kidslaw

May 4 Call -In Day IDEA Fairness Restoration Act

On Wednesday May 4, 2011 please contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (S. 613 and H.R. 1208). The bill will allow parents to recover expert witness fees when they prevail in due process hearings and court actions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. ( IDEA).

http:// www. house.gov

http:// www. senate.gov

Aging Out and Autistic: A growing problem in Illinois

	Boolean Search Home » April 2011 Aging Out and Autistic: A Growing Problem in Illinois SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Just about everyone knows someone with autism theautismprogram.orgthese days. That may be because, according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one million Americans have some sort of autism spectrum disorder; most of them are children. Out of every 110 new babies, one will eventually be diagnosed with the disability, and the number is rising by more than 10 percent a year. Becky Moore, from Springfield, Illinois, has a son with autism, and she says when he graduates from high school, he will join a huge wave of people with very few options for living on their own. "Five-hundred-thousand children will transition out of the system after age 22 in the next 15 years and the question is, what will they transition to?" Students with developmental disabilities can stay in high school until age 22, but after that they're on their own. Moore says housing, job coaching and educational programs are scarce in Illinois, and so are resources. "In a lot of communities there is nothing for them to go to, and so it's a great question, concern, a great stress for parents across the nation." Moore says people who don't understand the disorder may mistakenly believe that autistic people can't live independently, but she knows from experience that many children with autism exceed expectations. "It's so joyful, the first time you hear them say, 'I love you, Mom,' or the first time they read a book, or the first time they do whatever, that you didn't think they'd be able to do." Moore says her son works very hard at everything he accomplishes and he deserves a future that involves meaningful work, and a social life. She says she's met with state officials who acknowledge that transitioning to adulthood with autism is a problem, but they also tell her that there's no money for new programs. That's why she's working with Lutheran Social Services of Illinois in reaching out to United Cerebral Palsy and the Autism Society of Central Illinois. They're trying to find ways to organize housing, and help young adults with autism to learn independent living skills. For more information go to lssi.org or theautismprogram.org Mary Anne Meyers, Public News Service - IL
	Copyright © 2011 Public News Service

The article above highlighits one of the primary reasons parents are seeking out our services. We are now seeing many families who are faced with the very real and immediate problem of what they will do with their adult autistic family members in order to provide a quality of life and care.

Sure Fire Ways for a School District to Guarantee A Due Process Request

 
I often speak to special education directors when they want to hear a " parent perspective " regarding special education procedures and dealing with parents. A few years ago I gave a presentation and provided a tongue in cheek view of how the interaction with parents can push a difficult situation into the due process zone. The topic was the Sure Fire Ways to Guarantee a Due Process Request. Here are my top "tips" that I am happy to report were recieved with a few laughs.  Regrettably, I have been at IEP's where these incidents have occurred. Here they go:

1. Roll your eyes at the parent or their experts every time they attempt to speak.

2. Ignore the material they brought to the meeting.

3. Look at your watch repeatedly and ask how long is this meeting going to take?

4. Dismiss the parents experts who they have paid to come to the meeting and treat them with barely   disguised contempt.

5. Hint that the mother may have a problem and need counseling.

6. Suggest that the " apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

7. Remind the parent repeatedly that if things were better at home then the child would be doing better at school. Do this a few times during the course of the meeting.

8. Make sure that the team is warned ahead of time not to provide much information.

9. Provide as little service and support as possible.

10. Delay sending any paperwork or evaluations to the parent until the meeting.

Special Education and Evaluations

This school year and last I have had at least a half a dozen cases of high school students who had not been evaluated by the school district and who were failing or struggling mightily to pass classes . A few had IEP's, one had a 504 Plan and others were at risk of dropping out of high school because of repeated failures in their classes. The students with the IEP's - one a junior and two seniors - had not been formally evaluated since middle school. Their 3 year re-evaluations consisted of a records review. Regrettably, the high school was reluctant to evaluate the students and in two cases the principal suggested that the student consider dropping out of high school and get a GED. The parents hired a lawyer.

In each of the cases, the school reluctantly agreed to evaluate the student, using a combination of private evaluators and school based psychological and related service personnel. The results of the evaluations allowed everyone to identify the problem accurately, design interventions and appropriate transition services. It shouldn't have required an attorney to make it happen.

Advice for Parents:

Insist on data based evaluations for your child.

The evaluations are critical to thoughtful accurate educational and transition planning.

Request an independent evaluation if the school won't or can't do the evaluation.

If you can afford to do so, hire an independent evaluator (e.g. psychologist, speech therapist, psychiatrist ) to evaluate your child.

Share the results with the school.

Put your request for an evaluation in writing to the school.

 

Legislative Update

Proposed Federal Legislation

H.R. 4247 and S. 2860 - This proposed legislation establishes standards for the use of restraint and seclusion in schools, direct states to develop plans to meet those standards, and bar schools from including restraint or seclusion as a specific behavioral intervention in a child's IEP.

S. 2781 ( " Rosas Law") This proposed legislation replaces the term " mental retardation " with " intellectual disabilities " wherever it appears in the law.

H.R. 2740 ( " The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act") - This proposed legislation permits parents who prevail in due process hearings and litigation to recover their expert witness fees.

Autism - National Standards Project

In every IEP or meeting with parents regarding interventions and teaching strategies, the question invariably arises about what works and how do we know. This is essential since the educational plan for students should include a description of the research based interventions to the extent practicable. Therefore, it is important to look for guidance to peer-reviewed research to assist in crafting programs for students.

The National Standards Project, published by the National Autism Center in 2009, attempts to provide critical information about which treatments have been shown to be effective for individuals with ASD. This comprehensive report identified 11 treatments as effective. (i.e. they were established as effective for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders ( ASD). Established treatments are those for which several well-controlled studies have shown the intervention to produce beneficial effects. There is compelling scientific evidence to show these treatments are effective.  The following interventions are Established Treatments:

Ø   Antecedent Package

Ø   Behavioral Package

Ø   Comprehensive Behavioral Treatment for children

Ø   Joint Attention Intervention

Ø   Modeling

Ø   Naturalistic Teaching Strategies

Ø   Peer Training Package

Ø   Pivotal Response Treatment

Ø   Schedules

Ø   Self-Management

Ø   Story Based- Intervention Package

 For more information about the National Standards Project, Establised Treatments and to read the full report, please click on the following link:

http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/affiliates/

Transition Planning - Top Ten Things Parents Should Know about Transition Planning

1. Have a current comprehensive evaluation. This should have data and information on your child's cognitive abilities, academic and adaptive functioning.

2. Start early. In Illinois transition planning starts at 14.5 or earlier if appropriate.

3. Prioritize what needs to be done and in what order.

4. Agree in advance who will do what.

5. Develop measurable goals.

6. Student's needs and intests are at the center of the process.

7. Identify what transition services ( including courses of study) that are needed to reach the goals.

8. Transition services are varied. They can include integrated employment, independent living skills and preparation for post-secondary education.

9.At 18 students are in charge of the process unless, the parents become guardians or students execute a delegation of rights form.

10. Prior to the IEP the parent and the school should develop an agenda and agree in advance on what must be addressed in the meeting and who should participate.

autism and IEP's

One July 24, 2008, ISBE issued a Memorandum #08-1 Development of IEP for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The memorandum is intended to provide a framework for IEP teams regarding the consideration of factors in developing the IEP for a student with an autism spectrum diagnosis. The memorandum states that the IEP team shall consider the following factors:

    1. The verbal and non-verbal communication needs of the child.

    2. The need to develop social interaction and proficiencies.

    3. The child's needs resulting from the child's unusual response to sensory experiences.

    4. The needs resulting from resistance to environmental change or changes in daily routines.

    5. The need resulting from engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements.

    6. The need for any positive behavioral interventions,strategies and supports to address any behavioral difficulties resulting from the autism spectrum disorder.

    7. Other needs resulting from the child's disability that impact progress in the general curriculum,including social and emotional development.

    The Memorandum goes on to discuss each of these factors in detail. I have been bringing the Memorandum to IEP meetings more recently.It is particularly frustrating that many special educators have not seen the Memorandum or seem vaguely aware of its existence. While it is certainly far from a guidebook for the development of an IEP for students with autism, it does suggest considerations that need to addressed in the context of an IEP. In short, it provides a neutral resource for school teams to use when when conceptualizing services and is generated by the ISBE rather than the parents or their attorney.

T.H. v. Palatine, Lessons Learned and Miles to Go

               In 1997, I was fortunate enough to have been involved with litigation where the issue was the provision of an appropriate autism program for an early childhood age student with autism. The parents were requesting that the school district reimburse or fund a 40 hour per week ABA home program. At the time, the district was offering only a 2.5 hour “eclectic” program that clearly wouldn't have provided benefit to the student. At the time the rate of autism in the population was estimated to be 1 in 1000. It was inconceivable that in a decade the figure would be revised to 1 in 150 children.

               I had recently started my special education practice and believed that the parents had a very good case for a variety of reasons. Other attorneys had declined to take the case believing that the issues of methodology made the parent's success unlikely. The lessons learned from the litigation, (a nearly 3 year process) were and are essential cornerstones of my practice and are as important now as they were a decade ago. They are as follows:

 

•       Cases (especially due process cases) are won or lost on expert testimony.

•       Choose your experts wisely.

•       Scientific research based evidence is essential. Insist on it.

•       Parents can and should become their child's own expert and advocate.

•       Objective measurable data can make or break your case.

•       Relationships with school personnel are a factor in every case.

•       This is complicated litigation and requires experts and attorneys who can make clear to  the hearing officer the essentials of a student's disability and the educational implications and strategies for remediation.

•       Due Process hearings are incredibly stressful for families, both economically and emotionally.

 

              At the time of the Palatine case I naively believed that schools en masse in Illinois would embrace the court's position and create autism programs or at the very least fund home based programs. [At the time, many states on the east coast were and still are funding home based programs and well done school programs without dispute]. I was wrong. Unfortunately while great strides have been made in making autism programming available to young children and increasingly older population of students I still am involved in litigation at least a dozen times a year where the facts of the case and the school's response to a request for intensive programming are the same as the T.H. v. Palatine case. Since that time, hundreds, (if not more) of cases involving educational programming for children with autism have been litigated. There would seem to be no debate that intensive early intervention is essential and a requirement for the provision of a free, appropriate public education. Yet, I still have families who find their way to my office often having mortgaged their home or taken second jobs to fund programming in the face of an inadequate school services from school districts.

               A decade later many school districts are still offering half day “eclectic” early childhood programs or cross-categorical classrooms with teachers who have little or no autism training. This is shocking, not because it appeared that T.H. v. Palatine and many other prior and subsequent cases nationally had resolved the matter. It is offensive because there is a vast body of research, information and resources that indicate that intensive full day, year round programming for children with autism is essential. School personnel are often aware of this research. For reasons that may be fiscal, indifference, incompetence or pressure to keep the numbers down, they fail to inform parents of the need or availability of this research or offer only the barest of programming.  Unfortunately for many children, obtaining an IEP with sufficiently intensive programming and skilled staff depends not on the school personnel who are charged with providing a free, appropriate, public education but on parents who have the resources either financially or at least the basic ability to access current information regarding educational programming. For those families either too overwhelmed or financially strained, their children often are left with inadequate or poor programs. As a result, these children lives may be forever negatively impacted by the failure to provide the needed services at a critical time of development. Getting a free, appropriate, public education should be available to all children and not viewed as a precious resource to be dispensed only when parents complain or show up with a lawyer.