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Advocating

Advocacy Tips for Parents by Celeste Johnson. Excellent tips for being an effective advocate for your child. This document my be copied for personal use or for the personal use of others, as long as the copyright information is retained on the document. However, this document may not be re-published in any medium without prior permission.
Advocate's Corner -  Tips On Advocating For Your Child from our panel of Advocates.
Children's Rights Coordinators - Qualified AG Bell Association for the Deaf member volunteers throughout the United States, Canada, India, and Mexico who work to ensure that children and adolescents who are deaf or hard of hearing get the support and educational opportunities that they need.
If Dr. Seuss Had A Special Child
IEP/504 Survivor - Have you survived your child's latest IEP/504 team meeting? If so, then here is an image I've designed just for you.  

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IEPs

Overheard in one of the parent support lists I belong to:
>>You know what the road to hell is paved with!
>IEP forms?

 

cj.gif (3238 bytes) CJ is a parent's advocate who tries to ensure that parents are given the information they need to be effective advocates for their deaf/hoh children. Some of these documents require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have it, you can download it with the link at the bottom of this page. All of these works remain the intellectual property of CJ. Their presence on this web site does not place them in the public domain. Please do not include any of them in any published material without first obtaining permission.

Advocacy Tips for Parents by Celeste Johnson. Excellent tips for being an effective advocate for your child. This document my be copied for personal use or for the personal use of others, as long as the copyright information is retained on the document. However, this document may not be re-published in any medium without prior permission.

Additional Agreements. Many times something needs to be added to the IEP but isn't because they can't figure out where to put it, or there isn't any room left where they want to put it. This form is what she uses . You can also download Additional Agreements in Adobe Acrobat format. The Wrightslaw Website answers the question, "The school won't let me to add input to my child's IEP. Can they do this? How should I deal with this?"
Educational Evaluation of Deaf Children. This was written to answer some questions of another parent. She explains why educational evaluations of deaf children should be done with tests normed on hearing children.
IEP Checklist. It's often difficult to remember all the things you want to ask for during an IEP meeting. This form was developed to help you track of everything. Only available in Adobe Acrobat format. Newly revised.
Transition Checklist. As if you didn't have enough to think about during IEP meetings, once a child reaches the age where transition needs need to be written into the IEP, you get even more. CJ gives us an easy way to keep track of it all.
Who Pays for Audiograms Used in Schools? This article was written because CJ has noticed a disturbing trend and she wants to make it known that the school has the responsibility of paying for any audiograms they need.
Implementing Regulations for IDEA '97 - Topic Index.
How the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Applies To Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students - on the Clerc Center website. A must read!!! Don't miss her Individualized Education Program Guide for Parents form.

Procedural Safeguards For Students With Disabilities - An explanation of your rights - Clicking on the name for each state will take you to a page where you can get a copy of your rights in the IEP process, if available online. 

Alabama Illinois  Montana Rhode Island
Alaska Indiana Nebraska South Carolina
Arizona Iowa Nevada South Dakota
Arkansas Kansas New Hampshire Tennessee
California Kentucky New Jersey Texas
Colorado Louisianna New Mexico Utah
Connecticut Maine New York Vermont
Delaware Maryland North Carolina Virginia
District Of Columbia Massachusetts North Dakota Washington
Florida Michigan Ohio West Virginia
Georgia Minnesota Oklahoma Wisconsin
Hawaii Mississippi Oregon Wyoming
Idaho Missouri Pennsylvania

Department of Defense Education Activity (See page 30)

 

IEP Forms - It is often helpful to be able to see what forms your state uses in the IEP process or to use them to help you prepare for addressing your child's needs during the team meeting. To find a link to the website where you can download your state's IEP forms (almost all states), see the table at Addressing Standards and Assessments on State IEP Forms - by the National Center on Educational Outcomes.

State Regulations for Special Education

It has been brought to my attention that if standardized testing is waived, in many states it means a certificate is given, not a diploma. Almost all colleges and universities require a diploma for entrance and won't accept a certificate. Please check your state regulations before you agree to waive standardized testing to see if this applies to you or not.

Links:

Extended School Year

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Laws

FYI: Case Law - what the courts say a law means.

Here is a list of  my Most Often Cited Regulations

IDEA

ADA

DOT Fact Sheet

 Steps Taken to Ensure New Security Requirements Preserve and Respect the Civil Rights of People with Disabilities

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and the Department of Transportation's implementing rules prohibit discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities in air transportation. Since the terrorist hijackings and tragic events of September 11, the Federal Aviation Administration FAA) has issued directives to strengthen security measures at airline checkpoints and passenger screening locations. In securing our national air transportation system, where much of FAA's efforts have been directed to date, steps were also taken to ensure that the new security procedures preserve and respect the civil rights of passengers with disabilities. This Fact Sheet provides information about the accessibility requirements in air travel in light of strengthened security measures by providing a few examples of the types of accommodations and services that must be provided to passengers with disabilities. The examples listed below are not all-inclusive and are simply meant to provide answers to frequently asked questions since September 11 concerning the air travel of people with disabilities.

Check-in

Air carriers must provide meet and assist service (e.g., assistance to gate or aircraft) at drop-off points. The lack of curbside check-in, for certain airlines at some airports, has not changed the requirement for meet and assist service at drop-off points.

Screener checkpoints

Individuals assisting passengers with disabilities are allowed beyond the screener checkpoints. These individuals may be required to present themselves at the airlines' check-in desk and receive a "pass" allowing them to go through the screener checkpoint without a ticket.

Ticketed passengers with their own oxygen for use on the ground are allowed beyond the screener checkpoints with their oxygen canisters once the canisters have been thoroughly inspected. If there is a request for oxygen at the gate for a qualified passenger with a disability, commercial oxygen providers are allowed beyond the screener checkpoints with oxygen canisters once the canisters have been thoroughly inspected. Commercial oxygen providers may be required to present themselves at the airlines' check-in desk and receive a "pass" allowing them to go through  the screener checkpoint without a ticket.

 The limit of one carry-on bag and one personal bag (e.g., purse or briefcase) for each traveler does not apply to medical supplies and/or assistive devices. Passengers with disabilities generally may carry medical equipment, medications, and assistive devices on board the aircraft.

All persons allowed beyond the screener checkpoints may be searched. This
will usually be done through the use of a hand-held metal detector, whenever possible. Passengers may also be patted down during security screenings, and this is even more likely if the passenger uses a wheelchair and is unable to stand up. Private screenings remain an option for persons in wheelchairs.

Service animals, once inspected to ensure prohibited items are not concealed, are permitted on board an aircraft. Any backpack or sidepack that is carried on the animal will be manually inspected or put through the X-ray machines. The service animal's halter may also be removed for inspection.

Assistive devices such as walking canes, once inspected to ensure prohibited items are not concealed, are permitted on board an aircraft. Assistive devices such as augmentative communication devices and Braille'N Speaks will go through the same sort of security screening process as used for personal computers.

Syringes are permitted on board an aircraft once it is determined that the person has a documented medical need for the syringe.

Personal wheelchairs and battery-powered scooters may still be used to reach departure gates after they are inspected to ensure that they do not present a security risk. Any backpack or sidepack that is carried on the wheelchair will be manually inspected or put through the X-ray machines.

Personal wheelchairs will still be allowed to be stowed on board an aircraft.

Air carriers must ensure that qualified individuals with a disability,  including those with vision or hearing impairments, have timely access to  information, such as new security measures, the carriers provide to other passengers. For example, on flights to Reagan Washington National Airport, persons are verbally warned to use the restrooms more than a half an hour before arrival since after that point in time passengers are required to remain in their seats. Alternative formats are necessary to ensure that all passengers, especially deaf persons, understand new security measures such as the one at Reagan Washington National.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Members of the public, who feel they have been the subject of discriminatory actions or treatment by air carriers, may file a complaint by sending an email, a letter, or a completed complaint form to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD). ACPD's e-mail address is airconsumer@ost.dot.gov and its mailing address is: Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of  Transportation, Room 4107, C-75, Washington, DC 20590. Complaint forms that consumers may download and/or print are available at  http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/problems.htm .

Issued on 10/29/01 by the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings and its Aviation Consumer Protection  Division.

Section 504

 

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Regulations for DOD (Department of Defense) Schools

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Sample Letters

First I would like to say a little something about what these letters are, and what they are not. Some of them have been written to be "fill in the blank" type, but not all of them. Some of these are slight modifications of actual letters that have been sent in behalf of a child. These are not meant to be cookie cutter letters but are instead meant to give you an idea on how to structure your own letters.

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Legal Resources

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Misc

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Discussion Groups for SpEd Problems

 

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