Evanston Citizens for Appropriate Special Education (CASE) is a community advocacy organization working to improve the range, quality and accessibility of special education services in Evanston/Skokie District 65 and ETHS District 202.

We provide information and support for parents of children with special needs through Parent Connections meetings and our CASEline number.
We are commited to advancing disability awareness in the Evanston community.

Hello Evanston CASE members,

We are forming a task force to address problems with the use of Office Discipline Referrals (ODR) for kids with IEP's.  This has been an ongoing concern for us and we feel the best course of action is to advocate for a policy change at the District level.  We also believe that the staff, principals in particular, need training in how to deal appropriately with behaviors of children with special needs. 

So often children are given ODR's for non-compliance, impulsivity, and verbally inappropriate behavior.  Sending a child to the principals office sends a message that they are bad.  It is a punative response to behavior related to their disability which is not only counterproductive, but it has a negative impact on self-esteem, social relationships and can actually increase behavior problems.  Children with IEP's have behavior intervention plans (BIP's) that are supposed to provide for positive behavioral intervention strategies to extinguish problem behaviors and encourage positive replacement behaviors.  Punishing children does the opposite.

If your child has received an ODR, or if you have concerns about the staff response to your child's behavior and you would like to help us change this, please contact CASE at 847-556-8676 or mail@evanstoncase.org.

Warm regards,

Cari Levin, LCSW

Founding Director

Evanston CASE