If you have been a child care provider for at least a year or two, chances are good that you have learned something about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability, and which requires you to make reasonable modifications for clients and employees covered by this law. However, you may not be familiar with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the special education law that applies to school districts throughout the United States. The purpose of this article is to familiarize you with some of the key provisions of this important federal law. Knowledge of this law can help you to form better relationships with the families whose children are entering (or already participate in) the special education system, and in some situations, help you in obtaining resources for your SAC program.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Before IDEA, there was Public Law 94-142, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, which was passed in 1975 and signed by President Ford. It granted all children in the United States, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, a free, appropriate, public education, beginning at age 5. To protect children against the abuses of the past, which were well-documented in federal court decisions of the early 1970s, Congress gave parents the right to participate in, and then to approve or disapprove of the individualized educational program (IEP) developed for their child. For those parents who disapproved, the law required every state to set up procedures for impartial due process hearings, with all expenses covered by the schools.
Because of the misuse of IQ testing in the past, Congress also required that eligibility for special education be determined by a multi-disciplinary team. Finally, Congress stipulated that children were to receive their educational program in the least restrictive environment (LRE) that would be appropriate for the child. This concept is easy to understand if you think of a child confined to a hospital bed as being in the most restrictive environment, and a child attending the same place where his twin brother or sister with no special needs attends as being in the least restrictive environment. (In between those two poles are a spectrum of other options.)
The law has been amended several times since 1975. (For instance, the re-naming of the law was part of the 1990 amendments. The word handicapped was, by then, considered outmoded and inappropriate.) A 1986 set of amendments (P.L. 99-457) extended all the provisions of the law that we described above to three year olds, and created a new program called Part H, which called upon states to identify and serve infants and toddlers with special needs.
WORKING WITH FAMILIES OF SCHOOL-AGERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Your understanding of the law can help you to improve your relationships with parents whose children are getting ready to enter the special education system, or who are already part of it. You are in a good position, based on your observations of the child's strengths and weaknesses, to help parents develop ideas about what specific goals and objectives should be listed in their children's IEPs, which are reviewed and rewritten at least annually. Don't force your ideas on parents, of course; but a friendly offer to share your thoughts will usually be appreciated. In some cases, they may want to invite you to attend meetings at which the child's eligibility for special education is determined or at which an IEP is developed. They are entitled by law to bring with them anyone of their choosing, and to request the meeting be held at a time that is convenient to all parties.
If your program is a place where the child is comfortable, you might want to encourage the parent to ask whether clinical services to which the child is entitled (e.g., speech, occupational, or physical therapy) might take place in your setting. It may be less disruptive and less stigmatizing to the child to have a therapist come into a SAC program, where a number of different activities are taking place all the time, rather than an academically-oriented setting. Also, your setting may be a better place than a classroom for therapists to observe how the child plays with toys, interacts with peers and adults, and handles routines such as snack times. With parental permission, you may also want to invite a therapist or a special educator to meet with your staff (in a staff meeting, or one-on-one) to help them understand what goals the child is working on, and to learn from your staff about the behaviors and progress they are observing.
Some parents may conclude that your program can provide important opportunities for meeting the child's IEP goals (e.g. specific motor skills, functional use of language, learning to make choices) that are not available in the child's school classroom. If so, they may request that your program be designated, for a specified number of hours per day, or days per week, as part of the child's educational placement. If the local school district agrees, then this can be a wonderful source of support for you! This means that participation in the SAC program would be written on the IEP, and the school district would be responsible for making sure that any supports necessary to the successful placement of the child in your setting would be provided at no cost to the family.
Because of the cost implications, most school districts are, understandably, not eager to create these kinds of arrangements. But the law requires that they at least consider it, and if the SAC program is the child's best opportunity for spending time with typically developing peers, the families have the current interpretation of IDEA on their side. Over the past 10 years, I have known of a number of cases where these kinds of arrangements were made by school districts with SAC programs, and they worked out very well for all concerned.
Even if your program is not designated as an educational placement for the child, you should ask for the parent's help in accessing other forms of support for a program participant who is in special education. Besides consultation with teachers or specialists, school districts may be willing to lend you special toys or equipment, or invite members of your staff to trainings, meetings, or conferences. It will be important that you work closely with the parent, and that you approach the staff of the school district with great courtesy, introducing yourself not as someone with a list of demands, but as a partner, working for the child's best interest.
Do not be scared off by the impressive initials after someone's name, or by terminology that is unfamiliar to you. Understanding the law is a good first step in getting beyond the fear that many of us bring to these kinds of partnerships.
Dale Borman Fink, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois, is available as a keynote speaker and consultant. You can contact him at: 61 Children's Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, or call (217) 333-7033.