The Wrightslaw Way

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New Book! Wrightslaw: All About IEPs is at the printer now!
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Answers more than 200 frequently asked questions & introduces key legal issues
Outlines your rights & responsibilities and explains the law in plain language you can understand
Provides the reference source of information, the law, regulation, [...]

In 2007, a judge ordered sanctions against MPS and remedies for kids. MPS says what the judge ordered in June 2009 will be too costly. However, “they have a never-ending pot for attorney’s fees.”
A lawsuit brought by Disability Rights Wisconsin in 2001 alleged that MPS systematically failed to identify and [...]

Act today to share your concerns about:

Closing the disability achievement gap
Ensuring a meaningful education that enables every child to succeed
Meaningful parent participation in IEP meetings and as equals in educational planning
Using effective, research based programs and highly qualified teachers
Restraint/seclusion

Do it today! Email deadline for comments/concerns is Wednesday, September 9 by 5:00 pm EDT
Email [...]

I am a regular ed teacher. It’s been weeks since I started teaching at a new school, and I have no idea who is on an IEP or 504. I don’t even know who the special ed teacher is. I asked for a list of all the students who have IEPs and 504s. [...]

Last week we posted about using an IEP Parent Attachment to add input to your child’s IEP.
We heard immediately from Daunna who wrote:
The question was “How can I deal with [the school's refusal to include a parent attachment]?”
Judy Bonnell’s parent attachment form is a great idea, but it’s not really an attachment unless the school [...]

If a student has scribe on his IEP for all subjects, is he supposed to have a scribe in math also? I was told “no” by a school administrator. I’m confused.
If the IEP says a scribe in all subjects, that means all subjects. Math is a subject. You need to write [...]

If a child is wheelchair-bound and needs a catheter, is this something that belongs in the IEP?
Exactly whose responsibility is it to handle catheters for wheelchair-bound students? I would think it qualifies as a medical procedure and that a nurse would need to do it?
Does the child need these services to attend school? [...]

How does an IEP team determine if a special needs student is entitled to services such as Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy? Is the school team allowed to say that because a student’s IQ is very low, they do not feel that services such as OT and Speech would be helpful? Using this reasoning, the [...]

Some children with disabilities require special education and related services longer than the usual school year in order to receive FAPE. Extended School Year (ESY) services are special education and/or related services provided beyond the usual school year, at times when school is not usually in session - typically during the summer.
ESY services are different [...]