Working with Parents of a Child with
Disabilities
Perry C. Hanavan, Au.D.
Helen Keller, 1957
“All about me may be
silence and darkness,
yet within me, in the
spirit, is music and
brightness, and color
flashes through all my
thoughts.”
Abbreviations
• IDEA – Individuals with disabilities
education act
• FAPE --Free appropriate public education
• IEP – Individualized Education Program
• LEA --Local Education Agency
• LRE -- Least restrictive environment
• SEA -- State Education Agency
Participation in Regular Class
Each child's IEP include "An explanation of the extent, if any, to
which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in
the regular class and in [extracurricular and other nonacademic]
activities ..." This is consistent with the least restrictive
environment (LRE) provisions which include requirements that:
(1) each child with a disability be educated with non-disabled children
to the maximum extent appropriate;
(2) each child with a disability be removed from the regular
educational environment only when the nature or severity of the
child's disability is such that education in regular classes with the
use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved
satisfactorily;and
(3) to the maximum extent appropriate to the child's needs, each child
with a disability participates with nondisabled children in
nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities
SPECIAL EDUCATION
• The term `special education' means
specially designed instruction, at no cost to
parents, to meet the unique needs of a child
with a disability, including-• (A) instruction conducted in the classroom,
in the home, in hospitals and institutions,
and in other settings; and
• (B) instruction in physical education.
RELATED SERVICES
• The term `related services' means transportation, and such
developmental, corrective, and other supportive services
(including speech-language pathology and audiology
services, psychological services, physical and occupational
therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social
work services, counseling services, including rehabilitation
counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical
services, except that such medical services shall be for
diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be
required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from
special education, and includes the early identification and
assessment of disabling conditions in children.
IEP Team
• The IEP team must include at least one of the
child's regular education teachers if the child is, or
may be, participating in the regular education
environment. The extent to which it would be
appropriate for regular education teachers to
participate in IEP meetings must be decided on a
case-by-case basis.
• Special Education teacher
• Building representative
• Parents/Guardian
• Other individuals at discretion of parents or agency
• Person(s) to interpret various evaluations
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IDEA Categories
Autism
Deaf-blindness
Deafness
emotional disturbance
hearing impairment
mental retardation
Multiple disabilities
orthopedic impairments
other health impairments
specific learning disabilities
speech or language impairments
traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment including blindness
Subpart C
• (iv) Consider the communication needs
of the child, and in the case of a child
who is deaf or hard of hearing, consider
the child's language and communication
needs, opportunities for direct
communications with peers and
professional personnel in the child's
language and communication mode,
academic level, and full range of needs,
including opportunities for direct
instruction in the child's language and
communication mode; and
• (v) Consider whether the child
requires assistive technology
devices and services.
Assistive Technology
• (a) Each public agency shall ensure that assistive
technology devices or assistive technology
services, or both, as those terms are defined in
§§300.5-300.6, are made available to a child with
a disability if required as a part of the child's • (1) Special education under §300.26;
• (2) Related services under §300.24; or
• (3) Supplementary aids and services under §§300.28 and
300.550(b)(2).
• (b) On a case-by-case basis, the use of schoolpurchased assistive technology devices in a child's
home or in other settings is required if the child's
IEP team determines that the child needs access
to those devices in order to receive FAPE.
Sign Language Considerations
Thus, the IEP team for each child with a disability must make an
individualized determination regarding (1) how the child will be involved and
progress in the general curriculum and what needs that result from the child's
disability must be met to facilitate that participation; (2) whether the child has
any other educational needs resulting from his or her disability that also must
be met; and (3) what special education and other services and supports must
be described in the child's IEP to address both sets of needs (consistent with
§300.347(a)). For example, if the IEP team determines that in order for a
child who is deaf to participate in the general curriculum he or she needs sign
language and materials which reflect his or her language development, those
needs (relating to the child's participation in the general curriculum) must be
addressed in the child's IEP. In addition, if the team determines that the child
also needs to expand his or her vocabulary in sign language that service must
also be addressed in the applicable components of the child's IEP. The IEP
team may also wish to consider whether there is a need for members of the
child’s family to receive training in sign language in order for the child to
receive FAPE.
Subpart C
• Each public agency shall ensure that the
hearing aids worn in school by children
with hearing impairments, including
deafness, are functioning properly.
– That report referred to a study done at that
time that showed that up to one-third of the
hearing aids for public school children were
malfunctioning; and the report stated that the
[Department] must ensure that hearing
impaired school children are receiving
adequate professional assessment, follow-up,
and services.
Subpart E
• (5) The public agency shall make
reasonable efforts to ensure that the
parents understand, and are able to
participate in, any group discussions
relating to the educational placement
of their child, including arranging for
an interpreter for parents with
deafness, or whose native language is
other than English.
(c) Native language.
• (1) The notice must be-• (i) Written in language understandable to the general public; and
• (ii) Provided in the native language of the parents, unless it is clearly
not feasible to do so.
• (2) If the native language or other mode of communication of
the parent is not a written language, the public agency, or
designated service provider, shall take steps to ensure that-• (i) The notice is translated orally or by other means to the parent
in the parent's native language or other mode of communication;
• (ii) The parent understands the notice; and
• (iii) There is written evidence that the requirements of this
paragraph have been met.
• (3) If a parent is deaf or blind, or has no written language, the
mode of communication must be that normally used by the
parent (such as sign language, braille, or oral communication).