During the 1970s, the United States began to draft and implement legislation to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities. The key law they created is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA specifies that all students between kindergarten and twelfth grade have the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Moreover, children with disabilities have the legal right to services and accommodations that will help them achieve a FAPE, which includes helping them thrive personally and socially.
D.C. is the heart of the American political landscape and, as such, is focused on providing students of any ability with access to education. In fact, during the 2022-2023 school year, over 14,500 students were enrolled in special education. That is over 36% of the total public school enrollment in D.C.
Despite these seemingly high numbers, many public schools in D.C. fail to provide their students with evaluations, appropriate services, and reasonable accommodations. If your public school is refusing to help your child, a qualified special education attorney can help. Call the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team today at (888) 535-3686 or schedule a consultation online.
What is Special Education?
Special education is a division of the state's Department of Education that oversees the services and accommodations provided to qualifying students. Generally, students who receive special education services have social, emotional, mental, or physical differences or disabilities that require school districts to provide them with certain services and accommodations that will improve their access to a FAPE.
Relevant Laws
The IDEA instructs public school districts to draft – and implement – policies and procedures that certify students with disabilities obtain special education services. One section covers the Individualized Education Plan (IEP). An IEP is a legal document that states the difficulties preventing your child from receiving a FAPE, their academic and social goals for the current school year, and the exact services and accommodations the school district will provide them. If your child is moving from one school or life stage to the next, the IEP will also include transition plans, which will include services meant to help ease that transition.
In addition to the IDEA, the United States also enacted two other laws that have sections that can help students with disabilities obtain an education: the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. While the ADA – or the Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights act that protects all individuals with disabilities from discrimination, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of disabilities in programs that are conducted or funded by federal agencies (like public school districts).
Furthermore, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 also gives students with disabilities the right to alter their learning environment. For example, a student with a 504 plan might receive certain accommodations, like:
- Changing where their desk is placed in the classroom.
- Using headphones to avoid distractions.
- Getting extra time to take tests or do assignments.
- Having the opportunity to take frequent breaks.
- Getting support in after-school or non-academic activities.
Section 504 plans are different from IEPs in that they tend to be less formal. The school may provide these accommodations and services without an evaluation or a written plan. However, it is always a good idea to get an agreement like this written down and signed to ensure your child's needs are safeguarded.
The best way to figure out what your child needs is to work with an experienced special education attorney. The Education Law Team has helped hundreds of students around the country navigate special education services. They will contact that school district on your child's behalf and ensure they receive the services they need to succeed academically.
Common Terms
Getting your child into special education requires a ton of evaluations, meetings, and paperwork, and it can be hard to follow along when the department uses so many acronyms and phrases that aren't necessarily present in everyday conversations. When you don't feel like you know what's going on, it can be embarrassing and make the entire process even more overwhelming. To ensure you show up empowered, we have listed below the most common terms used in special education and their definitions.
- “FAPE” – free appropriate public education. We described this earlier, but it does not hurt to go into it in further detail. Under the IDEA, all students have the right to a free education. In addition, they have the right to that education to meet their unique needs. So, the school district must provide services and accommodations that will help children with disabilities achieve that education.
- “Reasonable accommodations.” When the school district says they will help students access a FAPE with accommodations and services, they are not granting those children access to any accommodation or service they please. The accommodations have to be “reasonable.” While this term is not defined specifically, it tends to mean accommodations that are not overly burdensome for the school or a member of their community to provide. However, the accommodation must still be effective.
- “LRE” - least restrictive environment. To ensure a child with a disability receives a FAPE, they may need to be placed in a different environment for parts or all of their daily instruction. The LRE is the exact setting where a student learns best. For most students, this will be in the classroom with their non-disabled peers. They will receive their accommodations and services without being separated. However, some students will need to be taken out of the classroom for particular subjects to receive 1:1 instruction or smaller group instruction with a different teacher. In some cases, the student may need to be instructed in a fully special education environment. This section of the IDEA also prevents school districts from placing students with disabilities in inappropriate educational settings.
Who Qualifies for Special Education in D.C.?
Like other areas of the United States, D.C. offers special education services to children between the ages of three and 21 who have qualifying disabilities, such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
- Intellectual disabilities like ADHD, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or Fragile X syndrome.
- Visual impairments, including blindness, loss of peripheral vision, and blurred vision.
- Hearing impairments, including chronic hearing loss and deafness.
- Speech or language impairments such as Apraxia, stuttering, articulation errors, or tongue-ties.
- Serious emotional disturbance like aggression, withdrawal, or immaturity.
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
- Orthopedic impairments such as spinal cord injuries and muscular dystrophy.
- Health impairments, including Tourette syndrome, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, and cancer.
- Other developmental delays or specific learning disabilities.
If your child is under the age of three and has a significant delay in their cognitive, communicative, or adaptive skills, social and emotional development, or physical development, D.C. has special education services for them as well.
What is Child Find?
To ensure no student gets left behind, D.C. created the Child Find program. Child Find encourages parents, teachers, and anyone else who comes into contact with the child to contact specific divisions of the state if they believe the child might benefit from special education services. For instance, if a child is under 2 years and 8 months, Child Find instructs individuals to contact the Strong Start DC Early Intervention Program. If the child is over 5 years and 10 months and attending a private or religious school in D.C., the individual should contact the DCPS Centralized IEP Support Unit for help.
The local education agencies (LEAs) that are responsible for implementing this program will receive the referral and notify the parents, school district officials, and any other person who might be involved in the child's academic life, to determine if an evaluation is necessary. There are some cases where the LEA will determine an evaluation is not necessary, and the parent will disagree. If this happens, the parent has the right to appeal the LEA's decision.
Types of Services Offered to Qualifying Students with Disabilities in D.C.
There are several types of services that a student with a disability can request:
- Assistive technology: text-to-speech programs, word prediction, graphic organizers, manipulatives, communication devices, adapted chairs, gait trainers, standers, and adapted utensils.
- Extended school year services: receiving special education services throughout the summer to prevent them from losing progress.
- Home and hospital instruction.
State Services
In addition to these services, D.C. also offers students with disabilities other services that will help improve their ability to meet their IEP goals, including:
- Physical therapy
- Speech therapy
- Transportation to and from school or school-related activities
- Orientation and mobility services
- Occupational therapy
- Interpreter services
- Parent counseling and training
- Transition plans
Specialized Schools
There is only one public school district in D.C. – the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), which consists of less than half of the schools and learning centers in the district. Yet, there are self-contained programs in many public schools that are meant to provide specific help to that particular student, such as the:
- Behavior Learning Support program – helps students who need help with reading, writing, or math by giving them extra support and attention. Typically, these students stay in their regular classroom, and the teacher will continue to use the Common Core State Standards, making changes here and there to help the students learn better.
- Independence and Learning Support program – helps students with intellectual disabilities learn important math and reading skills that will support real-life situations and activities they may find themselves in.
- Medical and Education Support program – this program is for students with serious health programs who need a lot of assistance with learning, socializing, and living skills. It also teaches them how to talk, make friends, and have fun.
- Specific Learning Support program – supports students who learn differently from their classmates with their reading, writing, and math. Typically, the students in this program are behind their classmates in these subjects by two or more grades and have a hard time paying attention or remembering things.
- Sensory Support Programs – both the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program and the Visual Support Program are meant to help qualifying students communicate more effectively, have stronger social skills, and need accommodations in other areas of their lives.
This list of programs is not exhaustive, and while the district does not necessarily hide their availability, they may be slow to offer or provide them to students with disabilities. As such, having an experienced attorney on your side during these proceedings is the best way to ensure the school provides your child with all the resources they need to succeed.
The Right to Special Education in D.C.
D.C. is the hub of politics in the United States. So, you would think they would abide by the federal laws and regulations that govern special education rights for students with disabilities. However, it is not uncommon for parents within this district to be forced to defend their children's rights because the district has dropped the ball. Rather than prioritizing the child's needs, they either ignore referrals for special education or refuse to offer appropriate accommodations because they are expensive or burdensome.
Getting your child the services and accommodations they need to do well in school, make friends, and participate in society can feel like an uphill battle. Every step closer to achieving it requires three side quests. It can be exhausting and frustrating, especially for single parents, working parents, or parents with other children and responsibilities. Thus, the only way to ensure you can stay on top of all these steps, interviews, meetings, evaluations, and hearings is to hire the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team.
The knowledgeable attorneys at Lento Law Firm will review the case and begin drafting your child's requests. They will not stop until your child receives the services and accommodations they need to be able to participate in all aspects of their life. Call (888) 535-3686 or schedule a consultation online to speak to an attorney today.
