At the beginning of each new school year, while many parents feel a mix of excitement and sadness, parents of children with special needs also have a sense of anxiety over whether their children’s needs are being met. Here are some common issues parents face in special education and some tips on how to face them.

“My child is not making progress on his/her Individualized Education Plan (IEP)!”

If your child made insufficient progress under his or her IEP during the last school year, this is a good indication that the IEP is inappropriate. The placement might be inappropriate, the educational interventions may be insufficient or inappropriate, or perhaps the student’s present levels of performance are off.

To determine what is causing your child’s lack of progress, you should call an IEP Team meeting to discuss your concerns. It may be useful to have additional evaluations to be sure the school has covered all areas of suspected disabilities for your child and to be sure the present levels of performance are accurate. With accurate present levels and measurable goals addressing all areas of need, you can try again to forecast the progress your child should be able to make for the coming school year.

“The school won’t find my child eligible as a student with a disability”

Keep in mind that just because your school district is telling you that your child is ineligible does not make it so. Be sure you have all of the evaluations needed to properly make the determination about eligibility. If you disagree with any of the evaluations performed by your district, you can request to have an Independent Education Evaluation performed by the evaluator of your choosing at the district’s expense. If you receive all of the appropriate evaluations and it seems your child should fit within the eligibility criteria found in Maine’s special education regulations, yet the district is still denying your child eligibility, you can pursue informal and more formal dispute resolution procedures and have an independent third party make the determination about whether your child is or is not eligible for special education.

“I think my child needs a private placement”

There are times when it becomes clear that a student cannot make progress in her current setting and requires something more restrictive. Perhaps your child’s anxiety is so crippling she refuses to go to her local school. Or maybe your autistic child’s self-injurious behaviors are so intense she needs a residential placement. While the law has a preference for educating children with disabilities in a mainstream environment, it also provides for public funding of more restrictive placements if a student cannot receive an appropriate education in a public school.

If you think your child falls under this category, you should first speak to a specialist who works with your child to see if he agrees that your child requires a private placement, and have him put it in writing. You can then call an IEP Team meeting and request your child’s placement be changed. If your school agrees, they will change the placement in the IEP. If the school disagrees, you can do what is called a “unilateral placement,” where you give notice to the district that you are removing your child (with specific language required by law), place your child at your expense and at your own risk, and then seek reimbursement from the district either through informal channels or one of the dispute resolution procedures found in Maine’s special education regulations.

As a final note, when working with your school, it is important to both be a collaborative part of your child’s IEP Team and to be proactive in your advocacy for your child.

Nicole Bradick is an attorney at the law firm Murray, Plumb & Murray in Portland. She focuses much of her practice on special education law.

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