5 April 2010
Texas district uses RTI to reduce special-education referrals
15 February 2010
Paging Dr. Freud

I guess I was due for a rant.
First, I get a vile comment on the blog that likened Asperger’s Disorder to a fad, and further blamed a number of disabilities on poor parenting. Thankfully, you, my loyal readers, jumped on board and shamed this yahoo with your reasoned replies. I have yet to learn more about what motivated the comment, nor even what led him or her to be reading my blog. Let’s just say, it seems to me that this person has issues.
Still, it is always heartbreaking to hear statements that realize your worst fears about what some people think about individuals with disabilities.
Next, I read a letter from a board attorney on a case of mine, documenting the school district’s “concern” that my client, who is placed in a private special education school at public expense, is “not being given the opportunity to interact with peers.” Translation: the school district is laying the groundwork to try to stop paying for the private school.
Granted, I was already doing a slow burn over the comment on my blog, but this statement just hits a nerve with me.

The reference made by the school’s lawyer was to the LRE provision of the IDEA, which mandates that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities should be educated “with children who are not disabled.” IEP teams are required to regularly document and justify any removal of students with special needs from the regular education environment.
Inclusion of kids with disabilities in the “mainstream” is one of the main goals of the IDEA, and in fact is at the core of its historical underpinnings.
However, for some students at some points in their life, the IDEA contemplates that a more restrictive environment might be required, as in the case of my client, who is in what is called a “self-contained” program. This means that all of the students who attend this school have disabilities, and in this case, severe developmental disabilities. Self-contained programs can exist within the public schools as well, although this one happens to be a private program.
Which gets me back to the comment by opposing counsel, that the school would like to see the child “interact with peers.” What was meant was “non-disabled peers,” but that is not what was said. What was said was “the opportunity to interact with peers.” The child DOES interact with peers; it’s just that he interacts with peers who happen to also have disabilities. You don’t have to be a Freudian to see the subtext in this omission.
Since when do schoolmates with IEPs not count? Students with disabilities ARE peers!

The more I stewed over this, the more I came to realize how connected the two comments were: the nasty (and ignorant) response on my blog, and this reply from someone who should know better. At the core, they betray what I believe is one of the biggest obstacles to progress in the disability rights movement, which is a basic absence of concern for people who have special needs by most people who have no personal experience with it.
Years ago, I came to the realization that there are two types of people when it comes to special education rights: those who understand what “there but for the Grace of God go I” means, and those who don’t.

Recently, I was speaking to a group of law students about special education law. One of the students started to ask why we, as a society, should be spending “all of this money” on kids with disabilities and especially special education litigation, when “many more” students might go without. I responded that, as far as I am concerned, free football versus a child learning to speak was no contest. Being a smart law student, he countered with examples of much more important things than football, like books. Fair point. So, I explained how most of the cases that become very expensive do so because the school district failed to follow the law to begin with, and then proceeded to give about a half a dozen examples of cases I’ve litigated which could have been resolved initially for a fraction of what it ultimately cost the school system.
What I didn’t say is that I’ve had this exact debate for many years with a number of friends from high school, college, law school, and beyond.
Several of whose children I now represent.
There but for the Grace of God…
13 February 2010
Nonprofit provides technology job training for people with autism
30 January 2010
#ATIA2010 – Orlando, Friday
I attended a great session Friday morning by Penny Reed & Gayl Bowser (both very active QIAT Leadership type people!). They presented a great session about ways to work smarter, not harder by using web tools like - Blogs, Nings, & Wikis (hmmm...seem familiar!). Some of the blogs they mention were Teaching Every Student, No Limits to Learning, & TLWMSN. They also talked about the AT Help Desk they created to help teams diagnose the best way to fix problems - AT Help Desk.
I went to a great session by Libby Rush on how to teach writing! While she had way to much material for a 1 hour session, she was thoroughly engaging and fun to watch! There was a lot discussed and most of it is in my notes (but she talks really fast, and I can't type that fast!). I'll do my best to try and put up a post soon about her ideas.
My favorite sessions were by last two. First I saw Marie Duggan, a Mom-NOS (not otherwise specifed), of 6 kids, one with Autism! She had filled her sons life with symbols, schedules, and communication. I'm amazed at all the solutions she came up with. When a problem arose they found a way to to help him. I think what I was most impressed by was that she didn't just work on the problem, she worked on the WHY! Then she worked on a way to help him understand! An utterly amazing woman. I wish she had had more time because we never got to hear about the new software she is working on.
Last, but certainly not least, was SMART Inclusion in the 21st Century: Integrating SMARTBoards with AT. A long title, but worth every second! A SLP, Alexandra Dunn at a small school board in Ottawa, Canada decided that the best way to integrate their students with SCD in the general ed classrooms was through SMARTBoards! The results were profound and AMAZING! All students increased participation and showed skills they never had before. Each SMARTBoard was used with BM, Classroom Suite, Notebook Software and they used it with all the students (not just the ones with IEP's!). They had Airliners (think portable mouse), Intellikeys, and switches so that there was a lot of alternative access, just depending on what the student needed. They even let some kids use their Bluetooth enabled devices to interact directly with the SMARTBoard!!!!!! They have some research, and as soon as it is posted I will let you know. This was some exciting stuff!
As you can see, I'm quite excited by my experience at ATIA. It's always amazing to me how much it helps to go to conferences and meet with other professionals, it's just an electric atmosphere. I have some information about today's sessions to post, and it will have to wait (I should be boarding momentarily). Again, if you are interested in reading my notes from the sessions please feel free to check them out here - ATIA Notes.
Patrick
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12 December 2009
Inclusion: Special-education efforts benefit all students
2 November 2009
Special-needs students in Nashville, Tenn., take mainstream classes

30 October 2009
Mentors, student-teachers team up in co-teaching classrooms

27 October 2009
Inclusion classes provide benefits to students in Tennessee district
25 May 2009
High Performing, Inclusive Secondary Schools: A Leadership Institute
Institute Participants Will Gain Knowledge and Skills in the Following Areas:- Current research and effective practices in standards-based literacy, mathematics and scienceat the secondary level
- Relevant and practical co-teaching strategies formiddle and high school classrooms, incorporatingstrategies for students with and without disabilities
- Strategies to promote social success among middleand high school students
- Progress monitoring strategies based on currenttrends in assessing and grading secondary studentswith disabilities
- Curricular adaptations in a high stakes environment
- Quick and easy strategies across content areas toimpact learning for all students
- Culturally responsive educational practices
- Techniques for building stronger partnershipsbetween general and special educators, as well aswith students and families
- Effective use of common planning time
Who Should Attend:
School-based teamsincluding:
- Co-teaching Teams
- General and Special Educators
- School-based Administrators
- Inclusion Facilitators
- Related Services Personnel
- Other Faculty interested in Inclusive Education
To Register:
Visit www.inclusiveschools.org Registration begins MAY 27, 2009. Space is limited - registrations accepted on a first come first serve basis.
7 August 2008
Team HOYT…The real story of an inspirational love between a father and a son.
Racing Towards Inclusion (click here) For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

