Regardless of where you and your student call home, federal legal protections afford your student the right to resources, support, and the opportunity to learn alongside their peers. When schools and school districts honor these rights, disabled students have a chance to learn and form relationships alongside their peers. When educators violate or disregard your student's rights, the harm can be acute and long-lasting.
The guardian of any physically or intellectually disabled student in the Dallas metro area should consider speaking with attorney-advisor Joseph Lento about their education disability rights issue. The Lento Law Firm Education Law Team has helped many students in the Dallas metro area maximize their educational opportunities.
We assist both K-12 students and university students with disabilities. Your student's age and education level could affect their rights and resources, but our firm is familiar with legislation affecting disabled students of all ages.
Your student may have access to resources, services, support, and accommodations that you're not even aware of. Contact our team today at 888-535-3686 or submit your information online, and we will contact you.
Dallas Metropolitan Area
The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area is home to more than 6 million people, and that figure is only set to grow based on population trends. The metro area includes 15 counties:
- Dallas County
- Tarrant County
- Collin County
- Denton County
- Parker County
- Kaufman County
- Ellis County
- Johnson County
- Hunt County
- Hood County
- Henderson County
- Wise County
- Rockwall County
- Delta County
- Somervell County
If your student attends a private or public school in any of these counties (or any other area near the Dallas metro area), Attorney-Advisor Joseph Lento can seek reasonable accommodations or any other measures that will afford your child equal rights and resources.
Colleges and Universities in the Dallas Metro Area
Texas offers state-level protections for university students with physical and intellectual disabilities. For example, SB § 776 requires that the University Interscholastic League (UIL) develop sports programs for intellectually disabled students at certain secondary schools.
While IDEA does not generally apply to university students, the Americans with Disabilities Act has no age restriction. Furthermore, state- and university-level laws and mandates may provide specific protections and resources for a disabled university student in the Dallas metro area.
Some common issues that disabled university students in Texas face are:
- Lack of testing-specific accommodations, including extended time, private testing quarters, and disability-accommodating test materials
- Lack of ramps, lifts, and other reasonable accommodations for physically disabled students
- Lack of any other reasonable accommodation for someone with a physical, cognitive, or developmental disability
The Lento Law Firm Team assists students attending trade schools, universities, and other secondary learning institutions in the Dallas metro area, including:
- Southern Methodist University (SMU)
- University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Dallas
- University of North Texas
- Dallas Baptist University
- Texas Christian University
- The University of Texas at Arlington
- Texas Wesleyan University
If you have a student disability issue at any other college, university, trade school, or specialty school in the Dallas metro area, our legal team can assist you.
Rights Afforded to Disabled Students by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Our firm exercises the right outlined in both the IDEA and ADA on our clients' behalf. Per the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), the IDEA “makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children.”
The ADA “prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.” This act can provide crucial protections for university students, in particular, who are not protected by the IDEA.
We will also review whether the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, pertains to your student's circumstances. This statute specifically prohibits discrimination against disabled students in public education and is an important complement to the IDEA and ADA.
Several specific features within these statutes are worth bringing to your attention. Whether you are a university student or the guardian of a disabled K-12 student, these statutes may serve as the basis for legal action.
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
Students with disabilities cannot be treated in the same manner as any other student. Their disabilities mean that these students often require:
- Additional resources
- Non-traditional teaching techniques
- Unique evaluation criteria
- A personalized learning plan
An individualized education program (IEP) sets the parameters of how a disabled student will learn, receive feedback, and progress through their educational ladder.
K-12 schools in the Dallas metro area must work with the student and their guardian(s) to create, adhere to, and revise an IEP as necessary.
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
The U.S. Department of Education describes the entitlement of disabled students to a “free appropriate public education (FAPE)” as the “cornerstone” of the IDEA. This free public education must:
- Emphasize special education
- Related services specifically to your student's needs
- Prepare a child for further education, employment, and independent living
- Come at no direct cost to the guardian
Ensuring a free, reasonable public education to students with disabilities is one of the most productive uses of tax dollars. If you believe that your child has not received services that meet the FAPE criteria, we want to hear from you.
Education in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
School is about learning, but it is also about socializing and creating bonds with peers. This is one reason why students with disabilities are entitled to receive an education in the “least restrictive environment (LRE)” possible.
Generally, educators should try to teach a student with disabilities in general classrooms, ensuring that they aren't excluded from their peers. In some cases, there may be a point where this arrangement will no longer work. However, federal law requires that you student's school make a good-faith effort to educate the student in the LRE.
Reasonable Accommodations
The term “reasonable accommodations” can be subjective, which is one reason why guardians hire the Lento Law Firm to lobby for specific accommodations. While public schools in Dallas may have some discretion of which accommodations to provide, schools must make a good-faith effort to help a student succeed in spite of their disability.
An accommodation is an adjustment to how a disabled student is taught or evaluated. Examples of reasonable accommodations are:
- Providing written or oral learning and testing materials based on a student's learning impairments
- Allowing a student to test in a private environment
- Extending the student's testing time
- Allowing a student to use peers' notes
- Allowing a student to record lectures
- Allowing students to use resources, such as a calculator or book, during exams
These aren't advantages. Because a student is disabled, such accommodations are meant to level the learning and testing field between the disabled student and their peers. This is what makes the accommodations reasonable.
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)
A feature of the IEP, the Behavior Intervention Plan is a roadmap for a student who exhibits inappropriate behavior to minimize those behaviors. A BIP may be especially relevant if your student is the subject of behavioral discipline.
Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
At the age of three, a student may be eligible for early childhood intervention. We can help you understand which resources ECI entitles your child to.
Extended School Year (ESY)
An extended school year (which may include schooling during breaks) can help a disabled student maintain their progress and avoid having to repeat entire school years.
Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
Another method of addressing undesirable student behaviors, administrators should complete a Functional Behavioral Assessment before it imposes discipline on a disabled student.
Manifestation Determination Review (MDR)
This type of review examines the connection between a student's disability and any behaviors that educators or administrators have taken issue with. By reviewing this link, administrators may be better able to understand and manage a student's disability and resulting behaviors.
Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS)
These supports focus on proactively developing disabled students' emotional and social skills. This is just one of a multi-pronged approach to helping disabled students in the Dallas metro area succeed in school and life.
Transition Services
These are services meant to facilitate the student's transition from K-12 education to the next stages of their life. Transition services in Texas generally begin once a student turns 14, but may begin even sooner.
It Can Be Difficult for Guardians to Grasp the Full Spectrum of Disabled Students' Rights and Resources
The benefits listed here are only a sampling of disabled students' rights and resources.
Our firm also understands the rights that disabled students in grades K-12 have versus those that college students have. Understanding the application of various legal protections can be difficult, which is why Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento has dedicated years of his life to learning and tracking these statutes.
Our legal team will evaluate your or your student's circumstances, determine which rights have been neglected, and work quickly to enact the changes that you or your student deserve.
Texas Law Regarding Students with Disabilities
In addition to the protections provided by IDEA and the ADA, Texas state law includes additional considerations for students with disabilities. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) lists several statutes that may pertain to your student, including:
- §89.61. Contracting for Residential Educational Placements for Students with Disabilities
- §89.62. Support of Students Enrolled in the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Texas School for the Deaf
- §89.1035. Age Ranges for Student Eligibility
- §89.1049. Parental Rights Regarding Adult Students
- §89.1050. The Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee
- §89.1053. Procedures for Use of Restraint and Time-Out
- §89.1055. Content of the Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- §89.1076. Interventions and Sanctions
Our legal team is familiar with each of these statutes. By exercising every legal protection your child has—including both state and federal laws—we can ensure your child receives the best, most rewarding education available to them in the Dallas metro area.
Texas Law Is Always Changing
The Texas Education Code frequently undergoes updates that affect students with disabilities in both primary and secondary schools.
Schools may be slow in adopting new legislation affecting special needs students. Certain administrators or teachers may simply be unaware that the law has changed. The Disabled Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm is constantly monitoring legislative changes in Texas, and we can inform you of every right your disabled student has.
How the Lento Law Firm Disability Defense Team Will Enact Change for Your Student
The Lento Law Firm has a unique passion for helping disabled students. We represent a wide range of clients, but ensuring disabled students receive the resources they deserve is a point of pride for our firm.
We will tailor our services to your specific needs, but we can:
- Cite specific statutes that prove your child is entitled to specific services
- Document any rights violations, inappropriate discipline, or deprivation of services that have affected your child
- Compose a written plan for remedying your student's issues, including a specific list of services, accommodations, or resources that your child is entitled to
- Draft and file any necessary lawsuit
- Lead negotiations with representatives of the institution we're seeking action from
- Negotiate directly with the Office of General Counsel (attorneys) for those named as defendants in your lawsuit
Attorney-Advisor Joseph Lento and his Disability Defense Team do what our clients need us to do. While our duties differ in each case we handle, the goal is always to achieve the best possible outcome for our client.
Let Attorney-Advisor Joseph Lento Defend Your Student's Right to Get an Education
Your student deserves justice and fair treatment today. Whether you are a college student or the guardian of a K-12 student, contact the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible.
We will review your case, explain your options for enacting change, and begin working on a resolution as soon as you hire us. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or provide your information online and wait for our team to contact you.
