It's complicated!

Neurological conditions like epilepsy, autism, ADHD, or the side effects of brain surgery, can impact how a child learns and behaves. Many kids with these conditions need extra help in school to support them.

This is called special education.

Navigating special education services for your child can be overwhelming for parents unfamiliar with it. Most parents don't know what steps to take to build their child's individualized education program (IEP).

The IEP process has many rules and acronyms, leading to frustration and intense emotions. Understanding the legal terms and requirements, such as what Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) or the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) means, can be tricky.

Parents might have trouble speaking up for their child's needs during IEP meetings if they don't know their rights or what should be in their child's plan. If you want to advocate for something for your child, you must understand it!

This course will teach you, step by step, how to stand up for your child.

You'll learn about:

• Special education laws
• Making a special plan for your child (called an IEP) and using your rights (procedural safeguards)
• Other protections like 504 plans
• Different ways to help your child learn
• How to talk to the school to make sure your child gets what they need.
  
  

Advocacy Tip

Advocating for your child doesn’t mean you have a ticket to be rude, overbearing, or demanding. It also doesn’t mean you let a school district walk all over you because you’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or stirring the pot. A good advocate is a collaborator – you work with the school on the common goal of an appropriate IEP for your child.

Before You Start – Make Your Resource Binder

Make sure you have essential reference documents at your fingertips.

We suggest you make a separate binder with copies of the following laws and forms. Use tabs to separate each document.

• The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Downloadable PDF)
• The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations for Special Education (Downloadable PDF)
• Your state’s education act and regulations (see here)
• Model form of prior written notice (Downloadable PDF)
• Federal guidance on your procedural safeguards (Downloadable PDF)
• Infographic of the IEP process - discussed in our next lesson (Downloadable English PDF • Spanish PNG)

You can also purchase a copy of the Wrightslaw Special Education Law book

Take the time to read through these laws. Think of the IDEA and regulations that govern IEPs as your bible. If you have a question, get into the habit of looking it up right in the law itself. Use it as your reference book.

Learn more

• The disability and education communities often use abbreviations called acronyms in both writing and conversation. These acronyms stand for names or phrases to make communication quicker and easier. Here is a list of Key Disability & Special Education Acronyms from the Center for Parent Information and Research.
• This is a useful IDEA fact sheet from the Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center.
• This resource from Understood can help you organize your child's IEP binder.
• Special Education Law in Each of the 50 States has links to each state’s special education laws.
  

These resources and more can be found on The (Almost) Everything List