If you need or want to begin with your public school district (after-all, these are your tax dollars at work), you must put your request in writing and hand-deliver, mail or fax a signed and dated copy of your request to your child’s school or school district administration building. If your child is in pre-school and at least 3 years of age or kindergarten through age 21 (older in some states) and you suspect a disability, you can request in writing that your child be evaluated for special education identification and services under IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004) and your state’s special education regulations. A teacher, counselor, social worker or principal will then contact you to set-up a meeting and discuss your concerns that will lead to the decisions on who should be included and conducting your child’s evaluations. Then over the course of not more than sixty school days (or less, as established by your state regulations) a team that can include a general education teacher, special education teacher, social worker, school psychologist, occupational therapist, reading specialist and physical therapist, will conduct assessments, conclude their evaluations and recommendations and then the MET (multidisciplinary education team) will assemble with you and report their findings. This can lead to special education identification and then your child’s first IEP (individual education plan) and IEPT meeting (individual education planning team), where you will as a team, make decisions on how to provide your child with a “free and appropriate education” (FAPE) and address his/her individual education needs.
Unfortunately, the MET can also result in a team’s decision to not identify your child with a disability. This happens far too often with children that have ADD, AD/HD, a Non-Verbal Learning Disability, Auditory Processing Disorder and Executive Functioning Deficits. If your child is not found eligible under IDEA 2004, you can disagree and request an “independent education evaluation at public expense” (IEE at public expense). This can allow you to hire private therapists to evaluate your child but on the school district’s dollars. Then round two in the fight for your child’s right to meaningful and maximally productive education can begin again or you can also ask for services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. We will discuss these conundrums, challenges, options and opportunities in future articles.