Introduction

The call I received, from the father of a child with a "learning disability," was not unusual. He was confused, overwhelmed, and angry.

"My 12-year-old has always done pretty good at school, is great at sports, and has friends, but the last year or so has been a mess. He's stopped doing his homework and his grades have gone south. He used to be a really outgoing kid, but now he's often quiet and moody. His teacher thinks he's depressed."

The pain and frustration in this father's voice weren't new to me. I've heard this profile from many parents, all of them concerned about their child and unsure what to do next.

"The teacher thinks my son has a learning disability. She said something about auditory memory and a processing problem. He has always been very meticulous, but now that he is in junior high, his homework seems to take all night and then he's even further behind. It sure seemed easier when I was in school, when there wasn't so much homework and kids didn't have to take so many standardized tests."

Homework and the quantification of American education. My opinions about how education has lost sight of its real purpose in the mad rush to show progress through numbers, the frustrations I have shared with my wife too many times, were ready for delivery, but that wasn't going to help this parent or his child.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know how to help him -- and he won't listen to me, anyway. He was suspended last month for fighting and he no longer qualifies for the football team. We're no longer thinking of a good college for him -- we just want him to make it through high school."

"Is your son in special education?"

"No, but you know, I'd be happy to pay your legal fees just to help with tonight's algebra. This learning disability stuff is so vague, its like a jellyfish. It isn't like a broken arm -- we can't take my son to the doctor, get a cast put on him, and know that he'll be fine in a couple of months. How do you fix these auditory memory and processing problems?"

The pain of this father and son is shared by the almost three million children (and their parents) in this country who are dealing with learning disabilities. Late nights, bad report cards, tears, yelling, frustration -- this wasn't what we thought school would be like for our kids.

The fundamental purpose of this book is to help these children and their parents or guardians through the maze that is special education -- including the special twists and turns that apply to kids with learning disabilities.

What Is Special Education?

"Special education" is the broad term used to describe the educational system available for children with disabilities. A learning disability is a specific disability category covered by special education law and addressed by special education programs.

As discussed in greater detail later in this book, learning disabilities can range from minor differences in learning style to serious difficulties processing information. A lot of people, many of them highly intelligent, have learning disabilities. There is no relationship between native intelligence and the existence of a learning disability. Your goal as you wind your way through the special education system is to make it easier for your child to achieve academically, despite his or her learning disability.

There are three fundamental questions to consider as you begin the special education process:

• Where is your child now? How is your child doing at school and at home?
• Where do you want your child to be? What are your specific goals -- for example, do you want your child to read more fluently, to write legibly, or to do schoolwork more efficiently?
• What does your child need to reach these goals?

The federal law governing the special education system is the individuals with disabilities Education act or IDEA. This law creates a formal process for evaluating children with disabilities (including learning disabilities) and providing specialized programs and services to help them succeed in school.

IDEA entitles children with learning disabilities to an "appropriate" education that meets their unique needs. You'll have a better sense of what constitutes an appropriate education as you read this book. Broadly speaking, an appropriate education includes all of the following:

• The specific program or class (called "placement") for your child. Placement is more than just a particular classroom; it can also include characteristics such as location, class size, teacher experience, and peer makeup. For example, a child with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) might be placed in a regular classroom with a teacher who has experience working with kids who have ADD.
• The specific support help (called "related services") your child needs, including who will provide it and how often. For example, a child who reads well below grade level might work with a reading specialist for one hour each day.
• Other educational components, such as curricula and teaching methods. These can be particularly important for students with learning disabilities. For example, a child with dysgraphia (handwriting problems) might be allowed to answer test questions orally, rather than in writing.

But how do you figure out what constitutes an appropriate education for your child? Special education law provides a process for evaluating your child and developing his or her academic plan through an "individualized education program," or IEP. You'll find this term used frequently throughout this book and by your school district, your child's teachers, and others familiar with special education. The initials IEP refer to several related things:

• the meeting where the school district determines whether or not your child is eligible for special education (the IEP eligibility meeting)
• the annual meeting where you and school representatives develop your child's educational plan for the coming school year (the IEP program meeting), and
• the detailed written description of your child's educational program, including specific ways in which your child's learning disabilities will be addressed through programs, teaching strategies, and support services.

Special education laws give children with disabilities and their parents important rights not available to children and their parents in regular education. These include the right to:

• have the child evaluated
• attend an IEP meeting
• develop a written IEP plan, and
• resolve disputes with the school district through an impartial administrative and legal process.

While children's special education needs may vary -- for example, one child with a learning disability may need placement in a private school while another needs a one-to-one aide for full-time participation in a regular class (called mainstreaming) -- all parents should master the IEP process to help secure an appropriate and individualized education for their children. Even though the rules governing the IEP process are the same for each parent and child, your child's particular IEP will be entirely individual. The program you and the school district develop must fit your child, not the other way around. What works for other students is irrelevant if it won't work for your child. What may be appropriate for a child with hearing loss, autism, or emotional difficulties may not be appropriate for your child and his learning needs. IDEA does not tell you or the school district specifically how your child will be educated. Rather, IDEA provides rules to govern the process, so the IEP team can decide what is appropriate for your child. IDEA provides the outline; the IEP team -- you and the school -- fill in the details.

Special Education and Learning Disabilities

A child with a learning disability has different educational needs than a child with mobility problems or emotional difficulties. And different learning disabilities require different educational strategies -- a child who has reading difficulties, for example, will need different types of assistance from a child who has trouble with auditory processing.

Within the world of special education, there are specific laws, rules, and requirements that apply to learning disabilities. A child with a particular learning disability may require specialized classroom techniques, strategies, and methodologies -- for example, a child with ADD may need extra help when classroom activities generate lots of activity or noise, or a child with memory problems may benefit from using mnemonics to remember important facts. Later chapters explain what constitutes a learning disability, how it differs from other types of disabilities recognized by IDEA, and how a child becomes eligible for special education based on a learning disability.

As you go through the special education process with your child, you will no doubt hear a variety of terms, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); auditory, short- and long-term memory problems; processing, spelling, reading, and math difficulties; and multisensory development. As is often the case, these words may sound intimidating and/or vague.

Regardless of whether we like these terms, they are part of the learning disability world -- and you'll need to master them to become the best possible advocate for your child. As you go through this book, you will learn about broad special education rules and processes as well as specific items that relate to learning disabilities. You'll need both types of information to successfully navigate the IEP process. Don't worry about memorizing any of these terms; you'll become familiar and even comfortable with them as you move forward.

Being Your Child's Advocate

It isn't hard for most parents to advocate for their children -- of course, all of us want the best for our kids. Still, becoming a successful advocate in the world of special education presents some challenges. The IEP process often seems like a maze -- it can involve lots of technical information, intimidating professionals, and confusing choices. For some families, it goes smoothly, with no disagreements; for others, it is a terrible encounter in which you and your school district cannot even agree on the time of day. Families of a child with learning disabilities may have to argue with school officials over whether the child's problems amount to a disability; whether, for example, a child's inability to "stay focused" or "listen to instructions" is serious "enough." your child may be painted as lazy, disruptive, or hard to control, rather than as a child with a learning problem. One teacher may think your child is a slacker, while another may be a saint who stays late and comes in early to give your child extra help.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that teachers, school administrators, and experts know everything and that you know nothing. Respect their knowledge, experience, and opinions, but don't devalue your own. Right now, you may not have all the information you need and you may not know where to look for it. But the law states that you and your school district are equal decision makers and that the school district must provide you with a good deal of information along the way.

You do not need to be a special education expert or a lawyer to be an effective advocate for your child. The general strategies for helping a child in the IEP process are not complex. The cliché that knowledge is power is absolutely true in the world of special education.

New Rules for Special Education

Congress has reviewed and changed IDEA several times since the law was enacted in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. In 2004, Congress changed the rules again when it passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which made important modifications to IDEA. These changes became effective on July 1, 2005. (You can find the text of key provisions of the new statute in Appendix 1.) While most special education rights and procedures remain the same under this new law, there have also been numerous and significant changes, all discussed fully in this book.

In August 2006, the United States Department of Education issued regulations for IDEA. These regulations clarify, explain, and provide details about the rules and procedures in IDEA. Many of the new regulations are identical to the old ones; however there are important changes.

Watch out for new numbering. The 2006 regulations are numbered differently than the old regulations. You can find the 2006 regulations in Appendix 1. Be careful: if you continue to use pre-2006 regulations, you won't be using the right number.

The new statutes and regulations include changes to:

• how a learning disability is determined
• rules about nonpublic schools
• how goals are measured
• the time line for initial assessments
• the age transition services start
• who can attend the IEP meeting
• whether or not an IEP needs to be held in person
• which children can transfer from one district to another, and
• due process rights, including:
  • how much time a parent has to file for due process
  • when the school district must hold a resolution meeting
  • what issues the parties can raise in a due process hearing
  • when parents will be responsible for the school district's attorney's fees, and
  • how long parents have to appeal to court if they lose the administrative due process hearing (90 days).

If you have questions about the new regulations you might contact a special education advocacy group (Appendix 3) or your state department of education (Appendix 2).

Using This Book

The purpose of this book is to help parents effectively proceed on their own through the IEP process, whether it's their first or fifth time through the maze.

This book will help you:

• understand special education law
• understand eligibility rules and the role of evaluations in determining whether your child qualifies for special education because of a learning disability
• gather current information and develop new material about your child -- in other words, become an expert on how your child is affected by his or her learning disability
• develop a far-reaching blueprint describing what would constitute the best possible program for your child
• determine your child's specific goals and educational needs
• gather current information and develop new material about various school programs, teaching strategies that work for children with learning disabilities, and options outside the school district
• prepare for the IEP meeting
• attend the IEP meeting and develop your child's IEP plan, and
• resolve disputes with the school district on your own or with the help of a lawyer.

Mastering these tasks will require you to be generally organized (but not fanatically so) and willing to ask questions and make use of resources that are widely available. The suggestions and forms in this book will help you stay on track throughout the IEP process.

Detailed appendixes provide invaluable information, including:

• copies of key federal special education laws
• addresses and websites of federal and state special education agencies
• addresses and websites of national and state advocacy, parent, and disability organizations, including those that provide specific help and information for parents of children with learning disabilities
• a bibliography of other helpful books, and
• two dozen tear-out forms, letters, and checklists to help you through every stage of the IEP process.

Some of the material will be very familiar to parents who have been through many IEPs -- you may already know the cast of characters and the basic legal requirements all too well. Still, you should review each chapter, even the ones that cover familiar territory. You may find fresh insights or new angles on old problems, and you will learn how new rules that went into effect in July 2005 have changed the special education landscape. Of course, you can skip material clearly not relevant -- for example, if your child is already in special education, you don't need to prepare for an eligibility meeting.

If you are new to special education, very little in this book will be familiar to you. You might want to start by taking a quick look at the chapter titles and table of contents to become familiar with key ideas and how they relate to each other before you start reading.

The special education process has a discernible beginning and end. In general, it covers a year. there are similarities and differences between the first IEP year and subsequent years. For example, each year you will gather information and prepare for the yearly IEP meeting. But the first year always includes evaluating your child's eligibility for special education. In subsequent years, your child may or may not be evaluated. Eligibility is not generally addressed after the first year, unless you or the school district feels a change is justified -- for example, if your child no longer needs special education or may qualify under a different eligibility category.

Icons Used Throughout

The icons listed below appear throughout this book and are intended to help you more easily use the book.

Resources that give more information about the issue or topic discussed in the text.

Related topics covered in this book.

Slow down and consider potential problems.

You may be able to skip some material that doesn't apply to your situation.

A practical tip or good idea.

A tear-out copy of the form discussed in the text is in Appendix 6.

Getting Help From Others

Other parents, local groups, and regional or national organizations can be a great help as you wend your way through special education. This is especially true when it comes to learning disabilities. The amount of information these folks have can be amazing. Other parents and parent groups can be your best resource -- and certainly a source of support to help you through hard times and help you avoid mistakes or unnecessary tasks most important, they can be a source of real encouragement. Chapter 15 provides further thoughts on making use of your local special education community.

Note: Reference is made throughout this book to parents, but I intend that term to include foster parents and legal guardians.