.

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is an extremely complex genetic neuro-behavioral disorder.  Advocating for children with TS can be a difficult task.  To be successful, it is important to have a solid understanding of the disorder as well as its impact on your child.

             TS is primarily a tic disorder.   To be diagnosed, a person must have both vocal and motor tics occurring for over a year (can be intermittently), with an onset before the age of 18.  In most cases, TS is formally diagnosed by a neurologist or psychiatrist.    Contrary to what is often portrayed on television and in movies, very few people with TS have coprolalia (the uncontrolled yelling of obscenities).  Most motor tics are recognizable as tics: head shaking, twitching, shoulder shrugging, or eye rolling.  Complex motor tics, however, can be difficult to distinguish from problem behaviors and are often interpreted as such, especially in a school, work or social setting.  Examples might be tearing paper, poking, kissing, licking, jumping and obscene gestures.  Vocal tics do not need to be actual word verbalizations and more often present as throat clearing, coughing, sniffling and humming.  The physical aspect of this combination of tics can certainly interfere with your child's daily experience at school, but the social and emotional impact is often just as great, if not more profound.  Feelings of social isolation, anxiety, rejection and a lack of self-esteem, combined with the constant fear of being punished by adults for uncontrollable actions is clearly not a productive or healthy way to get through a school day.

"Every year since 2006, United Cerebral Palsy (UCP)-an international advocate, educating and providing support services for children and adults with a spectrum of disabilities through an affiliate network-produces The Case for Inclusion, an annual ranking of how well state

Medicaid programs serve Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD).

Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, including the aging, want and deserve the same freedoms and quality of life as all Americans.  Medicaid affects all of us -- children and adults with disabilities, as we are aging, as our family ages, and when the unexpected happens. It is the critical safety net that provides financial and healthcare security,

and community supports to Americans with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, aging, and low-income individuals and families, so that their desired freedom, quality of life and community participation can be fully realized.

It is the duty of a civil society such as ours to aid these individuals, who are often the most vulnerable members of society. Yet some states do much better than others in having the needed political will and sound Medicaid policies necessary to achieve this ideal. The Case for Inclusion

ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC) - not on their spending - but on their outcomes for Americans with ID/DD."

UCP, The Case For Inclusion,

http://www.ucp.org/the-case-for inclusion/2011/images/The%20Case%20for%20Inclusion%202012_Full%20Narrative_final%20.pdf

Here are the 10 Worst States Plus DC:

                                       2012          2011   

Dist. of Columbia                 40             47 

Nebraska                            41            46

Tennessee                          42             41

Iowa                                  43             35

North Carolina                     44             43

Utah                                  45             44

Indiana                              46              42

Virginia                              47              38

Illinois                               48              48

Arkansas                            49              50

Texas                                50              49

Mississippi                          51              51

Illinois ranks 48th of 50 states!!!!! And more cuts are yet to come!!!!

If you aren't from one of these states, go to page 6 of the Report at the link to see where your state ranks.

We have just received a major victory in a due process case we have had pending since September of 2011.   The case involves a second grader with multiple complex disabilities.  Having been educated in private school for kindergarten and first grade because the parents and their clinical consultants believed he needed a small individualized program, the parents reenrolled him in public school and sought an appropriate IEP and placement for second grade.   

The District decided to place him in a large regular ed "inclusion" class, without even conducting an IEP meeting and initially were going to delay evaluating him or developing an IEP until well after the school year had started.  Faced with this impossible situation, the parents placed him in a specialized school for children with learning disabilities and other disorders.  We prevailed in showing that the district's program was inappropriate, despite the fact that our client had been in voluntary private placements for the last three years.   The decision is also notable in finding that the district had a child find duty when the parents sought to enroll him in the spring for the fall, despite the fact that he was attending a private school in another district.   It is also useful in relation to the district's failure to adequately consider outside evaluations and in pre-determining the student's placement.   It even holds that they should have done an FBA, or Functional Behavioral Analysis, and BIP , Behavior Intervention Plan, while he was at the private school as part of their IEP development for the fall.  A full copy of the decision can be found here.  

I am delighted to announce that we have added a new full-time attorney to our staff.   Sande Shamash graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and DePaul University College of Law in Chicago.  He initially worked for several years at the Cook County Office of Public Guardian, where he handled hundreds of cases involving children that were abused or neglected.   He then went to work in the Office of Legal Counsel for what is now called the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services, where he then became an administrative law judge and ultimately the Chief Administrative Law Judge.  In 2004, he left the state and went in to private practice, while also accepting the position of Executive Director of the Tourette Syndrome Association of Illinois.  In this capacity, he worked with individuals with TS and their families and assisted dozens of families with children with TS in securing appropriate special education and 504 services from the public schools.   We are thrilled to have Sande in the practice.  To read more about Sande, check our web site staff page at:  http://www.mattcohenandassociates.com/Attorneys.html  

We are happy to announce the addition of our new satellite office located at 42 E. Grand Ave., Suite 101 in Fox Lake, IL.  This location will allow us to better serve our north and northwest suburban clients.

Appointments at this office require prior phone contact and will be provided based on staff availability.  To inquire further, please call Tami Kuipers at 866-787-9270.  

On June 13, Matt was awarded the "Friend of LDA/Illinois" Award based on ongoing work on behalf of kids with LD and disabilities in Illinois.   The award was presented by leaders of LDA Illinois, including Julieta Pasko, Penny Richards and Bev Johns.    This was an unexpected and lovely boost for my efforts and for the entire staff at Matt Cohen and Associates.

For further information on learning disabilties, visit the LDA National website at http://www.ldanatl.org/ .

July 11  7:00-9:00 p.m.

Matt Cohen 

"Duty to Warn and Protect - a New Conceptual Paradigm"

Matt Cohen & Associates offices

155 N. Michigan Ave.

7th floor conference room

Chicago, IL  60601

CEUs available through NASW, more info soon

Mid July

Matt Cohen

LDA Online Webinar
stay tuned, more information to come 

August 15  7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Matt Cohen 

"Preparing for Back to School - A Parent's Presentation"

Matt Cohen & Associates offices

155 N. Michigan Ave.

7th floor conference room

Chicago, IL  60601

September 12  7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Matt Cohen 
"The Ethics of Triage in a time of Diminishing Resources" 

Matt Cohen & Associates offices

155 N. Michigan Ave.

7th floor conference room

Chicago, IL  60601

CEUs available through NASW, more info soon 

September 26  7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Sande Shamash

"Strategies for Getting Appropriate School Services for Children with Tourettes Syndrome"

Matt Cohen & Associates offices

155 N. Michigan Ave.

7th floor conference room

Chicago, IL  60601

October 10  7:00- 9:00 p.m.

Matt Cohen 

"Effective Report Writing" 

Matt Cohen & Associates offices

155 N. Michigan Ave.

7th floor conference room

Chicago, IL  60601

CEUs available through NASW, more info soon 

October 24  7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Matt Cohen

"Confronting the Emotional Taboos of Transition - For Parents of Children with Disabilities"

Matt Cohen & Associates offices

155 N. Michigan Ave.

7th floor conference room

Chicago, IL  60601

November 8-10, 2012 

Matt Cohen, November 10, 1:30 p.m. 

CHADD Conference

24th Annual International Conference on ADHD

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
San Francisco,CA 
for further registration information, visit www.chadd.org

If you are looking for further information or would like Matt to speak at your parent group, support group, organization, conference or convention or to do staff trainings, please contact Tami at tami.kuipers@gmail.com or call at  1-866-787-9270.