Under federal educational law, every school district is mandated to identify, locate and evaluate any student with a suspected disability. This is known as Child Find. Child Find makes sure that a school district identifies all students who may need special education services. WHO IS COVERED BY CHILD FIND? Every school district is legally obligated […]

It is nearly annual review time!!! Annual reviews are a quick review of your child’s academic and social/emotional progress. Meetings take place in the classroom or in a small room in the school building. And, usually, you are not given too much time to review and discuss because you are one of many meetings for […]

Goals on an IEP are the most important indicator of how well your child is in gaining skills. Your child’s IEP goals should address the skills that need support due to learning and attention issues. Are the supports academic or behavioral? Do they require in-classroom assistance or a resource room? Effective IEP goals are strengths-based […]

Anxiety encompasses an array of specific disorders. To name a few that might affect your child are separation anxiety, social phobia, selective mutism, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or a specific fear such as of animals, thunder, etc. Anxiety disorder can be understood as excessive anxiey and worry about what might happen. The worry can […]

Although the answer is no, it is a qualified no.  To know whether or not you should ask for an independent evaluation, it is important to understand what is an independent educational evaluation? Who Pays for an Independent Evaluation: Parents have the right to obtain and independent educational evaluation according to Federal and State educational […]

You have written the request to the Committee on Special Education to have your child evaluated by the school district.  You signed the consent form and now the school district will evaluate.  What does that mean?  What evaluations will be conducted?   Basically, a school evaluation delves into how a student learns in the classroom.  IQ, […]

A parent sits at the CSE table, and after a lengthy, and perhaps difficult meeting, the committee comes to the final decision about what classification best meets the needs of your child.  The CSE chairperson says that he/she is uncomfortable with a certain classification because he/she feels that specific classifications such as emotional or learning […]

At a special education meeting, there is often lots of discussion about goals that will help the teacher focus on the area of need for the student in the classroom.  And, often these goals are based on scientific and research based theories of learning.  At the end of the meeting, both parents and educators feel […]

Big news!!! All across New York State, students will be learning not only their abc’s and 1,2,3’s, but also about their mental health.  Over the past two years, NY State has been pushing school districts to recognize the importance of mental health for all students.   The legal framework for the new guidelines comes from Education […]

Attending a meeting with the Committee on Special Education can be scary for any parent of a child with a suspected disability. At the table, there are staff from the school district, armed with information about your child. They go around the table and talk about your child and you have no idea what they […]