LDA does not endorse or assume responsibility for any service, treatment, method, or product provided by this newsletter. Such listings are presented solely for the reader’s information.
Greetings, LDAMC Community!
The volunteers of LDAMC are eager to start another school year of services and support for you. First off, please do not miss our upcoming Member Social on September 14 at Paladar in Rockville. This is a great opportunity to meet some board members and share how LDAMC can play a greater role in your life. More information below. We look forward to seeing you there.
Secondly, we have a new calendar system. Now any community member may input the details of a local event into the LDA-MD website. If it is approved and occurring in Montgomery County, it will be added to our LDAMC website calendar. Easy and inclusive! More details on this process can be found below by clicking on the Calendar link to the left.
Finally, we have an excellent article from one of our members detailing the special education process as well as the difference between an IEP and a 504 Plan. As this is a very common question from parents, we are happy to provide this clear and thorough description. Thank you, Dr. Resnik!
We wish you a lovely September and a smooth transition into the school year. Our October newsletter theme will be Local Private Schools. If you have a connection with a local private school, this is a great opportunity to describe what makes your school special in the LD community. To submit an article, email ldamc@ldamc.org.
Sarah Summerlin
LDAMC President
You are invited to an
LDAMC Member Social!
Come meet fellow members of the LDAMC community and toast to the beginning of another school year. We will provide light hors d'oeuvres.
We look forward to chatting with you and learning how LDAMC can assist you.
Are you looking for a local nonprofit where you can volunteer? LDAMC is always looking. Please email ldamc@ldamc.org if you would like to share some of your time with the learning disabilities community of Montgomery County.
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Did you know that LDAMC offers informational programs, support groups, and events for professionals and parents free of charge? For more information about upcoming programs and events for professionals or families, email us at programs@ldamc.org.
Our last board meeting was extremely productive. We will be sharing our decisions and work with the community as the fall progresses. Our next board meeting is scheduled for October 3. If you would like at attend (all members welcome!) please email ldamc@ldamc.org for more details.
Special education law and policy can be confusing, particularly when you’re a parent trying to determine if professionals doing the right thing for your child. Though the law itself seems clear, differences can arise between well-meaning people when it comes time to apply the law to “real world” decisions. Special education law and policy are governed by two different federal laws, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On a practical level, these laws mean that a student with a disability (provided the disability has a negative educational impact) must be served with a free and appropriate public education. Under the federal law, every student has the right to be identified. Once identified as a student eligible for special education services, he has the right to supplementary aides and services in the least restrictive environment, and the right to related services if appropriate (speech, OT, PT, etc.). Every student should be making an appropriate rate of progress as assessed via a variety of data sources, like standardized tests or curriculum based measurements. With all of those rights, what could possibly go wrong?
As is always the case, the “devil is in the details.” As part of my special education training, all of us soon-to-be special educators took an entire course all about special education law. We then took other courses relevant to implementing the federal law, such course work on how to write behavioral goals, assess progress, and collaborate with other service professionals. We spent years learning to put the “law into practice.” Most parents do not have the luxury of this sort of time, and so are often at a great disadvantage when trying to advocate for their child’s educational needs. Though you may feel the knowledge gap, be aware that not every professional sitting around the table has a good working understanding of special education law and policy. Parents are all too often given incorrect information about their rights, and as Edna Mode said in the Incredibles, “Luck favors the prepared!”
There are many myths about special education, perhaps most about the ‘Eligibility Process’ (qualifying for special education services). For example, parents often worry that schools try to place children in special education to receive more federal funds. In truth, schools work to avoid classifying children for expensive services. Serving a less needy child means there are fewer resources for the neediest, and schools try to prioritize. Government funding is barely adequate to cover the extensive costs of providing special education. Many administrators feel pressure to reduce the number of children receiving special education services. While a parent’s goal is for the child to achieve his potential, the law states that the school’s goal is that the child make appropriate progress. Hence many parents have to fight for services.
Parents also worry about what it means for their child to be “labeled” through the eligibility process. Each ‘eligible’ child must be formally identified as eligible for services under a “Service Delivery Code” (meaning that the child’s disability falls into one of the specified categories delineated in the law, such as Specific Learning Disability). It is important to remember that children are “labeled” in schools all the time, because people naturally try to find explanations for a child’s struggles. Unfortunately, the labels people create in their ignorance are usually wrong. Everyday labels people give children, such as lazy, bad, disruptive, or unmotivated, do not help. Such labels keep people from thinking constructively about how to help the child. In contrast, a diagnosis is a data-based description of a child’s needs. A diagnosis is made by a professional to communicate with other professionals and to inform treatment interventions. A diagnosis is essential to being found eligible for special education. Many parents wrestle with concerns that a diagnosis will stigmatize their child, or lead professionals to underestimate her potential.
Students may receive services in three ways. First, the student may have some accommodations as part of Response to Intervention (RTI). RTI was developed by researchers to help children have fast access to services without having to ‘wait to fail’. It was a great idea that is not always so great in practice. RTI means that a child may have access to accommodations or special instruction without having gone through the formal eligibility process mandated by the law. It is important to note that RTI does not replace special education or formal assessment (such as psychological testing or a speech-language evaluation). The key aspect of RTI is that the child must respond to the interventions with improvement in either rate or level of progress (e.g. making at least months’ worth of progress in a month, or getting back on grade level). Most parents do not know that at any time, even if RTI help is in place, they can request to start the formal eligibility process. Simply because a student receives services and accommodations as part of RTI does not mean that the school must wait to test the child, or that the school is no longer obligated to provide testing or pursue formal services.
If a student is found eligible for special education services, the services are coordinated through either an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) or 504 Plan. Both are legal documents. Once written and signed by the parent, the school is bound to comply with the plan’s provisions. The IEP is mandated as part of the IDEA law. A child is eligible for an IEP only if he has a disability that has a negative educational impact which requires services that differ from the regular educational program. A child may be served with an IEP if the only way he can access an ‘appropriate’ education is for the school to provide an individualized educational program. This may include interventions like: intensive individualized instruction, a special program/school, behavioral or emotional support, or a modified/specialized curriculum. The IEP is a plan for providing a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (which means with the fewest changes to the typical student experience as possible).
The parts of the IEP include: a service code (e.g. Specific Learning Disability, Speech-Language Delay), the child’s placement, supplementary aides and services (e.g. specialized reading instruction), related services (e.g. occupational therapy), accommodations, and goals addressing all identified areas of need. The IEP is written by a special educator before the team meets. The IEP is finalized in collaboration with the Multidisciplinary Team (including parents, psychologist, teachers, administrators, and therapists). The school cannot implement the IEP unless the parent signs it. If the parent refuses to sign, the school must renegotiate, go to mediation, or pursue due process. Each quarter, the child’s case manager reviews the goals to determine if the child is making appropriate progress towards meeting the IEP goals. The IEP can be reviewed or changed at any time with the consent of the parents. Parents have a host of due process rights if they do not agree with the provisions of the IEP (so please never throw away that Due Process handbook you get at meetings!)
The other way students may receive services is through a 504 Plan. A 504 Plan is part of the ADA (not IDEA) and is quite different in scope. A 504 Plan is not a scaled down IEP. A 504 Plan provides reasonable accommodations to the regular education to mitigate the impact of a person’s disability on major life activities (learning, reading, thinking, working etc.). The purpose of the ADA is to reduce the discriminatory aspects of the regular education setting for people with disabilities. A 504 Plan is literally a list of accommodations to the regular education setting. In a meeting, you may see a form with a lengthy list of accommodations, with the ones for your child ‘checked off.’ Accommodations may include things like: extended time, assistive technology, a behavior plan, or a re-entry plan for a student recovering from school refusal. The 504 Plan does not modify the curriculum in any way, change placement, or grant access to individualized instruction. A 504 plan is qualitatively different from an IEP in this way. Remember, the IEP coordinates individualized education or differentiated instruction (e.g. working on Wilson Reading with the reading specialist for 30 min. a day). The 504 plan is designed to alter the regular education setting, making it more considerate of the student’s needs.
The federal government’s Center for Parent Information and Resources is an extremely comprehensive, unbiased resource for learning all about law, policy, and learning differences. See http://www.parentcenterhub.org/ If you still have questions or concerns, don’t try to ‘got it alone.’ It is best to consult an experienced professional with solid credentials to avoid making a costly mistake. We are fortunate that the DC area is full of professionals who have extensive training and experience in special education.
We have updated our calendar input process. Now any community member may submit an event for consideration through the LDA-MD website. Simply enter the details of the event you're hosting or the event you think we should promote, and if it is approved and also a Montgomery County event, it will be entered into our LDAMC website calendar.
So now there are two ways to potentially add your event to our website calendar.
1. You may input the details on the event registration page of the LDA-MD website, or
2. You may send it out via our ldamc-helpline Yahoo! listserv. (Not on our listserv? Join here.)
Any questions about this process? Please feel free to email ldamc@ldamc.org.
LDAMC Board & Executive Committee Positions
President – Sarah Summerlin
Vice President – vacant
Treasurer – Richard Bell-Irving
Recording Secretary – Phyllis Forman
Corresponding Secretary – Ruth Brodsky
Immediate Past President – Bonnie Massimino
Newsletter Coordinator – Sarah Summerlin
Hangout Hive Facilitator – Susan Healy
Parent Connection Facilitator - open
Family Advocacy Representative – Judy Lantz
Helpline Volunteer Coordinator – open
Professional Resource List Coordinator – open
Membership Committee Co-Chairs –Abby Kuntz-Smith
Programs Committee Chair – Bonnie Massimino
Media/Website Committee Chair – open
Fundraising/Finance Committee Chair – open
SEAC representative – open
MCPL advisory committee representative – Richard Bell-Irving
LDA of Montgomery County, MD, Inc.
LDAMC has served the community since 1965. We are a 501-c-3 non-profit registered in Maryland. LDAMC’s mission is to provide awareness, advocacy, and education about Learning Disabilities. We are a volunteer organization, affiliated with LDA-MD and LDA of America. Elected officers and a Board of Directors, under the guidance of the national organization, determine local policies and procedures.
