How To Obtain Special Education Services: A Short Practical Guide
Hack the IEP
I was a parent advocate helping parents obtain services through the IEP process. This post provides parents with an effective strategy for obtaining special education services using the Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting. There is helpful information in the details.
Let’s say your child needs individual speech therapy, or to be pulled out of general education 4th grade for specialized instruction by the resource teacher. Perhaps you’re looking for full inclusion in general education at your neighborhood school, or to be transferred to another school outside your school district. Maybe your child requires a special curriculum, a teacher’s aide, a behavior intervention plan, mental health services, transportation, or adaptive physical education. Whatever the request the strategy is as follows:
Before the IEP Meeting
1) Write to the Director of Special Education and request that your child be evaluated. You may request a complete developmental evaluation or something more specific, such as a speech and language assessment. If your child has a developmental disability it is not uncommon for the district to provide a variety of evaluations from the school psychologist, the teacher, the speech pathologist, the adaptive physical education teacher, the occupational therapist, the behavior specialist, and so on. The purpose of the initial evaluation is to determine if the child is eligible for services. If eligible there should be goals and objectives in the report. If the child is ineligible there will be no goals and objectives. If your child is ineligible for special education services and you disagree, you may obtain a second opinion from the district or an independent evaluator.
2) In your inital letter, request that the evaluation(s) determine eligibility and if so, provide specific goals, objectives, and a recommended level of designated instructional service(s) that will offer progress toward achieving the prescribed goals and objectives. You may have relevant evaluations completed by other professionals already. Submit them to the school district with your letter. The reports may help determine eligibility for services and if eligible, what designated instructional services are required.
3) Within 15 days after the district receives your written request, you will receive an assessment plan. You have 15 days to review, to consent, and to sign the assessment plan. The district has 60 school days to complete the plan and to schedule an IEP meeting.
4) Ask the evaluator(s) to attend the IEP meeting to discuss his or her report.
5) If possible, review the report(s) before the IEP meeting. Sometimes you may not receive them until the IEP meeting.
6) As mentioned above, if you do not agree with a report (before or after the IEP meeting), or find it inadequate you may write a letter to the Director of Special Education and request another independent evaluation at public expense. They may offer a second opinion by a school district employee, or you can hire your own expert.
Note: the only way to obtain services is to have an expert evaluate your child to determine eligibility and if eligible write specific goals and objectives to the IEP, and recommend specific designated instructional services to meet the goals and objectives. Plus, the IEP team must agree to place those goals and objectives on the IEP.
7) If you use an evaluator who is independent of the school district make sure s/he has training in educational testing & measurement, is willing to write specific goals and objectives, and is willing to recommend specific designated instructional services. Have the evaluator attend the IEP. If your expert does not have training in testing, or if the expert will not attend, find another expert. If your expert is willing to write a report but does not include goals and objectives, (which happens often) find another expert.
8). Schedule an IEP meeting with the school district. You may request an IEP meeting at any time of the school year and as many times as you feel are necessary. Do not go to the IEP meeting alone. Bring someone with you who is familiar with the IEP process, and who you can confide in while at the meeting: a teacher, an advocate, the evaluator. If both parents can attend, all the better. Every district employee who evaluated your child may attend. If your independent evaluator cannot attend, then bring an education advocate or a psychologist, someone who understands test results and can present the evaluator’s report. Bring a friend if you must, otherwise you may feel outnumbered when there are 6 school district employees around the table and just you.
At the IEP Meeting
8) At the IEP meeting have the evaluator request that some (if not all) of the goals and objectives recommended be added to the IEP. If (and only if) they are added to the IEP you can submit the evaluator’s bill to the school district for reimbursement. If the district balks at reimbursement, write a letter to the Director of Special Education stating that you disagree with the District’s decision not to fund the evaluation. Request a fair hearing and a mediation conference to resolve the issue. Or you can file a complaint with the Department of Education in your state. Chances are high (but not certain) that the district will provide reimbursement without actually going through a fair hearing.
9) Listen to the evaluators’ reports, pay special attention to the recommended goals and objectives, and to the type and amount of specialized instruction your child will receive. Usually, the team members introduce themselves, then each professional presents their report and recommendations. Once every evaluator has spoken, the team discusses the designated instructional services that will be provided to meet each goal and objective.
10) Towards the end of the IEP meeting ask the chairperson of the IEP meeting to read the team notes that state in writing the types and level of services the school district will provide. Request a communication book to record when designated instructional services are provided. Have that book sent home on Fridays for your review. For example, the speech therapist can record in the communication book when speech therapy occurs. Review the therapist’s notes and write in your comments or questions. Use the book to correspond with the speech therapist or whoever provides services. Return the communication book Monday morning.
11) At the IEP write down on paper, where you agree and where you disagree.
12) If there are areas of disagreement, ask the chairperson, and the IEP team if they can change their recommendations to provide what it is that you are requesting - negotiate.
13) Before the end of the IEP meeting tell the chairperson what you agree with and where you disagree and request that s/he add your views to the IEP (usually in the team notes section). Take a copy of the IEP home. Review the IEP with your spouse, or someone else you trust. Some suggest that you only sign the IEP if you agree with it. Unless you sign the IEP your child will not receive services. I recommend that you sign the IEP if you’ve identified where you and the district agree and disagree and your views are accurately noted on the IEP. That way you obtain the services you agree with while you appeal the decisions where you disagree.
14) Present your views in a friendly, polite, and professional manner. If you have invited an independent evaluator have that person make the case for recommended services. Don’t waste your time arguing. Try not to become emotional. The chairperson is likely a mid-level manager who may not have the authority to grant your request.
15) If there is still disagreement, request another IEP meeting within 2 weeks, and request a new chairperson, an administrator who has the authority to grant the services you are requesting. Repeat this request in a letter to the Director of Special Education.
16) Invite your independent evaluator(s) or an advocate to the subsequent IEP. Follow the guidelines above.
Due Process
17) If after the second or third IEP you and your evaluator(s) have not negotiated an agreement, tell the chairperson you would like to file for due process and request a fair hearing to resolve the disagreement(s). Repeat this request in a letter to the Director of Special Education. Also, in the same letter request a formal mediation conference to help resolve the disagreements. Request due process even if you are not sure you will go through a fair hearing. There is a good chance your issue will be resolved at the mediation conference - if not before. There are timelines the school district must follow. Discover the timelines relevant in your state.
18) When the Director of Special Education receives your letter requesting a mediation conference / fair hearing you may receive a phone call from the Director of Special Education. She may schedule a meeting to negotiate your requests. You may be able to negotiate an agreement without a mediation hearing.
Mediation
19) If not, when the Director of Special Education receives your letter s/he will arrange a mediation conference. A mediator will be assigned to your case. Bring your independent evaluator (s) and/or an advocate with you to the mediation conference. The district will have their expert provide evidence that the services they are willing to provide will lead to progress towards the goals and objectives on the IEP. You must provide evidence from your expert that indicates your child requires XYZ services in order to meet the goals and objectives on your child’s IEP. Demonstrate that your child has made less than trivial progress meeting the goals and objectives on the IEP. If you make a good case, the district may negotiate more favorable services. The mediator is there to help you negotiate. If you do not bring an attorney to the mediation hearing, the school district will not bring one either. I repeat, do not go to the mediation conference alone. Bring an advocate. Ninety percent of the time the mediator will help you negotiate a favorable outcome. Be willing to compromise.
Fair Hearing
20) If the school district’s attorney believes the district will win the fair hearing, particularly if the services requested are expensive, the district will arrange a fair hearing where an administrative judge will hear the evidence on both sides and rule. To increase the chances of winning your case have an attorney represent you at a fair hearing. If you win your case the school district will pay for your legal fees. If you lose you will pay your legal fees. Make an appointment with an attorney. Ask the attorney to assess the merits of your case. If the attorney believes you may win, s/he may represent you ‘contingently’ whereby you are not required to pay a retainer and s/he is paid by the school district if s/he wins.
When a temporary agreement can help.
If you are requesting XYZ service, 30 minutes, 5 times per week and the school district is recommending something less, it may be wise to agree to the lower level of service for some reasonable temporary period, for example, 1 or 2 months, to collect data and see if the lower level of service is effective. Request that another IEP meeting be held after the temporary period to evaluate your child’s progress. Ask the provider to explain what data collection technique will be used to measure progress. If your child does not make progress during the 2 months, you can use that evidence to claim that the lower level of service is not effective, and a larger level of service is required.
This strategy also works when placement is considered. If you would like your child placed in XYZ class, and the district is recommending ABC class, agree to the ABC class for a temporary period, and assess the child’s progress in that placement. If your child makes satisfactory progress, fine. If not, use that evidence to support a change in placement. In my experience helping parents through the IEP process, parents who demanded a certain level of service but had not tried a lower level of service as recommended by the school district’s qualified expert, the parent generally lost at a Fair Hearing.
Filing a complaint versus filing for a fair hearing.
Use the mediation/fair hearing process when there is disagreement about services. File a complaint when the school district does not follow legal rules, such as taking too much time to schedule an IEP or completing an assessment. File complaints with the Department of Education for your state. The Department of Education will contact the school district and investigate.
Qualifying Categories.
There are 12 qualifying categories for special education services: 1) visual impairment; 2) hearing impairment; 3) deaf-blind; 4) severe orthopedic impairment; 5) language or speech disorder; 6) other health impairment (can include Attention Deficit Disorder); 7) autistic-like behaviors; 8) mental retardation; 9) serious emotional disturbance; 10) specific learning disability; 11) traumatic brain injury and 12) multiple disabilities. Each has specific requirements for eligibility.
Age requirements. The minimum age a child may be eligible for special education services is birth. In California Regional Center provides Early Start Services birth to three years old. At 3 years to age 22, special education services are provided by the school district. A student may obtain services until age 22 if the student became eligible before the age of 18, did not graduate from high school, and has IEP goals and objectives that require it.
What does ‘appropriate education’ mean?
In 1982 the Supreme Court determined that an appropriate education program and placement is designed to meet a student’s unique needs if it provides services to the student sufficient for him to obtain “educational benefit” in conformity with the IEP. The educational program must be appropriate and provided in the least restrictive environment. It does not entitle the student to the best possible program or a program that maximizes the child’s potential (Board of Education vs Rowley 458 U.S. 176, 1982). The courts define what is “educational benefit.” In California educational benefit is measured by whether the child is making more than trivial progress toward achieving the goals of the IEP.
The US Congress passed ‘The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (public law 94-142) in 1975. The law was revised and is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Each State has passed laws that parallel IDEA. At times State law provides more provisions than federal law. If there is a disagreement between State and Federal law, Federal Law prevails unless your state provides additional rights. I live in California, so my post reflects California law, however, the strategy for obtaining special education services discussed here should - for the most part - generalize to the state in which you live.
Sources
Special Education Rights and Responsibilities, Revised & Updated September 2024. http://www.disabilityrightsca.org/pubs/PublicationsSERREnglish.htm
Thank you for your kind words. I tried to identify the main concepts and provide a strategy to obtain services based on my experience as an advocate. Most descriptions of special ed rights and responsibilities lack the strategy part.
Paul, thanks for posting your guide to securing services for a child. It's great to have a clear, succinct set of recommendations. I hope that other advocates will review it and comment. For my part, I wonder about the sequence of actions you described. I'm under the impression that securing eligibility for services (under one of the categories you accurately listed) has to occur before one can get to the planning that goes into an IEP. To be sure, there's overlap—some of the data used to determine eligibility may be used in planning a program, for example—but decision about eligibility precedes the design of an individualized program.