NLDline
Subj: THE SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE,
APRIL 5, 1999 (VOL. II, NO. 8)
Date: 4/5/99 9:38:56 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: pwright@wrightslaw.com (Pam and Pete Wright)
Sender: owner-special-ed-advocate@wrightslaw.com
To: special-ed-advocate@wrightslaw.com
====================
The Special Ed Advocate
The Online Newsletter About
Special Education and the Law
April 5, 1999 Vol. II, No. 8
Visit us today at:
http://www.wrightslaw.com
===================
This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. You received the newsletter because you
subscribed to The Special Ed Advocate.
If your email address changes, please unsubscribe your old email address and subscribe
your new email address. Directions about how to subscribe and unsubscribe are at the end
of this newsletter.
===============
The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal issues,
cases, tactics and strategy, effective educational methods, and Internet links.
We publish this newsletter occasionally, when time permits. Back issues of The Special Ed
Advocate are archived at our web site -
http://www.wrightslaw.com
As a subscriber to The Special Ed Advocate, you will receive announcements and
"alerts" about new cases and other events. Contact, copyright, and subscription
information can be found at the end of this newsletter.
===============
THE SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE, APRIL 5, 1999
1. PROGRESS REPORT FROM WRIGHTSLAW, NEW SEARCH ENGINE, & OUR FIRST
ANNIVERSARY
2. UPDATE ON THE ASBURY CASE
3. FINAL UPDATE ON FINAL IDEA REGS
4. EDITOR’S CHOICE FROM THE BOOKSTORE
5. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
6. CONTACT INFORMATION
===============
1. PROGRESS REPORT FROM WRIGHTSLAW, NEW SEARCH ENGINE & OUR FIRST
ANNIVERSARY
Less than one year ago, we sent out the first issue of the Special Ed Advocate newsletter.
This newsletter now goes out to thousands of subscribers around the world. We want to
thank you for your support and encouragement. Please check your e mail box often.
You’ll soon receive
our “Anniversary Issue” of The Special Ed Advocate newsletter.
We have continued to work on two books. The “IDEA Book” evolved into
“WRIGHTSLAW: SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW” which is in the final editing stages.
“WRIGHTSLAW: SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW” is a legal reference book that includes:
** Full text of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 and Analysis
** Newly published IDEA Regulations, including the new Appendix A
** Section 504 and Regulations
**FERPA and Regulations
** Key Supreme Court decisions in special education cases, including the new decision in
“Cedar Rapids v. Garret F.”
As a subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll soon receive more information about
WRIGHTSLAW: SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW.
You can now search the WRIGHTSLAW site. To find information that answers your questions,
use "search" words to find all files on the site that contain those words.
AND, if you’d like a humorous diversion, search WRIGHTSLAW using "balloon"
and "lawyer" as your search words, then go to the end of the file provided by
the search engine.
For more information about the new SEARCH feature, go to
http://www.wrightslaw.com/index.htm
===============
2. UPDATE ON THE ASBURY CASE
Many newsletter subscribers remember the Asbury case. Daniel Asbury is a young autistic
child who receives ABA therapy. In ABA therapy programs, autistic children receive
intensive one-on-one therapy, six hours a day, seven days a week, for two to three years.
This form of intensive remediation has a good track records. After intensive ABA or Lovaas
therapy, about half of these many of these children require no more special education.
In the Spring of 1998, just before a due process hearing, Daniel’s case was settled
for $133,000. The press release and settlement agreement are in the Advocacy Library. In
June, Daniel’s parents brought suit against the state of Missouri.
Recently, we received an update on the case from Kansas attorney Mary Jane White who
represents Daniel and his parents. She reports that: “The Asbury claims against
Missouri SEA (DESE) have also been taken up by Missouri P & A, who, with their special
standing to seek systemic relief, have effectively converted these claims in to a form of
"class action.”
“Before Missouri P & A agreed to join in the claims, the claims survived DESE's
motion to dismiss. These claims include complaints about child find, categorization,
failure to disseminate promising research, failure to implement promising research,
failure to train and certify autism teachers and failure to enter into appropriate
interagency agreements to
benefit preschool children with autism.”
“Section 504 compensatory and punitive damage claims also survived, even under the
8th Circuit's narrow rulings requiring gross professional misjudgment.”
“DESE, the Asburys, their attorneys, and Missouri P & A go to federal mediation
with ALJ Lyn Beekman of Michigan. As the court-approved neutral, Mr. Beekman sat as the
hearing officer on four recent due process "Lovaas" cases in Michigan and
participated in the Michigan task
force concerning Lovaas-style interventions. Mediation may continue through mid-April of
1999.”
“Trial is November 1, 1999. Jury trial has been requested.”
Click here to read the html version of this article.
=============
3. FINAL IDEA REGS -
On Friday, March 12, 1999, the U. S. Department of Education published the Final Regs in
the Federal Register, Volume 64, beginning at page 12405, in an adobe acrobat pdf format
and in ascii text. That web site URL is
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html
We got the regs up on our site in record time – and they were readable and printable!
We converted most of the files from ascii.txt to word.doc and then to *.html for easier
viewing, reading, and printing. We also placed the "pdf" files at our
website.
The Regulations and the commentary are published in the March 12, 1999 edition of the
Federal Register. Later, the regulations will also be published in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) and will be known as 34 C.F.R. Part 300. Most urban libraries and all
law libraries have the
Code of Federal Regulations. The regs will be located in Volume 34. The early intervention
regs are Part 303 in Volume 34.
We want to draw your attention to the New Appendix A (which replaces the former Appendix
C). Appendix A discusses IEPs, IEP teams and meetings, parental role, what to do if
parents and school do not agree on the child's IEP, transition plans, and more.
We want the Final Regs on our site to be complete, correct, and easy-to-read! If you find
errors, typos, etc., please let us know. Not all of the March 12th Federal Register will
be in the CFR. Portions that are not regulations, but instead are commentaries, notes,
attachments, etc. will only be in the Federal Register. If you are an attorney who
represents children with disabilities or an advocate and may later need an explanation of
a particular regulation for submission
to a judge or hearing officer, I suggest that you also print the adobe acrobat pdf files
from the Federal Register.
For the adobe acrobat files, click here and go to our webpage:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/code_regs/pdf_files.htm
============
4. EDITOR’S CHOICE FROM THE ADVOCATE’S BOOKSTORE
* * TEACHING THE TIGER * *
Judy from New Mexico writes:
I want to commend you on adding “Teaching the Tiger” to your bookstore. Our part
of the country has been very backwards in sped issues. I have been in the trenches with my
children and others for almost 40 years.
As an advocate for children, I often walk into a pretty hostile environment at schools.
Often, these cases involve ADHD/ADD and learning disabilities. When I bring “Teaching
the Tiger” to IEP meetings, I offer to pass the book around. In every instance, there
is immediate interest
among diagnosticians and special ed personnel.
“Teaching the Tiger” is a great ice breaker. I suggest that parents write their
parent input attachment before the meeting, using this book as a guide. It has been a
godsend.
We have used the section on computer assisted learning to help get daily computer access
to help these children.
Your site is most empowering, and I recommend it to the parents for whom I advocate. I
can’t wait to get your new books when they come out.
* * EDUCATIONAL CARE * *
"Needless suffering occurs whenever children grow up disappointing themselves and the
adults who care for them . . . these children come to question their own worthiness as
they compare themselves to others . . . So much is at stake. Children who experience
too much failure too early in life are exquisitely vulnerable to a wide range of
complications . . . they are especially prone to behavioral and emotional difficulties
that are more severe than the learning problems that generated them."
Noting that ""School problems inflict the greatest harm when they are
misunderstood," Dr. Levine includes an excellent chapter on assessment and planning.
For more information about “Teaching the Tiger” and “Educational Care”
go to -
http://www.wrightslaw.com/bkstore/bks_educate.htm
* * THE CHALLENGING CHILD * *
Identifies five "difficult" child personality types--sensitive, withdrawn,
defiant, inattentive, and active/aggressive--explains child development – and offers
strategies to turn difficulties into positive personality traits.
Parents o not have to "live with" a child's fixed temperament. By adjusting
their reactions to the "difficult" child's behavior, parents can help
"difficult" children grow up into be healthy adults.
For more information about “The Challenging Child” go to
http://www.wrightslaw.com/bkstore/bks_disability.htm
============
5. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
To subscribe to The Special Ed Advocate, send an email to
majordomo@wrightslaw.com
In the beginning of your message, insert the following words exactly, with the hyphens,
all lowercase
subscribe special-ed-advocate
You will receive an automatic, computerized confirmation that your request "has been
forwarded to the owner of the special-ed-advocate list for approval and that it is a
closed list." Within a couple of days, you will receive a message confirming that you
are a subscriber.
To unsubscribe to The Special Ed Advocate, send an email to
majordomo@wrightslaw.com
In the beginning of your message, insert the following words exactly, with the hyphens,
all lowercase
unsubscribe special-ed-advocate
===========
6. CONTACT INFORMATION
Pete and Pam Wright
c/o The Special Ed Advocate
P. O. Box 1008
Deltaville, VA 23043
Phone: 804-257-0857
Website: http://www.wrightslaw.com
Email: webmaster@wrightslaw.com
The resources at this website are copyrighted by the authors. They may be used for
non-commercial purposes only. They may not be redistributed for commercial purposes
without the express written consent of Peter W. D. Wright.
It is not necessary to obtain our consent to link to our website or copy, print and
distribute our articles and newsletters for nonprofit purposes so long as the material is
reproduced in its entirety and credit is given to Pete and Pam Wright and
"wrightslaw" including the URL -
http://www.wrightslaw.com
Copyright 1999, Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright. All rights reserved.
END