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The world of Special Education is changing at a fast pace. There are legal issues, scientific studies and break-throughs, and local political issues that affect us.
To keep you apprised of the changes in Special Education, we are going to publish a periodic news bulletin. We hope to keep the items relevant, timely and abridged, to alleviate everyone's "information overload" these days.
Please let us know what you think. Also, if you have an idea for some news article that should be shared or an item to be investigated, let us know. |
| Supreme Court gets another chance to decide tuition reimbursement issue |
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School officials and Special Education advocates are watching to see if the US Supreme Court takes on the circumstances under which parents can be reimbursed for private school tuition.
There is a murky area regarding reimbursement when parents did not previously receive or request special ed services in a public school environment. For many parents, this means that there might be a question of reimbursement even if the child never attended public school.
Not to worry yet, as the Supremes had a similar earlier deadlock in 2007 and refused to consider another similar case. We will keep an eye on this case from Oregon:
Forest Grove School Dist. v. T.A., 43 IDELR 189 (D.Or. 2005).
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| Special needs schools brought closer to home |
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Due to limited space and high costs, there is a shortage of residential schools in NYC and Long Island for high functioning students who need significant emotional and social support. Most near-local facilities are geared to students with severe emotional and behavioral problems or multiple developmental disabilities.
This lack of facilities is being addressed by local grass roots activism in our 'neighborhood'. Creating these local facilities fosters a closer emotional and social support network for the students and helps both the local and state budgets by keeping funds in the 'neighborhood'.
We found this article on the NY Times website by searching for autism + Hu (Winnie Hu is the author).
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| Public Hearings Announced |
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The New York State Education Department has announced public hearings to air comments on proposed NYS mandated forms for the Individualized Education Program (IEP). In NYC, the public hearing will be on Thursday, November 6, 2008 from 2:00 - 4:30PM at the Manhattan VESID Office, 7th Floor Conference Room, 116 West 32nd Street, New York, NY 10001.
Some noteworthy proposed changes:
- The proposed IEP no longer includes the section that asks what type of diploma the student is on track to receive.
- The proposed IEP no longer includes a place to specify group size for SETSS or related services.
- The proposed IEP does not indicate the language needs of the parent/guardian or provide a place for indicating the language of a child who needs bilingual services.
- For children who need a Behavior Intervention Plan, the proposed IEP provides a "drop down menu" of options, which includes only two options: use of a time-out room and "other."
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We at Susan Luger Associates believe that Sy Syms was correct. To paraphrase, an informed parent of (educator of, service provider to) a Special Ed kid is a formidable powerhouse!
Sincerely,
Susan Luger
Susan Luger Associates, Inc.
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| NY Times Highlights DIR Autism Program |
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A recent NY Times Sunday Magazine featured the article 'Reaching an Autistic Teenager' by Melissa Fay Greene. She describes a program that encourages students to develop their strengths and interests by working closely with one another and with their teachers. The goal for students is neurological progress through real-world engagement.
Called DIR for Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based approach, it succeeds with students in a particular range of the Autism Spectrum.
DIR indeed represents a different approach from the better-known ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). DIR is based on the work of Dr. Stanley Greenspan and is being used in some unfunded programs in NY.
We located the article on the NY Times website by searching for DIR and autism. |
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| If you learn of any newsworthy item related to Special Education, contact us with the information. |
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