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Ginamarie Simpson

ED-100

Instructor Jennifer Margolis

May 23, 2020

Legal Issues

1) IDEIA- the update of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

from 1990, which built upon the Education for ALL Handicapped Children Act of

1975

● Zero Reject​ entitles all students to a free public education regardless of the

nature or severity of their disabilities. States need to have a Child Find

system which is a set of procedures to alert the public about available

services for students with disabilities and screening process. This also

applies to students with communicable diseases who cannot be excluded

from schools. Guidelines must be in place for students who commit

serious offences that would otherwise lead to long-term suspension or

expulsion

● Free Appropriate Public Education ​means all students are entitled to a free

public education. Students' families cannot be asked to pay for services. If

services are required beyond what the school can provide, the school is

responsible to cover the cost of doing so including transportation. Each

student's education must incorporate specialized instruction, related

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services or supplemental aids and services. All this must be in the students

Individualized Education Program (IEP).

● Least Restrictive Enforcement ​entitles students to be educated in a setting

most like typical peers so they can succeed when provided with the needed

support and services. This is usually done in a regular classroom with

some adaptation, some in-classroom assistance or partial day pull out for

specific services. Sometimes special classrooms or schools are needed.

Placement will be considered in an annual IEP meeting with the least

restrictive enforcement being the goal.

● Nondiscriminatory Evaluation ​consists of tests administered in a child's

native language and is appropriate for the child's age and characteristics. A

diagnosis cannot be based on a single test and a knowledgeable

professional must administer and interpret the assessment results. The

assessment will occur in all areas of the suspected disability.

● Parent and Family Rights to Confidentiality ​means that information is not

to be shared with anyone who is not directly working with the student. A

record must be kept of anyone who accesses student records. Parents may

request to see and obtain copies of all records regarding their child. They

can also dispute information they perceive as inaccurate. Records must be

destroyed within a prescribed timeframe.

● Procedural Safeguards ​are made to protect parent rights. Any decisions are

made with parents input. There must be written consent from parents for
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the child to be assessed. Parents are invited to attend any meetings

regarding their child and must give permission for the child to be receiving

special education services. If parents and school personnel disagree,

parents may request an impartial hearing.

2) Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act of 1973 PL-112) extends Civil Rights to people

with disabilities and offers protection from discrimination on the basis of

handicap. No qualified persons shall be excluded from participation or be denied

benefits from the program or activity that receives or benefits from federal

financial assistance. Also protects some students who are not eligible under

IDEA, however does not provide Federal funds for 504 plan services.

3) ADA-Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 expands Section 504 to apply to

both public and private sectors including libraries, state and local governments,

restaurants, hotels, theaters, transportation systems, and stores. It specifically

addresses communication, like closed captioning for those with hearing

impairment, wheelchair access and accommodations, and non-discriminatory

hiring.

4) FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) means that parents have

the right to inspect and review school records until the student is 18 parents also

have the right to challenge what is in the records and an opportunity for a hearing.

Access to personally identifiable information is confidential like name, name of

parents or family, social security number, characteristics, test scores, behavioral

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records, absence or tardy records, grade level completed, transcripts, health

records, parents signatures, and family history. All Student Records are

confidential.

5) Lau v. Nichols (1969) took place when parents of a Chinese speaking student

sued San Francisco Unified School District for not providing an education he

could understand. Schools must provide equal access to educational opportunities

that may include tools in a language that can be understood.

6) Plyer v. Doe (1982) protects students from any discriminatory treatment or

inquiry of their parents immigration status and/or documentation. Students cannot

be denied access if they are undocumented nor will they be exposed in any way.

7) Mandatory Reporting means that all staff are mandatory reporters. They must

report suspected child abuse in the form of physical injury, mental injury, sexual

abuse or exploitation, negligence or maltreatment, and threatened harm. A report

must be made if there is reasonable cause to believe abuse has occurred.

Student-employee privilege is not grounds for not reporting abuse. Reporters must

follow district protocol and it is your responsibility to know what that is.

Advocacy Letter

Dear Ms. Doe,

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I am writing with a few thoughts regarding a student. After spending significant time observing

and working with them I feel I have some helpful suggestions.

I have worked with Bobby one on one for about three weeks. Each time there was a change in

activity he struggled to transition without instantly responding by yelling “NO”, whether he was

a fan of the next activity or not. When he was approached about his response he would

physically sink in his body, put his head down, and repeat over and over, “I in trouble” even

when verbally assured he was in fact not in trouble.

Bobby is very friendly and social so he welcomed me in our one on one time together without

hesitation. He is very sweet, caring, and observant of people, their actions and perceived

emotions. He begins every lesson or activity with slight hesitation but will join in when he can

see others leading by example. The more people added into his space the more tense he seems to

get. He will respond by self soothing like tapping his nose or pressing the roof of his mouth with

his thumb. When the teacher announces the switch to another activity and he witnesses his peers

beginning to get up to put things away or move to another part of the room is when it seems to

overwhelm him the most. He will give a verbal response of “I’m sick” or “ I have seizure”

almost every time. Then when he is personally addressed about the change is when the yelling

“NO” begins.

Understanding that transitions bring his anxiety up, I decided to try giving him a ten minute

heads up of a change to come. I explained to him what was about to happen but assured him that
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it would not happen yet, but in ten minutes. Although he has no concept of time, this seemed to

satisfy his agitation. Then I addressed the yelling by telling him, “ We don’t yell, we breathe”,

and followed by physically breathing so he knew what it would look like. He smiled the first

time I did it and then joined me by practicing his breathing slow.

The first week was hit or miss, but I continued to stay vigilant and consistent with this repeated

response each time I knew when a change was coming and each time I saw him self soothe in

response to anxiety. Bobby started to initiate the breathing on his own when his anxiety started

to rise for transitions as well as other moments. Bobby’s mother approached me the beginning of

the third week and asked if someone taught him how to breathe, because he was now doing it at

home on his own when he was struggling with something. I shared with her what he was

working on and how this coping tool seemed to ease his transitions and gave him a sense of

power over his emotions and actions. She then shared with me how the last school he was in just

deemed him aggressive because he was forced to comply as the rest of his peers did and in the

same time frame his peers did with no understanding of how he processes change. She admitted

to not being the most patient person and was always running late so she assumed she was adding

to his transition anxieties because she would lose her temper in her rush and yell to try to

motivate him to move faster, which of course just caused him to shut down and automatically

make Bobby feel as if he was in trouble. I encouraged her to incorporate the breathing both for

herself as well as for Bobby since it seems to be helping and reminded her that we are all

impatient sometimes.
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Bobby returned to class without individual support after three weeks and unfortunately so did his

initial responses. He was unable to use his new coping skills with a verbal reminder of what

those were even from me in an open classroom setting. After two days of struggling, I was

assigned to work with him one on one again. It only took one day for Bobby to redirect himself

to positive transitions and responses.

It is for these reasons that I suggest a change in his plan for individualized support on a daily

basis. Bobby will benefit from a ​Least Restrictive Environment​. A smaller classroom setting is

where he will be most successful as he is easily distracted by the actions of others which seems

to be a trigger for his agitation. Too much going on at once coupled with too many individuals in

the room is overwhelming and causes him to shut down, withdraw, and respond to everything

following with “NO”.

Bobby has shown the ability to learn new behaviors and tools for success pretty quickly so I

want to continue to support and nurture him in this way. I hope what I have observed, initiated,

and shared is helpful and received as a positive direction in Bobby’s education and behavior

management.

If you have any questions or concerns please email or call me to discuss it further.

Thank you,

Ginamarie Simpson
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