Legal Briefs from Matt Cohen
The following are past questions and answers from Matt Cohen on this topic.
I have been a homebound teacher for a family with severe chemical sensitivity issues for the past fifteen years. We live in Florida in Volusia County. One of the children is a high school student with a diagnosis of autism. The other two children have processing and fine and gross motor problems that have been diagnosed by Easter Seals and testing by the school system. I have been working with them one on one, two times a week for two hours each session. They have always had an IEP and special testing accommodations. This year our school district has decided to use an online program, K12 Inc.
The mother went to an IEP meeting last week and was told that all three children are to use the computer program and no one will be sent to the home to work with them individually. The child with autism was on track to graduate with the extra math help he is receiving. The mother has a sick husband and is trying to support the family by working part-time from home. None of the children will be able to do the computer program without the mother's help. My question is … is this an appropriate education and is there anything the mother can do to get these children some help?
You are to be commended for your concern about the education and welfare of these students and their family. It appears that the school is making major changes to each child's program and may be doing so for financial reasons rather than because of what is appropriate for each child. The parent has the right to request a due process hearing on behalf of each child to challenge the school's decision. If she is successful in the due process proceedings, the school would have to reinstate the prior services. She sounds like she needs a lot of advocacy help. I would suggest that you check the National Disability Rights Network website for the name of the federally funded advocacy organization in your state.
As a certified LD teacher, I recognized signs of SLD in our 18-year-old from a young age, but since we were homeschooling the public school would not test her. I just taught her coping strategies and adapted as needed.
She is now in college, has completed 33 college semester hours, and has a 3.5 GPA. However, she is currently taking her first college math course. She got a D on her first test and is certain that it is because she ran out of time. She needs to be able to ascertain she's not reversed any digits and she works more slowly than most people for that reason. The college can't make accommodations without documentation but our insurance doesn't cover that type of testing.
Dear Kathi,
If your daughter was homeschooled, never enrolled in public school and now is in college, neither the public school nor college has a current duty to conduct an evaluation to determine if there is a learning disability. Public schools do have an obligation under Child Find to identify and evaluate children between the ages of three and 21 that are suspected of having disabilities, if they reside in the district and attend public school or attend a non-public or home school within the district, but that obligation generally expires when the student graduates or is no longer eligible for special education.
If your insurance won't provide coverage, your best options would be to try to find a university or public hospital with a diagnostic center that would test for free or at low cost. In addition, the Masons offer LD clinics in various parts of the country that are available at reduced or no cost. You might be able to find a clinic sponsored by them or a similar group that would test without charge.