If you have a Nevada elementary or secondary school student with autism spectrum disorder, then you know that your student may need the school's special education services. You likewise deserve disability accommodations at the college or university level if your autism is making your higher education more difficult. Let us help. The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Reno, Enterprise, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor, Paradise, Sparks, Carson City, Whitney, and across Nevada to advocate for your K-12 student's special education accommodation and services. Our attorneys can represent your student in the Clark County School District, Washoe County School District, State-Sponsored Charter Schools, Elko County School District, Lyon County School District, Carson City School District, Nye County School District, Douglas County School District, Churchill County School District, Humboldt County School District, White Pine County School District, Lander County School District, and other Nevada school districts. We can also represent you in any Nevada college or university, including the University of Nevada, Nevada State University, Western Nevada College, Great Basin College, and the College of Southern Nevada. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now.
Autism's Educational Challenge
Nevada autistic students can face severe challenges in the traditional K-12 school program and at the college or university level. Autism spectrum disorder seems designed to interfere with traditional education programs. Autism's communication and interaction deficits can make thriving or surviving in the densely populated classroom environment a most difficult challenge. Frequent changes in classroom routines can burden the autistic student and trigger adverse reactions, while the autistic student's repetitive and stereotypical behaviors can distract other students and disrupt instruction. School officials may be sympathetic but uninformed and unhelpful. Don't succumb to the challenges. Our attorneys are ready to help you or your student gain special education services and accommodations for autism.
Nevada Autism Assistance Programs
Nevada legislators and educators understand your challenge as an autistic student or parent of an autistic student. The Nevada legislature has established and funded the Autism Treatment Assistance Program (ATAP) to ensure that you or your student have access to diagnosis and treatment. ATAP helps to promote and coordinate autism services throughout Nevada. The Nevada Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders likewise funds and coordinates autism services throughout the state. Through the ATAP program or under your own auspices, you may have already obtained a sound autism diagnosis for your K-12 student and received recommendations for applied behavior analyst (ABA) services. Now, your challenge may be to get your student's Nevada K-12 school to provide the recommended special education services. We can help. Don't let your student's K-12 school or your own institution of higher education ignore the obligation to provide special education services or reasonably accommodate autistic students.
Autism in Nevada Schools
Your Nevada K-12 student with autism should have abundant technical assistance and special education resources available through the school, just as should your Nevada college or university. The Nevada Board of Education recognizes the obligation of its K-12 public schools to comply with federal and Nevada special education laws. The Nevada Board of Education has accordingly adopted the rules and regulations necessary to obtain federal special education funding, ensuring the availability of autism services and accommodations. The Nevada Board of Education also maintains a partnership with the Nevada Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders to ensure the availability of that assistance. The Clark County School District, for instance, maintains a Special Education Team that the district commits to providing the necessary special education services to every disabled student, including those with autism. We can help if your student's K-12 school or your own college or university fails to provide the available services and accommodations.
Federal Laws Promising Nevada Autism Services
Nevada's strong commitment to special education services and accommodations for autistic students arises in part out of the federal laws requiring that commitment and funding its implementation. Nevada has adopted its special education laws, rules, and regulations in part to qualify for the substantial federal funding available for K-12 special education services. Indeed, Nevada's K-12 special education regulations track the federal laws to ensure that federal funding. Consider the two main federal legislative schemes affecting special education services and accommodation in Nevada.
The IDEA Law and Autism in Nevada Schools
Parents of autistic K-12 students needing special education services are generally aware of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, commonly known as the IDEA law. If they don't know the IDEA law, then they probably know the individualized education plan (IEP) that the IDEA law requires federally funded K-12 schools to implement to serve disabled students. Autism is unquestionably a qualifying disability under the IDEA law. The IDEA law's Section 300.8(c)(1)(i) names autism among the several disabilities or forms of disability qualifying for special education services. The IDEA law gives autism the standard definition the medical profession tends to use, focusing on interaction and communication guarding and other deficits, repetitive stereotypical movements, and emotional disturbance from stimuli changes. We can help you invoke the IDEA law's protections for your autistic Nevada K-12 student's benefit.
ADA Title II and Autism in Nevada Schools
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a broader federal law that applies not only to federally funded Nevada K-12 schools, like the IDEA law applies, but also to higher education in Nevada and elsewhere. The ADA, like the IDEA law, expressly recognizes autism as a qualifying disability. You or your student should have no trouble getting ADA protection based on autism if the condition is severe enough to require accommodation. The ADA uses a different definition than the IDEA law, requiring that the student's autism, as a mental impairment, substantially affects a major life activity. But autism readily does affect brain function, making qualifying for ADA protection reasonably assured. The ADA does not require an IEP and special education services, like the IDEA law requires. Instead, the ADA requires reasonable accommodation. In effect, reasonable accommodation may lead to the same or similar facility or schedule modification, assistive devices, or other services as the IDEA law would require for a K-12 program.
Nevada State Laws on Autism Services
- The Nevada state legislature enacted a comprehensive set of statutes promising special education services for disabled students, including students with autism. Among those many provisions, Nevada Statutes Section 388.449 specifically addresses autism spectrum disorder, ensuring that the state's K-12 schools provide appropriate special education services. The Nevada Board of Education has adopted even more comprehensive regulations governing K-12 special education. Our skilled and experienced attorneys can help you enforce these Nevada state laws and regulations. The Nevada regulations track the federal IDEA law in the following particulars:
- Nevada Administrative Code 388.028 defines autism like the above IDEA law definition to include repetitive behavior, interaction deficits, and adverse response to stimuli change;
- Nevada Administrative Code 388.325 requires K-12 schools to refer and pay for a qualified professional evaluation of students suspected to have disabilities impacting their learning;
- Nevada Administrative Code 388.263 and other rules require K-12 schools to provide disabled students with a free appropriate public education (FAPE);
- Nevada Administrative Code 388.2855 and other rules requirerequire local K-12 schools to form and implement an individualized education plan (IEP) for disabled students;
- Nevada Administrative Code 388.245 requires K-12 schools to educate disabled students in the least restrictive environment; and
- Nevada Administrative Code 388.300 requires K-12 schools to follow procedural safeguards when disputes arise as to special education services.
Nevada K-12 School Child Find Duty
Don't let your student's Nevada K-12 school claim that you failed to notify it of your student's autism. The IDEA law expressly places the burden on the school, not on the parent or student, to identify students with disabilities affecting their learning. The IDEA law's Section 300.111 requires the school to adopt and implement a child find program for the purpose of qualifying students for special education services. Don't hesitate to advocate with your student's teachers and administrators that your student has autism and needs special education services. On the other hand, though, don't let the school place the burden on you. The IDEA law keeps the obligation where it belongs, on the school professionals who watch your student learn and should have the greater opportunity, skill, and experience to identify your student's need for services and accommodations. We can help if the school refuses to carry out its child find obligations as to your student.
Nevada K-12 School Duty to Evaluate Autism
Once your student's Nevada K-12 school identifies your child as potentially suffering from autism or another disability impairing your student's learning, the school has the next obligation to evaluate your student. The IDEA law's Section 300.304 requires the school to refer your student for evaluation by a qualified professional evaluation. The evaluator must produce an evaluation report for you and school officials to read and use in determining the appropriate special education services. The evaluation is not at your expense but at the school's expense. Don't hesitate to offer any evaluations you have already obtained diagnosing your student's autism. But don't let the school place the evaluation burden on you. Let us help you enforce your student's disability evaluation rights. The evaluation right can be your key tool.
Parental Consent to Nevada Autism Evaluation
You may have misgivings about pursuing the disability route. You and your student may prefer that your student persevere without a formal autism diagnosis and without special education services. That decision, whether to have your student submit to disability evaluation, is your decision, not the school's decision. You control whether your student has an autism evaluation. The IDEA law's Section 300.300 requires parental consent to evaluation. Just because the school wants an evaluation does not mean that you must submit your student to the evaluation. The school should notify you before the evaluation to obtain your written and signed informed consent. Even if you want your student evaluated, you may not agree with the school's choice of evaluator or the time, place, or circumstances of the evaluation. In that case, you may withhold your consent. You may also be able to negotiate your preferred evaluator or evaluation time, place, and circumstances, using your right to withhold or grant consent. Let us help you do so.
Nevada K-12 Autism Second Opinions
You not only have the right to withhold or grant consent to your student's evaluation for autism. You also have the right to a second opinion if you disagree with the first evaluator's diagnosis or recommendations. The school's evaluator may have disagreed with prior evaluations you had obtained or may have missed things that you and your student know to be true about your student's autism. In that case, you may require the school to pay for a reevaluation by a qualified professional of your choice. The IDEA law's Section 1414 and Nevada Administrative Code 388.300 grant the parent the right to obtain a reevaluation. You may then use that reevaluation to advocate for your student's autism diagnosis and special education services. Reevaluation may also be appropriate periodically as your student's condition changes. Let us help you enforce your student's reevaluation rights.
Parental Consent to Nevada Autism Services
You also have the right to grant or withhold consent to the autism accommodations and services the school proposes to provide. You and your student may believe that certain services are unnecessary, unhelpful, embarrassing, or otherwise inappropriate. In that case, you may refuse consent, thus keeping the school from implementing those services. The IDEA law's Section 300.300 and Nevada Administrative Code 388.300 require parental consent for your student's Nevada K-12 school to provide special education services. As in the case of your consent to your student's evaluation, your consent to your student's special education services can be your tool to advocate and negotiate for different and better services. We can help you with that advocacy and negotiation. The IDEA law gives your student those advantages. Let us help you put them to work for your student's best outcome.
Scope of Nevada Autistic Student Services
The IDEA law does more than give you the above tools to advocate and negotiate for your Nevada K-12 autistic student's special education services. The IDEA law also defines the school's obligation for you to enforce, if necessary, through school procedures, administrative agencies, and the courts. The IDEA law's Section 1401(9) ,Nevada Administrative Code 388.300 and other Nevada rules require your student's Nevada K-12 school to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to your student. The FAPE requirement levels the playing field between disabled and non-disabled students, ensuring that schools educate them to the same standards. The FAPE provision means no more treating disabled students as second-class citizens. Let us help you advocate the FAPE requirement through school, administrative, and, if necessary, court procedures. If you face autism accommodation issues at your Nevada college or university, we can likewise enforce your school's ADA Title II obligations to reasonably accommodate your autism disability.
Limitations on Nevada Autistic Student Services
Generally, the relief that you, as a Nevada college or university autistic student, or your Nevada K-12 autistic student may obtain from the school includes only reasonably available, affordable, effective, and non-disruptive accommodations and services. The school need not do everything possible if those things you demand are unreasonably expensive, unavailable, or disruptive of the school's instructional program.
Available Nevada Autistic Student Services
Within those broad parameters of availability and affordability, the range of services and accommodations that you or your student may obtain can be quite broad. Your Nevada K-12 student may get the school to reduce or change the classroom lighting or provide or permit sunglasses or similar accommodations, reduce classroom noise or provide or permit hearing protection, and reduce classroom movement or permit changes in seating location. The school may permit your student to step out of the classroom periodically, move about within the classroom if not distracting, or sit, stand, or otherwise change posture. The school may have to provide a reader or note taker and modify instructional materials and assessment formats. Your student may also need the teacher ,an aide or administrator to implement a behavioral plan for rewards. Your student may get to use fidget items or altered writing utensils and materials. Student modeling and mentoring, and teacher or other adult coaching and mentoring, are among the other tools. We can help you advocate for these or other measures.
Your Autistic Student's Nevada K-12 IEP
The individualized education program (IEP) is the main tool that the IDEA law offers you to help your Nevada K-12 autistic student. You may already be familiar with the IEP and IEP procedures. Don't overlook that the IEP is a legal document that you and your student can enforce. Value the IEP process, and participate in the development and implementation of your student's IEP. The IDEA law's Section 300.321 and Nevada Administrative Code 388.2855 grant you the right to be on your student's IEP team. The IEP team must meet at the beginning of each year and whenever you or a teacher or other staff member desires to change your student's special education services. You can request an IEP team meeting and should receive notice of all meetings called by others so that you can attend and participate. Let us help if your student's Nevada K-12 school is ignoring your student's IEP rights.
Nevada K-12 IEP Goals and Measures
Among the best aspects of the IDEA law is that it requires your student's IEP to have goals for your student's academic and behavioral progress. The IEP must articulate those goals in terms that you and the school can measure your student's progress. The IDEA law's Section 300.320 and Nevada Administrative Code 388.2855 state what the IEP must contain. Your student's IEP should include your student's autism diagnosis from the evaluator's report, the recommended special education services, and the goals and measures. If you do not believe your student is meeting those goals, then call an IEP team meeting to advocate and negotiate for adjustment of the special education services. We can help you enforce these IEP rights.
Warehousing Nevada K-12 Autistic Students
So-called warehousing is one of the greatest fears of parents of Nevada K-12 disabled students, especially autistic students. Sometimes, school officials need to remove an autistic student from the classroom, when the student's reactions to classroom stimuli or repetitive motions are disruptive. Your student may need and benefit from periodic removal to a quiet and secure location in the school where your student can recover and learn. But too often, schools remove autistic students rather than providing them with the necessary special education accommodations and services. They may use removal as an excuse for not providing the services and not properly implementing an effective applied behavior analysis (ABA) plan. Warehousing in an isolated room, without appropriate instructional services, can harm your student, depriving your student of social support, structured instruction, and other classroom rewards. Beware the warehousing of your student.
Mainstreaming Nevada K-12 Autistic Students
Congress was well aware of the warehousing concern when adopting the IDEA law. The IDEA law has a special provision to discourage, prevent, and prohibit warehousing. Under the IDEA law's Section 300.114 and Nevada Administrative Code 388.245, your autistic student's Nevada K-12 school must educate your student in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The least restrictive environment generally means the regular classroom, not an isolation room. If the regular classroom is appropriate for your student, with all appropriate accommodations and services, then your student should be in and enjoying the regular classroom. Let us help enforce your student's LRE rights.
Premier Nevada Autism Rights Enforcement
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available across Nevada to enforce the procedural safeguardsthe IDEA law's Section 300.504 and Nevada Administrative Code 388.300 promise. We can advocate and negotiate with school officials, invoke and conduct formal hearings, and take appeals or seek alternative special relief if you have already lost your hearing. We have helped students across Nevada and the nation obtain their best outcome for school issues. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your school issues involving autism spectrum disorder.
