Carol Ann Heath, Ed.D. Uncategorized

Get the Information While it lasts!

Since January, many changes have taken place in the Department of Education, including those related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This is an ALERT for anyone interested in the history and requirements of the law. These pages include the background and resources for professionals and parents.

This is a call-to-action encouraging you to share the information with interested parties.

Essential Resources for IDEA and OSEP Stakeholders

OSEP Update Newsletter

The OSEP Update newsletter provides monthly email blasts with important OSEP announcements as well as a monthly newsletter with updates for OSEP stakeholders.

Related Resources

Carol Ann Heath, Ed.D. Children with Disabilities, Early Intervention Services, Special Education

Washington Post and Rights of Students with Disabilities: My field has moved back, not forward.

To say I was let down would be an exaggeration. I waited with great hopes for the Panel Discussion on the current chaotic state of the education of students with disabilities and the lack of implementation of the requirements of the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

The panel discussants were eloquent, polished in their presentations, and vibrant. They included the secretary of the federal Department of Education, the Ford Foundation program officer for disability rights, and the CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. The moderator did not ask challenging questions but encouraged the presenters on the theme of their professional expertise. 

The title “Disability Rights in U. S. Schools” was only lightly touched on but on the broadest subject of access throughout life and work settings. The major themes included the shortage of teachers, professional development, salary, working conditions, and respect for the profession, all very critical issues in teacher retention. 

The rights of students with disabilities, over 15% of the public school student population, to implementation of their IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) in the appropriate educational setting were not mentioned. For some students, this would be in an inclusive classroom, while for others, special settings may be appropriate for the implementation of their IEP. The role of parents and their rights in the special education process were not mentioned. At the state and local level, where special education happens, the costs of special education are an explosive issue for education budgets, frequently a target for advocates of non-disabled students. Federal funding covers less than 10% of the costs, depending on the wealth of the state and local system. 

Key to a discussion of the rights of students with disabilities is the recognition of the specific legal and procedural requirements, in addition to the push for inclusive educational environments, and teacher training and compensation.

Carol Ann Heath, Ed.D. Children with Disabilities, COVID, Special Education

Knowing the Impact of Learning Loss

            March 14, 2020, ushered in an unanticipated and fundamental change in the delivery of services for children with disabilities, upending the timely identification, assessment, evaluation, and delivery of services.  While education for all children changed, the pandemic required a unique interpretation of services for children with disabilities and a cataclysmic revisioning of the meaning of timely services and the where and location for the delivery of services.  Timelines and delivery modes were revamped, striving to revision a mode of virtual and hybrid services in a constrained model of what are early intervention and special education services consistent with federal and state laws and regulations. Initially, it was thought that federal waivers would be available. Instead, broad guidance was provided, leaving states with the responsibility to devise a broad range of substitute strategies for identification of eligible children and the delivering of services to implement diverse and individualized educational programs. 

            The myriad of issues and initial service solutions was confusing, leaving many families with the complete cessation of services and others with a near perversion of therapeutic strategies designed to address the needs of the more severely disabled.  Social and income inequities surfaced immediately with many families lacking access to internet and without the necessary technologies to participate in any form of virtual learning or services. Issues of childcare and parents as teachers have plagued the implementation of the varied models of services.  States floundered in the specific guidance needed by local systems and funding lagged to assist in modification of classrooms, delivery models, and the need to address transportation.  Solutions were as diverse as there are local systems and funding options.  

Initially many educators and parents relied on the guidance that children would return to school in the fall of 2020.  Young children and students with disabilities face significant education challenges as the beginning of school in the fall approaches. Around the country, school districts are grappling with the format and pace of programming while at the same time accommodating the learning needs of many children.  The physical obstacles include transportation of children while observing social distancing and variations in hybrid models of in-school and virtual learning.          

Many young children and students with disabilities may not be willing to tolerate masks, particularly when riding for long periods of time on a bus or when attempting to communicate if dependent on sign language or communication supports.  Variability in routines will challenge children if the schedules are intermittent or are unexpectedly changed due to recurrent school closures for student or teacher illness.     

Some children with IFSPs and IEPs that have not been implemented during the quarantine period may be eligible for extended school year, as well as compensatory services.  Team meetings, with parent participation, will evaluate the current levels of student functioning within the curriculum and determine any revisions that will assist the child to be successful. Additional educational and therapeutic services may be necessary to support the child with regressions during distance learning.

Carol Ann Heath, Ed.D. Children with Disabilities, COVID, Special Education, Uncategorized

The Unexpected Benefits of Remote Learning for Neurodivergent Students | EdSurge News

Learning disruptions have been an unfortunate but all-too-frequent sight during the pandemic. But not every student felt those effects evenly as …
— Read on www.edsurge.com/news/2021-08-04-the-unexpected-benefits-of-remote-learning-for-neurodivergent-students

This story reminds us of the importance of individualized compensation for loss learning since March 20, 2020. Every IEP needs to be reviewed in a meeting with appropriate educators and professionals able to determine the services and frequency needed to provide an opportunity to regain prior skills and learning.

Carol Ann Heath, Ed.D. Children with Disabilities, Q and A, Special Education, Topic of the Day, Uncategorized

CDC Study Pinpoints Prevalence Of Intellectual Disability – Disability Scoop

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are offering up a new estimate of the number of American children with intellectual disability.
— Read on www.disabilityscoop.com/2021/01/21/cdc-study-pinpoints-prevalence-of-intellectual-disability/29160/

Nationwide the CDC found 1.2% of children 8 years old had IQ scores 70 or below, qualifying these children for the traditional diagnosis of intellectual disability diagnosis. The majority, 78%, had mild intellectual disability, suggesting that many of these children can participate in educational opportunities within the regular classroom and ultimately will likely live within the community.

Nearly 12% were classified as having moderate intellectual disability and 1% are considered severe and profoundly disabled. These children require extensive modifications of the school curriculum and specially trained personnel. As adults these children with require specialized housing and support for daily functional skills.

This study also found that intellectual disability is twice as likely in boys, than girls, and in children of color when compared to white children. Nearly 39% of these children had autism.

Carol Ann Heath, Ed.D. Children with Disabilities, COVID, Special Education

Are You a Parent of a Student with Disabilities?

Students with educational disabilities have an IEP which details the special education services to be provided to your child. No children with IEPs have has these services provided in accordance with their IEPs since the closures of schools nationwide in March 2020. Most of America assumed, based on confusing advice from our leadership and health officials, that schools would open for in-person learning, waving farewell to the ill-conceived notion of virtual learning for students with IEPs.

Many of these children may be non-verbal, have physical disabilities, or attention deficits. Many parents work. In order to access an appropriate education, often speech and language therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy are required.

What is a family to do? How will these children with significant learning challenges be able to access the appropriate curriculum? Regression in learning is taking place for regular and special education students when only able to access their learning virtually.

To counteract this loss of access, some school systems are transporting students with disabilities to schools on certain days, in combination with virtual learning. Since many of these students have health conditions placing them at risk if exposed to COVID, returning to a physical classroom, mainstreamed with their appropriate grade and age peers, is too dangerous.

In-home services by teachers and other appropriately trained therapists should begin as soon as these personnel can be identified. School systems are struggling to engage personnel, provide safe transportation, physically distanced classrooms, and assess how to compensate students for their interruption of services.

While in the long-run parents will need to decide for their family what is best for their child, school systems need to provide the safe and effective environments for special education which can be safely selected by parents and children.

http://digitaledition.baltimoresun.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=794571e6-9465-47e2-b9e0-ad8134f1f647