Special Education and Regional Center Blog

In a “Dear Colleague Letter” dated January 9, 2017, the United States Department of Education clarified that preschool children should have access to “inclusive high-quality early childhood programs where they are provided with individual and appropriate supports to enable them to meet high expectorations.”

Can a District have an IEP without Parents?

A client called me last week and said that the district set an IEP for a certain date, but the parent was unavailable on that date. The parent asked the district to reschedule and the district said that was the only date they had available. The parent asked me what to do.

My last Blog Post focused on Eligibility for Special Education. This post will outline the three different ways to find a child eligible for Special Education under Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Specific Learning Disability is the largest category for eligibility in California, with SLD accounting for about 50% of eligibility for Special Education. This information was taken from California Dyslexia Guidelines.

Take this guide to Special Education Eligibility to your next IEP. When discussing eligibility with the IEP, the team should select the eligibility that best describes the student and the student’s needs in the educational environment.

Why would you need an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

Are you dissatisfied with your child’s education assessment? Is the District denying your child eligibility or a necessary service based on the recommendations of a poorly-done assessment? Did the District fail to evaluate your child in an area of need? Have you asked for an independent assessment of your child and been ignored by the School District or just flat out told “No!”?