The Wrightslaw Way

Due to an overwhelming response, the sale has been extended to Midnight, December 11. Order Today!

Not only 25% Off  Wrightslaw Books, CD-Roms, Totes…

FREE Shipping on orders $50 or more…
Each book will be autographed by the authors, Pete and Pam Wright!

Send the perfect Christmas gift. We can include a gift card.

Use the Online Promo Code 1353444141 when placing your order to receive the 25% discount. Gift card message included at check out.

If ordering online is not your thing or you need to order in quantity…just give us a call. Use our toll free line at 877-529-4332. You can also use our downloadable order form.

Take advantage of the savings and order today!

Merry Christmas from Wrightslaw.

Tags:   Advocacy · Special Education LawNo Comments.

What is Universal Design for Learning?

“Universal design calls for planning for the needs of the broadest possible range of users.

Within an educational framework, universal design refers to a similar approach in designing and delivering products and services, such as curricula, instruction, and evaluations.

Application for Special Education

For students with LD and ADHD, who may struggle with traditional teaching methods, UDL offers the opportunity to access learning in ways that utilize their strengths rather than focusing on their deficits.

Students’ individual learning styles are taken into account, in order to take advantage of the different ways in which they are able to learn.

Brain research tells us that lecturing to students and then asking them to repeat the information or using standard textbooks are not the best ways of getting the message across. [Read more →]

Tags:   Access to education · Dr. Kathleen Whitbread · Eve Kessler Esq. · Smart Kids with LD · UDL · Universal Design for Learning2 Comments

Inclusive Schools Week, December 3-7, 2012.

Theme: building authentic friendships for students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers.

From Jim Comstock-Galagan -

If you want people to understand the matter of inclusion, you make them understand it for themselves.

How would inclusion relate to them?

Jim understood when his mother first walked him to elementary school.  He was told he could not attend – he needed to go across town to the “crippled children’s school.”

Jim’s mother said, “I’m telling you, he is NOT going to crippled children’s school.” Inclusion mattered to Jim’s family.

Jim knew he was not going to the crippled children’s school – the only school he knew he would attend was college. [Read more →]

Tags:   Accommodations · Inclusion · Jim Comstock-Galagan · LRE1 Comment

Update: This conference has sold out. Check out the schedule page for all upcoming conferences.

Just a reminder! Seats are filling up fast FILLED!

A FREE Wrightslaw Conference? That’s right! Just outside of OKC at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

Check out all of the training details.

Registration is FREE to parents, family members, and individuals who work with children with disabilities and are residents of Oklahoma.

Out of state registrants are welcome, but will be charged for the cost of the books ($65).

Register Today! In-State Registration Form Out-of State Registration Form

No online registration is available for this conference.

This generous conference is sponsored by The Oklahoma Disability Law Center and Partners in Education Advocacy.

See you in Oklahoma!

Tags:   Advocacy · Conference · Special Education Law · special education trainingNo Comments.

Wrightslaw would like to thank you for your support and all of the kind words expressed over this past year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Pam & Pete,

There are no words that can express my gratitude to you for all you have done for those of us who have children with disabilities.  For many years I have maintained a Wrightslaw folder in my email and on my computers.  When I have a question, your website is the first place I turn.  

Last fall when I decided to make advocacy my business (not my hobby), I turned first to Wrightslaw to develop my curriculum list of items to re-read…three times of course.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the ISEA last week and learn from the best.  I have already made use of my training as one of my clients was unexpectedly ordered to appear in juvenile court next week.  I would have been absolutely panicked if  I had not had the training I received at ISEA.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Tags: No Comments.

Inclusion:  What does the research say?

There is a strong research base to support the education of children with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers.

Although separate classes, with lower student to teacher ratios, controlled environments, and specially trained staff would seem to offer benefits to a child with a disability, research fails to demonstrate the effectiveness of such programs (Lipsky, 1997; Sailor, 2003).

There is mounting evidence that, other than a smaller class size, “there is little that is special about the special education system,” and that the negative effects of separating children with disabilities from their peers far outweigh any benefit to smaller classes (Audette & Algozzine, 1997).    – from What Does the Research Say about Inclusion? by Dr. Kathleen Whitbread.

Kathleen Whitbread, Ph.D., is an associate professor of education at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in special education.

Parents as Equal Partners in the IEP Process

IEP and Inclusion Tips for Parents and Teachers by Anne Eason and Kathleen Whitbread provides parents with tips and strategies for making inclusive education a reality for their children. [Read more →]

Tags:   Dr. Kathleen Whitbread · IEP and Inclusion Tips · Inclusive education6 Comments

Early Bird Registration ends Wednesday, November 14th for the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy Training in San Diego, CA.

Take advantage of the savings and register today!

The conference will take place at The Catamaran Resort and Spa on February 1, 2013. Conference fee includes morning refreshments, catered banquet-style lunch, three books, Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, 2nd Edition and Wrightslaw: All About IEPs.

Join Pete Wright, Esq. and sponsors, the San Diego Chapter of the Autism Society of America at this beautiful location.

See you in San Diego on February 1st!

Tags:   Advocacy · Conference · IEPs · Special Education Law · special education training2 Comments

Is your child struggling to succeed in grade level academic classes (general education classes)?

Are you an advocate or professional who works with a child struggling in general education?

Requirements in IDEA 2004 about access to instructional materials and accessibility standards:

34 CFR 300.172(b)  and 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(23)(B)

In order to meet its responsiblity… to ensure that children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats are provided those materials in a timely manner, the SEA (State Education Agency) must ensure that all public agencies take all reasonable steps to provide instructional materials in accessible formats to children with disabilities who need those instructional materials at the same time as other children receive instructional materials.

Could your child benefit from Assistive Technology (AT) or Accessible Instruction Materials (AIM)?

Not sure?

If you are uncertain whether AT and AIM is needed, ask yourself the following questions. [Read more →]

Tags:   Accessible Instructional Materials · AIM · Assistive TechnologyNo Comments.

I have a client who has had some serious discipline problems.   He has problems relating to other kids.  His test scores are extremely high, but he is failing classes because the school puts him out for suspensions.

The school district says:

1.  Because he has some friends he does not qualify as seriously emotionally disturbed.  They say he is “socially maladjusted” which they claim is not covered.

2. They claim he only needs counseling and there cannot be an IEP for counseling only.

I’m a therapist and non-lawyer.

You seem to have a question about eligibility and another question about how to get services for a kid who is having some serious problems.

For the child to be eligible for special education, he has to have a disability and the disability has to negatively affect educational performance.

The school says he is “socially maladjusted.” You say he is “emotionally disturbed.”

You have a disagreement about this already. This disagreement sets the stage for problems later even if you succeed in getting him qualified for services as “emotionally disturbed.”

Negative Impact of Labeling Kids as “ED” [Read more →]

Tags:   Behavior therapy · Counseling · Eligibility Determination · Emotionally Disturbed5 Comments

On this day, October 29th, 1969 the first host-to-host connection over the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) is made when the first message is sent between two computers at University of California, Los Angeles.

Today we use the Internet to communicate by Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Blog and the list continues to grow.

Tags:   Special Education LawNo Comments.