Category Archives: Tips for Parents

10 Special Ed “Back To School” Readiness Questions

Published on August 30, 2010 by Jennifer Laviano

It’s “back to school” time!  While many of my clients receive Extended School Year (ESY) services over the summer, I have learned over the years in my special education law practice that, regardless of whether your child receives ESY services, a number of things can occur over a summer that might impact his or her [...]

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What is an IEP “Amendment?”

Published on March 17, 2010 by Jennifer Laviano

Every so often, Congress “reauthorizes” the IDEA.  The most recent was the 2004 Reauthorization, also known as IDEA04, and sometimes IDEIA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act).  When the 2004 IDEA came out, there were a number of changes with which I, and many parents’ attorneys and advocates, disagreed.  However, there was one change [...]

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A Simple Question, Well Placed

Published on February 18, 2010 by Jennifer Laviano

Whenever I am asked to present to public school educators or special education administrators on the subject of the rights of children with disabilities, I try to remind them that, in every profession, continuing education should be embraced and appreciated.  This is because I have found so many problems when teachers feel threatened by a [...]

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What NOT to Wear to Your Due Process Hearing

Published on February 10, 2010 by Jennifer Laviano

Many of my clients will ask me what to wear to their child’s special education Due Process Hearing.  As a matter of law, it should be entirely irrelevant to the proceedings what the parents of children with disabilities are wearing.  Impartial Hearing Officers are not saying “I found in favor of the school district because [...]

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Should I Tape Record the IEP Meeting?

Published on January 24, 2010 by Jennifer Laviano

In my special education law practice in Connecticut, parents ask me all the time about tape recording their child’s IEP Team meetings.   Like most things, there are benefits and detriments to doing so, and I have heard parents’ attorneys and advocates come down on both sides of the question.  Some record each and every IEP [...]

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You’re Not Invited

Published on December 15, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

How is it that, in disputes between parents and school districts, whenever an IEP Team Member starts to align their recommendations with the parents’ position, they suddenly stop getting invited to that child’s IEP Meetings?  In my Connecticut special education law practice, I see this all the time.
Example 1:  the parents believe that their child [...]

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Enforcing Mediation Agreements

Published on November 23, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

We’ve covered whether to attend a Mediation.  There are benefits and risks, but generally it is a forum which I recommend, where appropriate.
But what happens if you’ve already attended one, reached a Mediation Agreement, and the school district isn’t honoring it?
Unfortunately, in my special education law practice, I am regularly contacted by parents of children [...]

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Assistive Technology Under IDEA

Published on November 3, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

Did you know that Assistive Technology is required, by federal law, to be considered in the development of EVERY SINGLE IEP?
Yes, that’s right.  AT should be discussed every time an IEP is being developed.
The IDEA states that the IEP Team “must,” in the development of IEPs, “consider whether the child needs assistive technology devices and [...]

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Interpreters for IEP Team Meetings

Published on October 7, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

Parents of children with special needs routinely tell me that they don’t understand their child’s IEP Team.  But what if this were LITERALLY true?  For parents of children with disabilities who are either deaf or who don’t speak English as a first language, these complex, and often contentious, IEP Meetings must seem even more overwhelming.
Thankfully, [...]

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Stay Put

Published on September 30, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

There are a number of “procedural safeguards” under the IDEA which are designed to ensure that the rights of children with special education needs, and their parents, are protected.  They are all important, but, in my view, one of the strongest is what we call “stay-put.”
We use the term “stay-put” to refer to the educational [...]

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