IDEA and IEP: The Rights of Students with Disabilities

Public schools are available to all of America’s children, including children with special needs. While many students struggle with particular courses or subjects, students with special needs require additional assistance. Finding that schools were not giving students with special needs adequate services to allow them to develop their potential, Congress enacted a law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The IDEA directs schools to give special services and reasonable accommodations to qualified students. The IDEA guarantees a “Free Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE) for disabled students in the “least restrictive environment” (LRE). Each state must issue guidelines to implement the IDEA and meet every protection outlined in the IDEA. Some states go farther and beyond the federal law’s requirements.

The IDEA requires that schools provide these students – and their parents – with an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which is designed to ensure that educators use methods that work best for students with disabilities. An IEP is a personalized plan, devised by a “team” of parents, teachers, school officials, and experts, to assist and provide for disabled students’ needs to be successful in school. The IEP sets goals for a student during the academic year and specifies any necessary assistance in order to achieve them. An IEP is an important and official document that details the services a school will provide a disabled student so that the student can effectively learn. The law requires that the IEP be finalized before the student receives services, and yearly, the team must review and update the IEP as long as the student remains eligible to receive services. How an IEP is drafted varies from state to state, but the IDEA mandates that all IEPs report how the student is currently performing in school, how the student can reach his or her educational goals in the upcoming year, and how the student will participate in the general education courses.

Though the IDEA and IEP are meant to assist disabled students, the law defines who exactly qualifies for an IEP. In general, to receive an IEP, a child must have trouble with learning and functioning in school, must be identified as needing special services, and must be diagnosed with particular learning disabilities, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotional disorders, cognitive challenges, autism, hearing impairment, visual impairment, speech or language impairment, and/or developmental delay. A student’s disability must be documented.

If parents have a child with special needs or a student with a disability, the law gives the child rights and permits his or her parents to enforce them. If a school is not providing those services or living up to its commitments set forth in the IEP, a parent can hold the school accountable. Parents, however, should carefully prepare before attending an IEP meeting for their child. Parents should know that the school system is prepared and brings its teachers and experts to the meeting. Often, parents feel alone and outnumbered. To prepare, however, parents should assess the student’s progress during the last year, observe the classes, talk to the teachers, assistants, and experts supplied by the school, and determine his or her child’s needs. Parents should ask: Are the child’s needs being adequately met by the school? Did the school meet its obligations under the existing IEP?

If possible, consult with independent professionals not employed by or affiliated with the school system, and politely, but forcefully request services that the child needs. Too often, some school systems design systems for students with special needs and try to fit every child with special needs into their system. But a plan for all students with special needs may not be what your child needs to succeed. If services that the school wishes to include in your child’s IEP do not meet his or her needs, your child and family will pay for the consequences. You don’t have to face the school system alone. An experienced lawyer can help.

If you feel that your child’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are being ignored, applied incorrectly, or outright violated, or if you have questions about the IDEA or an IEP, ask Attorney Perry A. Craft. He will answer your questions and fight for your child and you.