Individualized Education Plan

If you are a parent with a special needs child, you are entitled to receive help through your school's adaptive services.  Disabled children are entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in which each child who meets the legal requirements for special education receives a written, Individualized Education Plan (IEP).  However, to maximize the help you can receive, you have to know your rights.

 

First Step, Evaluation:

Establishing an IEP begins with an evaluation to determine whether the child (1) has a disability and (2) whether because of the disability, special education and related services are needed.  

 

Second Step, IEP Team:

For an eligible child, the school convenes an IEP team that brings together people with insight into the child's strengths and weaknesses in his academic performance. The team will design a plan that describes the services the school system will provide. 

 

Important:

  • The school may offer only limited services and not the ones that may really be needed.
  • Consulting with an education consultant or collecting information through the general services of the school system is very important.
  • If the parents bring to the meetings an attorney or independent education consultant, usually the principal will start to attend the meetings and better services will be offered.
  • Following up with the implementation of the new promises set during the meeting is very important, as the new services offered may not be readily available.

Third Step, Placement:


This is decided as a result of the IEP plan. The parents have the right to be members of the group that decides the educational placement.  
 

 

Estate Planning: Please do the Basics

 

Parents should do the minimum basic estate plan by naming a successor guardian in case of both parents' incapacity or death.

 

A trust for the benefit of the child should be created, or set to be created, upon the passing of the parents.

 

Finally, for disable children, a letter of instruction explaining the routine, medications, and communication avenues is a must.

 

If you need assistance with the maze of legalities when caring for your special needs child, please contact our office at (703) 915-1488..  We are here to help you. 

 

                                                                       Sincerely, Yahne