Special education services can be critical for the academic progress of a Nebraska elementary or secondary school student with autism, just as reasonable accommodations can be critical for the progress of a Nebraska college or university student with autism. Federal and Nebraska disability rights laws promise special education services at the K-12 level and disability accommodations at the college and university level. But those promises too often go unfulfilled. The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available in Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, Fremont, Norfolk, Hastings, Columbus, Papillon, North Platte, La Vista, Scottsbluff, South Sioux City, Beatrice, or any other Nebraska location to represent you in your college or university dispute over reasonable accommodations or your K-12 autistic student for special education services.
Our skilled and experienced attorneys can appear on your Nebraska K-12 autistic student's behalf in the Omaha Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools, Millard Public Schools, Papillion-La Vista School District, Elkhorn Public Schools, Grand Island Public Schools, Bellevue Public Schools, Gretna Public Schools, Westside Community Schools, Kearney Public Schools, Fremont Public Schools, Norfolk Public Schools, or any other Nebraska school district. If, instead, you have a dispute over the reasonable accommodation of your own autism at the college or university level, we are likewise available to represent you at the University of Nebraska, Creighton University, Chadron State College, Bellevue University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Peru State College, College of St. Mary, Concordia University Nebraska, or any other Nebraska institution of higher education. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now for our premier representation.
Autism's Educational Challenge
Autism can, unfortunately, be the perfect storm of symptoms interfering with satisfactory academic progress. Autism's four primary symptoms seem designed to frustrate school participation. Those symptoms, as disability rights laws and the medical profession define them, include:
- early onset of the condition typically by age three or four
- adverse reactions to changing environmental stimuli
- communication deficits, especially relating to face-to-face interaction
- stereotyped repetitive motions
Early onset means autism can delay academic development throughout the education, not just later or periodically. The academic environment constantly changes, triggering adverse reactions. The academic environment also presents frequent or constant face-to-face interaction with intense communication demands. Also, the academic environment sharply restricts the student's ability to move, so that autism's repetitive motions may disrupt instruction. On top of all that, autism is often a largely or entirely hidden disability, one that teachers, professors, school aides, and administrators can fail to recognize and can easily misconstrue, blaming the student. Autism presents you or your Nebraska K-12 student with a serious academic challenge.
Nebraska Autism Assistance Programs
Fortunately, Nebraska agencies and educators commit substantial resources to support your K-12 autistic student. The Nebraska Department of Education maintains a Special Education Division with an Improving Learning for Children with Disabilities (ILCD) initiative that promotes autism resources. The Nebraska Results Driven Accountability (RDA) program has shifted the focus from complying with regulatory demands to improving your autistic student's outcomes. The Nebraska Council for Exceptional Children has partnered with the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) to develop and promote High Leverage Practices (HLPs) for special educators and regular classroom teachers serving autistic students and students with other disabilities. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln also maintains the Nebraska Autism Spectrum Disorder Network to provide updated training and technical assistance to the state's educators, specifically to ensure the availability and widespread use of the latest methods for serving autistic students. Your autistic student's Nebraska K-12 school teachers, aides, and administrators have no excuse to complain of a lack of resources and technical assistance. Let us help you ensure that your students' school teachers, and officials are taking advantage of these substantial Nebraska autism resources.
Federal Laws Promising Nebraska Autism Services
The Nebraska Department of Education is the principal state administrative agency responsible for ensuring that the state's K-12 schools comply with federal laws for special education services. The Nebraska Department of Education has promulgated extensive administrative regulations, codified at 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Chapter 51, to ensure that the state has substantial federal taxpayer funding for special education services under the federal legislation. Those Nebraska administrative regulations ensure that your autistic student has access to special education services for which those federal funds pay. We can help you enforce the following federal laws for your Nebraska K-12 autistic student's benefit or for your own benefit if you attend a Nebraska college or university as an autistic student needing reasonable accommodation.
The IDEA Law and Autism in Nebraska K-12 Schools
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal law with which Nebraska K-12 public schools comply to receive substantial funding for special education services. Don't let your autistic student's Nebraska K-12 school officials complain about the cost of special education services. The state allocates federal funds to your student's Nebraska K-12 school and district to pay for those services. Your autistic student should readily qualify under the IDEA law for those special education services. The IDEA law's Section 300.8(c)(1)(i) expressly includes autism as a mental impairment qualifying as a disability for special education services. The IDEA law's definition of autism is the same as the definition stated above, and it is used by the medical profession. We can help you with any dispute with your student's Nebraska K-12 school over qualifying for IDEA law protections and services.
ADA Title II and Autism in Nebraska Schools
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) also reaches Nebraska K-12 schools to prohibit discrimination against students with disabilities, including autistic students. Unlike the IDEA law, the ADA also reaches Nebraska colleges and universities so that you have the ADA's protection if you are a student with autism at a Nebraska institution of higher education. The ADA, like the IDEA law, expressly includes autism within the disabilities it protects, provided that autism substantially limits a major life activity like brain function, as autism typically does. As an anti-discrimination law, the ADA does not fund special education services. It instead prohibits disability discrimination. However, the ADA does require covered schools to reasonably accommodate disabilities. The ADA's effect may thus be like the effect of the IDEA law, requiring some services and accommodations. Our attorneys can help you enforce ADA rights, too.
Nebraska State Laws on Autism Services
The Nebraska Department of Education's special education administrative regulations, codified at 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Chapter 51, carry out the IDEA law's mandates, qualifying your autistic student's Nebraska K-12 school for federal funding for special education services. The Nebraska Department of Education's special education regulations track the IDEA law in every significant respect while expanding in some cases on the IDEA law's provisions. Your student's school officials will follow those special education regulations, detailing every requirement having to do with your student's individualized education plan (IEP) and the IEP process. The key steps the Nebraska special education regulations require include the following:
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.006.01 requires Nebraska public K-12 schools to train teachers in a child find program to identify special education students;
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.006.02 requires Nebraska public K-12 schools to have a qualified professional evaluate students with disabilities identified in the Child Find program;
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Sections 51.003.08 and 51.006.04B define autism as a disability requiring Nebraska public K-12 schools to provide special education services;
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.004.01 requires Nebraska public K-12 schools to provide free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with autism and other qualifying disabilities;
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.007 requires Nebraska K-12 schools to adopt individualized education plans (IEPs) for students with autism and other qualifying disabilities;
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.008.01 requires Nebraska K-12 schools to instruct autistic students and other students with qualifying disabilities in the least restrictive environment and
- 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.009 requires Nebraska K-12 schools to offer you procedural safeguards to resolve disputes you have with the school over your autistic student's special education services.
Nebraska K-12 School Child Find Duty
The IDEA law's Section 300.111 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.006.01 require Nebraska K-12 schools to implement Child Findprograms. A Child Find program trains teachers to look for signs that a child's school academic or behavioral struggles are due to a qualifying disability like autism. Child find programs then refer the identified students for disability evaluation. Don't let your student's Nebraska K-12 school blame you for not telling the right school official at the right time that your student has autism and needs special education services. You may certainly do so to speed your student's evaluation and receipt of services, but the onus is on the school, not on you.
Nebraska K-12 School Duty to Evaluate Autism
The IDEA law's Section 300.304 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.006.02 require Nebraska an evaluation of students whom the school's child find 12 schools to refer and pay for the evaluation of students whom the school's Child Find program identifies as having a disability qualifying for education services. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation and produce a report in the specific form that the IDEA law requires, including the autism diagnosis and recommended special education services. The report becomes your tool to advocate with your student's IEP team for appropriate services for your student's benefit.
Parental Consent to Nebraska Autism Evaluation
The IDEA law's Section 300.300 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.006.04K6 require Nebraska K-12 schools to obtain parental consent in advance of the time that the school has your student evaluated. You control whether the school sends your student for disability evaluation. You and your student may feel that your student's autism does not require further evaluation or special education services, in which case you may refuse evaluation. You may instead not trust or respect the school's chosen evaluator, who may have a conflict of interest that influences the evaluator to favor the school and disfavor your student. The time, place, or terms of the evaluation may be inconvenient, burdensome, or inappropriate. Whatever your reason is, the school should not evaluate your student without your permission. Let us help you strategically exercise your consent rights to ensure that the school chooses a qualified evaluator.
Nebraska K-12 Autism Second Opinions
The IDEA law's Section 1414 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.006.05A2 require Nebraska K-12 schools to grant parent requests for reevaluation of their student. You may have disagreed with the initial evaluation, which you may have concluded was inaccurate in your student's autism diagnosis, biased in its conclusions, or inadequate in its recommendations. Alternatively, your student's autism may have changed, or instructional challenges may have changed, so your student needs a new evaluation for a change in recommended services. Whatever your reason may be, you have the right to require the school to pay for a reevaluation of your student. We can help you enforce reevaluation rights.
Parental Consent to Nebraska Autism Services
The IDEA law's Section 300.300 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.009.08B together require parental consent for services. If you don't want your autistic student to receive special education services at all or to receive the specific services your student's IEP authorizes, then you may refuse those services, withholding your consent. In that case, the school should not provide your student with the services you have refused. Your ability to withhold consent gives you an opportunity in IEP team meetings to negotiate for your preferred services. Let us help you strategically leverage your consent rights for your student's best benefit.
Scope of Nebraska Autistic Student Services
Another important legal construct defines the scope of special education services a Nebraska K-12 school must provide your autistic student. The IDEA law's Section 1401(9) and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.004.01 mandate a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for autistic students and other students whom the IDEA law and Nebraska's special education regulations protect. The FAPE construct ensures that your student's Nebraska K-12 school educates your autistic student to the same academic and behavioral standards as non-disabled students.
If, instead, you are the autism sufferer who faces the challenge of attending a Nebraska program of higher education that is reluctant to recognize your need for accommodation, then you should have the services and accommodations that Title II of the ADA requires. The ADA's anti-discrimination mandate requires your school to reasonably accommodate your autism. The reasonableness of your requested accommodation may depend on its cost and availability. Whether your school must provide you with your requested accommodation may also depend on how effective the accommodation would be for relieving your autism challenges and whether the accommodation would disrupt other student instruction. These constructs determine the scope of required services, typically decided on a case-by-case basis through an interactive process.
Available Nebraska Autistic Student Services
Autism services that Nebraska K-12 schools may have available and may often provide come from different instructional, behavioral, social, psychological, and environmental approaches. Accommodating autism generally doesn't involve a simple one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, your autistic student may need a combination of services involving a combination of approaches. Environmental approaches typically alter or address classroom lighting, sound, movement, temperature, and related stimuli, either through facility and furnishing changes or protective eyewear and hearing protection. Social approaches can involve peer or adult support, modeling, mentoring, and coaching. Psychological approaches may involve counseling and journaling, while behavioral approaches may involve applied behavior analysis (ABA) and the institution of protocols with reward systems. Finally, instructional approaches may involve schedule relief, flexibility in rules and schedules, readers, note-takers, or changes to instructional materials and assessments. We can help you advocate for the necessary accommodations and services for you or your autistic Nebraska K-12 student.
Your Autistic Student's Nebraska K-12 IEP
Your autistic student's individualized education program (IEP) is your primary tool in negotiating, documenting, implementing, and enforcing your student's right to special education services. The IDEA law's Section 300.321 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.007 together require that your student's Nebraska K-12 school places you on your student's IEP team. The school must then notify you of IEP team meetings to allow you to attend and participate. Take your rights seriously. Participate fully, including requesting a change in meeting dates if you are unable to attend. Let us help if your student's school officials are shutting you out of IEP team meetings and not following IEP protocols.
Nebraska K-12 IEP Goals and Measures
The IDEA law's Section 300.320 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.007 together dictate the required content of your autistic student's IEP. The IEP must include your student's autism diagnosis and the evaluator's recommendation for special education services. Importantly, your student's IEP must also include academic goals and measures. Goals help you and the school's teachers and officials to decide what academic benchmarks your student should reach and where your student's classroom response and behavior should improve. Measures ensure that you and the teachers can track your student's progress. If you see your student failing to meet the IEP goals, you may request an IEP team meeting, request a reevaluation, and request new special education services in a modified IEP. We can help you strategically deploy your IEP rights to benefit your autistic Nebraska K-12 student.
Warehousing Nebraska K-12 Autistic Students
In the past, before Congress adopted the IDEA law, schools often isolated autistic students in separate rooms away from the regular classroom, where those students did not receive structured instruction, socialization, peer support, and classroom stimulation and rewards. Warehousing autistic students in that manner often harmed their academic, social, emotional, physical, and psychological development. While isolation may have appeared necessary and surely reduced school expenses and classroom disruption, appropriate special education services and accommodation may have reduced or eliminated the need for classroom removal. Beware of your autistic student's removal from the regular classroom. Recognize and fight warehousing.
Mainstreaming Nebraska K-12 Autistic Students
Fortunately, Congress included an anti-warehousing provision in the IDEA law that generally requires schools to mainstream autistic students and other students with disabilities back into the regular classroom, where those students can benefit. The IDEA law's Section 300.114 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.008.01 require Nebraska K-12 schools to educate autistic and other disabled students in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The LRE construct is your legal tool to fight your autistic student's frequent, unnecessary, and harmful classroom removal and to require the school to provide available services and accommodations to make your student's classroom experience tolerable, non-disruptive, and fruitful. Let us help you use the LRE construct to achieve your student's goal of remaining in the regular classroom for academic, social, and other development.
Procedures for Nebraska Autistic Student Services
While the above special education and anti-discrimination laws are powerful, they are not self-executing. You will not necessarily get the special education services or accommodations you demand for your Nebraska K-12 autistic student without our help deploying the IDEA law's procedural safeguards. The IDEA law's Section 300.504 and 92 Nebraska Administrative Code Section 51.009 both require your student's K-12 school to provide a formal hearing, appeal, and other similar protections whenever a dispute arises between you and the school over your autistic student's special education services. Our attorneys have the skills and experience in academic administrative matters to help you effectively invoke those procedural safeguards.
Premier Nebraska Autism Rights Enforcement
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available across Nebraska to help you or your autistic K-12 student get appropriate disability accommodations and services. If you have already lost all hearings and appeals, we may be able to obtain alternative special relief through the school's general counsel's office. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your issues involving autism spectrum disorder.
