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 [...]
Filed Under Tips for Parents
Tags: Connecticut Education, Connecticut Special Education, Connecticut Special Education Law, Duly Constituted IEP Team, IDEA, IEP Team, IEP Team meetings, IEP Team Members, IEP Teams, Invitation to IEP meetings, special education, Special Education Law
Published on
June 26, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
As I near the end of a brutal IEP “Season,” I am humbled, once again, by how my clients do it. It is one thing for me, whose job it is to represent them at these meetings and to make sure their rights are being protected, to feel overwhelmed and frustrated by how unfair the [...]
Published on
June 8, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
“The Cheerleader”
So, a parent of a child with special education needs arrives at an IEP meeting with a list of serious concerns. Not infrequently, their child is struggling, and the parents’ disagreements with the program are significant. There may even be severe academic or behavioral regression at the time of the meeting. Sometimes the parents [...]
Published on
June 7, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
How many times have you attended an IEP Team Meeting for your child with special education needs, and requested a service or evaluation, only to be told “well, we’ll have to check with the special education director and get back to you” or “that’s not a decision that I can make” or “I don’t know [...]
Published on
June 1, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
“The Riddler”
This can be any member of the staff or administration, who has been withholding pertinent information from the parents of a child with special education needs until the Annual Review IEP Meeting, or worse, until the parents have brought in a special education lawyer or advocate. The Riddler has chosen not to share this [...]
Published on
May 27, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
“The Pseudo-Psychologist”
The “Pseudo-Psychologist” does not necessarily have to be a school psychologist. It is any staff member who begins throwing around psychological terms as if they are certain they have all of the answers. Far worse is when you get the Pseudo-Psychologist who starts opining as to the appropriateness of the medications your child is [...]
Published on
May 15, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
“The Wily Fox”
From the perspective of a parents’ special education attorney, this is the most dangerous of all IEP Team members. A Wily Fox is a person, usually a high level special education administrator, who has been studying the IDEA. Often, they have attended a number of conferences on special education law, and sometimes they [...]
Published on
May 13, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
“The Lawless Renegade”
IEP Team Meetings can and should include a wide range of educational professionals. Unfortunately, every once in a while they include a “lawless renegade.” This is a person who either does not know about, or does not care about, the school district’s legal obligations under federal and state special education laws. Scarier still [...]
Published on
May 9, 2009 by
Jennifer Laviano
“The Wimp”
This is the person on your IEP team who you KNOW completely agrees with you, but who is completely unwilling to stand up for what they believe when the IEP meeting comes around. This is almost always a teacher or service provider, and is often someone who has told you many times “off [...]
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“Actually, All of Our Kids Have Low Math Scores”
As a parents’ special education attorney in Connecticut, I hear outrageous statements that parents are told by their school districts on an almost daily basis. But, sometimes, I am told something that passes the realm of outrageous, and crosses into ridiculous.
Such statements mislead or misrepresent the school’s legal obligations, and always in a way that [...]