As the parent of a child with a genetic condition that impacts their ability to learn in school, you have more experience than most people when it comes to understanding of the accommodations their school is required to provide to help your child learn. What you may not have experience with, however, is what to do when the school fails to step up and meet its obligations under federal and state law to provide your child with what the law calls a “free appropriate public education,” or FAPE.
You and your child do have rights, and their school does have responsibilities, and the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team can help you enforce your child's rights and make sure the school meets its legal responsibilities. This guide is designed to give you a broad understanding of what the legal requirements are for schools who are educating students with genetic disorders that affect learning. If you have questions after reading it, contact the Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team at 888.536.3686 or schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys to learn more how we can help you help your child get the education they deserve.
What is a Genetic Disorder?
There are a tremendous number of learning disorders that ultimately have a genetic connection. Many of these are identified by the type of challenge they impose upon the individual, and may be specifically listed in federal and state laws and regulations that determine what obligations schools have towards students with learning challenges. For example, dyslexia, autism, oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety disorder and others appear to occur more frequently in children who have been diagnosed as having duplications or deletions of sections of their DNA.
Some of the other types of genetic disorders that can also affect a child's ability to learn include:
- Down Syndrome
- Fragile X Syndrome
- Rett Syndrome
- Tourette Syndrome
- Williams Syndrome
- Angelman Syndrome
- Triple X, or Trisomy X Syndrome
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
This isn't meant to be a complete list. If your child has been diagnosed with any sort of genetically-caused condition that affects their ability to learn, they may be entitled to special education services at their local public school. The main focus when determining whether any student is entitled to special education services is on whether the student has any kind of disability that causes them to need special education and related services. While some specific types of disabilities may be covered by federal and state laws and regulations, those lists are not exclusive and your child does not have to “fit in” to a specifically-named disorder in order to be entitled to special education benefits.
A Genetic Disorder Can Have a Serious Impact on a Student's Education
We probably don't need to tell you that a genetic disorder can affect a child's ability to learn. When a child has difficulty with any of the aspects of learning, whether it's understanding instructions or concepts; expressing themselves in class discussions or in writing; retaining what they've learned; or any other type of learning challenge, if the school is able to help the child using teaching and learning strategies designed to address their particular challenges, it can make a significant difference in their progress.
How a school will address a child's learning challenges will vary significantly depending on the nature of the disability as it affects that particular student. When it comes to addressing learning disabilities in the school setting, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and if your child's school appears to be relying on that kind of approach it may be a good idea to speak with one of the Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team's experienced attorneys to learn more about what your rights are as a parent, and how we can help you assert those rights and protect your child's future.
For example, a child diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome may primarily appear to be constantly hungry, as that one of the most prominent aspects of the condition. However, the child may also display different types of cognitive impairment, including problems with reasoning and problem-solving as well as problems articulating words. They may also be prone to behavioral demonstrations that can interfere with learning.
Williams Syndrome can manifest itself differently, with the child experiencing problems with math and spatial concepts. And a child with Down Syndrome will typically face a range of learning challenges including a short attention span, problems with their verbal memory, and their ability to express themselves.
Because each child's situation is different, schools are required to conduct a thorough evaluation of every student who may have a learning disability. The evaluation needs to meet the requirements of federal and state law, and the goal is to help identify whether the student actually has a learning disability and, if so, how that disability impacts the child's ability to learn. It is meant to serve as a tool for developing a learning plan, called an Individualized Education Plan or IEP, for that specific child.
Students With Genetic Disorders May Have Disability Rights and May Be Entitled to Disability Accommodations
When a genetic disorder impacts a student's ability to learn at a pace that is consistent with those of the general student body, they may be entitled to disability benefits under federal as well as state law. Federal laws known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 work together to provide a range of benefits for students who have cognitive and other types of disabilities.
While each of these laws uses a slightly different definition of “disability,” in general the term is used to mean a “physical or mental impairment” that acts as a limitation on the person's “major life activities.” In the case of children, IDEA states that a “child with a disability” is one who has any of a number of “specific learning disabilities” or “health impairments” that create a need for the child to have “special education and related services.”
While all students can benefit from each of these three federal laws, for the most part only students in grades K-12 can take advantage of the rights provided under IDEA and Section 504. And depending on the particular student and the challenges that they face, a school may simply need to provide certain accommodations to the student, such as making sure they are seated near the teacher in a classroom.
If you believe your student has a disability – including one that is genetic-based – that makes it more difficult for them to learn, you may need to be the one to contact school administrators and request that your child be evaluated. Your school should have a policy and procedure that will cover what happens next, which at some point should be a detailed evaluation of your child by one or more professionals to determine whether and to what extent your child may have a learning disability.
The Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team can help provide you with the guidance and support you need to be an advocate for your child's rights at school. In addition to helping you understanding what benefits your student is entitled to – from the point of an evaluation on forward – our experienced attorneys can be by your side when you meet with school personnel to discuss your child's situation, particularly where there have been difficulties getting the school to provide your child with the benefits they're entitled to.
There are a number of benefits that a child with a learning disability may be entitled to receive, whether caused by a genetic disorder or otherwise. These go beyond the right to be evaluated.
Students with Genetic Disorders May Be Entitled to an IEP
As mentioned above, many students who have been evaluated as having one or more learning disabilities may be entitled to an Individualized Education Plan. An IEP should be a detailed, personalized comprehensive learning plan for a particular student, created by a team of school professionals and the child's parents. It should describe any accommodations that the student will receive in the course of being taught, and the special education benefits that the child will receive. It should set goals for the student's progress during the year, and should be updated regularly – at least once a year – to reflect changes in the plan for the student based on their particular progress to date.
The key to an IEP is in the name – it's “individualized,” meaning that one student's IEP should be different from another's. It also should specifically identify the different ways that the student's education should differ from the way the general student population is taught, and each teacher and staff person who interacts with the student should be aware of the IEP and what their role is in implementing the plan for the student.
IEPs are generally only available to students enrolled in public schools. A private school may choose to provide certain educational benefits to a child with a learning disability, but those benefits will rarely be funded by the government to the same extent as they are in the public schools. And once a student leaves high school, colleges (public or private) have no obligation to create or use the student's IEP, though many will refer to the incoming student's most recent IEP when considering what accommodations to provide the student under the ADA.
Students With Genetic Disorders May Be Entitled to a FAPE
Students with learning disabilities are required to receive a “free appropriate public education,” or FAPE, under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This generally means that students diagnosed with disabilities should receive the same public education as all other students. Providing students with disabilities, including genetic disorders, with a FAPE means that wherever possible, students with special educational needs should be educated together with the general school population. They shouldn't be segregated into special schools, classrooms, or other learning environments. Many people refer to this type of goal as “mainstreaming.”
Striking a balance between times when it's to a student's benefit to receive particularized, focused instruction versus when they should be taught along with the remainder of the student population can be difficult. School administrators may not always do a good job of this, and the result can be situation where a child with a learning disability caused by their genetic disorder may end up being too isolated from other students or, on the other hand, where they are missing out on more focused special education that could benefit them.
If you are concerned that your child's school is not providing them with the FAPE that they're entitled to receive under federal law, the Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team is ready to learn more about your child's situation so that we can advise you on what your – and their – rights are under the law.
College Students With Genetic Disorders May Be Entitled to Reasonable Accommodations
At the post-high-school level, colleges and universities must provide students with “reasonable accommodations” when those students have certain diagnosed disabilities. The schools can only do so, of course, when they are aware of the disability so that they can determine what type of accommodation, if any, can be made to help the student learn. Whether it's more time to finish exams, or a different exam format, or some other accommodation will depend on the student.
In many cases, colleges will benefit from being able to review the student's most recent IEP to see how their high school addressed the student's learning disability. While the school isn't required to provide an IEP at the college level, when determining how to meet their obligations under the ADA it can be enormously helpful to see what the student has benefited from in the past.
What to Do If a School Fails to Accommodate a Student's Genetic Disorder Disability
Schools are run by people, and not everybody who is involved in teaching or administration will react the same way when parents ask that their child be evaluated for a learning disability; or that the school revise their child's IEP because the child is failing to meet the IEP's goals; or because the school isn't providing a FAPE; or that some other federal or state law requirement isn't being met. In these kinds of situations, it can be enormously helpful to understand in advance what your rights are as a parent of a child with a disability. Knowing what the law requires and how your child's school may be failing to meet its obligations under the law can help resolve the matter more quickly than when you have to rely on the word of school administrators that they're “doing everything we're supposed to.”
That's where working with an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team can make a tremendous difference. We will review your child's situation with you, what the school's response has been, and what the school's obligations are under the law. We'll help you understand what your rights are in your particular situation, and can help the school understand their obligations as well. The goal, of course, is to make sure your child receives all of the educational benefits they're entitled to under the law.
The Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team Can Help Students With Genetic Disorders Get the Accommodations They Need and the Education They Deserve
At the Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team, our attorneys are focused on making sure your child receives the benefit of federal and state laws that focus on providing educational opportunities for students with learning disabilities. We will listen to you and learn about what your child's learning challenges are. We will make sure you have a full understanding of what your child's rights are, and how your school is expected to respond to those rights. We can meet with school and school district administrators; your child's teachers; and other members of your child's IEP team to explain your child's rights and to help them understand what changes need to be made so that your child has the best chance at a FAPE – and at the future they deserve. And when talking doesn't work, our experienced attorneys are ready to take matters to court to help your child.
Call the Lento Law Firm Educational Law Team today at 888.535.3686 or schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys to learn more about how we can help your child receive all of the educational benefits they are entitled to under the law.
