Tag Archives: Parental participation

The Special Education Blame Game

Published on September 24, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

It’s unfortunate, but true:  when parents of children with disabilities begin to seriously question the appropriateness of the special education program being provided to their child, the school district will often start to play “the blame game.”
The Special Education Blame Game is when educators attempt to assign responsibility for a student’s lack of success in [...]

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Fix It Or Move?

Published on August 19, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

I have represented hundreds of children with special education needs over the years.  You can imagine that, if the parents have decided to hire an attorney, there isn’t a lot of “warm and fuzzy” going on between them and the school.  There is frustration.  There is disappointment.  There is confusion.  There is anger, and sometimes [...]

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Missed Opportunities

Published on August 13, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

Recently, I attended an IEP Team Meeting that was, well, dare I say it?  Lovely.  I mean it.  About a year ago, the parents had hired me to represent their son, because they just could not convince their school district that their child was really, truly struggling.  He is one of those kids that can [...]

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We’re Fractured, and They’re Banking On It

Published on July 18, 2009 by Jennifer Laviano

It seems to me that lately, the disagreements within the community of individuals who are concerned about children with disabilities are starting to outnumber the agreements.  Which is pretty ludicrous, because when it comes to at least the IDEA (if not a number of other laws), we really have far more common ground than not.  [...]

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“STOP the IEP Meeting, I Want to Get Off!”

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 [...]

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