What to Do If You Think Your Child Has a Disability
When you bring your baby home from the hospital—all peaches and cream and perfect—the last thing you may consider is the possibility that your child may grow up and show indications of a disability. And if your child is diagnosed with a disability you may be at a loss for what to do and where to begin—about special education and the rights of your child, etc. In this guide, we’ll offer some ideas about what you might do if you suspect your child has a disability, and show some components of the process you may undertake in determining your own child’s rights.
What's the Problem?
First of all, just what constitutes a disability? You might think of dyslexia, a prominent learning disability, or envision someone in a wheelchair, a physical handicap. But the Department of Education recognizes thirteen specific disability categories—including visually impaired, learning disabled, orthopedically impaired, and emotional disturbances, among others—that qualify a child for special education services.
What are some of indications of a disability? Often the signs are subtle and may not cause problems at home. Your child may display one or more of the following behaviors:
- Often fidgety with hands or feet, or squirming while seated.
- Having difficulty remaining seated when required to do so.
- Being easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.
- Having difficulty awaiting turns in group activities.
- Often blurting out answers before questions are completed.
- Having difficulty following directions.
- Often shifting from one uncompleted task to another.
Check in with your child’s pediatrician and share your concerns. Medication may play a part in your child’s diagnosis and only a medical professional can give you proper input and prescribe them.
So now what to do? You think your child may have a disability and thus qualify for school services, but how do you determine eligibility and take advantage of those services? A good place for parents to gather information concerning the Disabilities Education Act and resources about special education is the website for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/index.html. Another great place to look is the National Information Center for Youth and Children with Disabilities at www.nichcy.org.
Get Help at School
Special education is specially designed instruction to meet the needs of children and youth whose educational needs cannot be met with modifications of the regular instructional program. Federal law ensures that all individuals with exceptional needs have available to them a free, appropriate public education that includes special education and related services to meet their unique needs.
Moreover, schools are required to seek out students with disabilities and accommodate those children in the least restrictive environment. That means a program that promotes maximum interaction with the regular school program in a manner beneficial both to the disabled pupil and the other pupils in the regular classroom.
Your child may demonstrate a need for special services, apparent to the teacher while in class. Or the teacher may miss the clues and aggravate the condition. Regardless, what you should do next is contact your child’s teacher and school principal, and set up an appointment at school to discuss your concerns. At the meeting, ask for testing to evaluate whether your child’s needs meet the conditions for special education services.
Individualized Education Plan Evaluation
This initial meeting should begin the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) evaluation process, a federally mandated procedure for determining eligibility for school services. Once you sign the paperwork for testing (you must give your permission), the school is then required to evaluate your child. If your child is eligible for services, they are then protected by federal law. In fact, according to one resource specialist (special education teacher), “Once a parent has an IEP done, we ask how high do you want us to jump—and through what hoops.”
Testing in several distinct areas begins the IEP evaluation. Everyone from a school nurse, to a speech pathologist, to a psychologist, to a resource (or intervention) specialist, will probably perform some sort of test on your child, depending upon what you agreed to and signed for. For instance, you may not choose audio testing if there is no good reason to suspect a hearing disability, but agree to academic, speech, and language testing. Generally speaking, a battery of tests will be advised. Since the categories of testing also determine special education eligibility, it behooves you to undergo as many as reasonable.
Any findings will probably fall under one of the following headings:
- Developmentally Delayed
- Hard of Hearing
- Deaf
- Speech/Language
- Visually Impaired
- Emotional Disturbance
- Orthopedically Impaired
- Other Health Impaired
- Learning Disability (like Dyslexia)
- Deaf/Blind
- Multi-Disabled
- Autistic
- Traumatic Brain Injury
The “P” in IEP: What’s the Plan?
Once the professionals complete the evaluation process, you will meet with all those people who tested your child and listen to their reports and recommendations. This meeting constitutes the final stage of the IEP evaluation process and establishes the plan of the IEP. You should be given a folder containing your rights as a parent and the rights of your child. The entire meeting must also be recorded (by hand is fine, but you must approve the minutes at the end). The testers should also give you a hard copy report of their findings. A number of items make up the final IEP and, again, must be included. They are …
- Statements of the child’s level of educational performance.
- Statements of yearly goals and short-term educational objectives.
- Those individuals responsible for helping to accomplish the objectives.
- Criteria and evaluation procedures for measuring the achievement of the educational objectives.
- A statement of the specific special education programs and the related services needed by the student, and the degree of participation anticipated in the regular classroom or outside of it.
- Projected dates for beginning services, and how long the services should continue.
Be an Advocate for Your Child
Participating in an IEP evaluation is not an easy endeavor. It is time consuming and often frustrating. No matter what the issues are with your child, you need to go into the meeting knowing that things may be said and documented that may difficult to swallow. Keep in mind that the intent of the meeting is to provide the best educational environment for your child and provide him with the support he needs to succeed.
That’s not to say that you must agree to every recommendation from the IEP team either. If you disagree with a report, say so. If you don’t feel comfortable about implementing a recommendation, don’t. First of all, you’re the boss. It is your child’s life. Moreover, if you refuse a service today, you still have the option any time in the future of accepting the recommendation. Only you really know your child’s limitations and strengths. Be an advocate for your child! As a parent you know your child best and, therefore, are an important part of the IEP team.
Where Do We Go from Here?
Assuming your child does qualify for special education services, you and the rest of the IEP team determine a specific course of action—everything from instructional plans to room modifications may be included. The teacher will then modify the activity to fit her lessons. Again, the course of action an IEP will yield in your child’s case may incorporate something else entirely. Each child is different, after all, and that is why the program is termed an “Individual Education Plan.”
From here on out, you basically call the shots concerning your child’s education. If you find yourself unhappy with the plans made for your child, contact the school principal and request another IEP. The best thing you can do for your child is to arm yourself with information about his or her specific needs and exceptional nature; read books and look for websites on your child’s individual disability. Finally, good luck. The road may seem like an uphill battle in the beginning, but the results garner relief in many ways. Through an IEP you can begin to make progress and help your child.
