Do you know your rights?
October 31, 2024 | Sharon Sedlar
It’s rewarding to be a parent – and exhausting. Families navigate so much every single day: what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner; where the kids’ after school sports and clubs are; how much homework do the kids have; make sure the kids take their showers and brush their teeth- it’s a packed schedule both during the week and weekends. Add to that family work schedules, doctor appointments, and all the other rigors of daily life, and there’s not much downtime left. When you have a child who has special needs, that life becomes even more complicated.
Despite the plethora of information available on the internet and the volumes of papers given to you by your child’s special education department, much of the special education system here in Pennsylvania remains mysterious and confusing. Just take a look at a “simple” Special Education Timeline publication from PaTTAN.
In last week’s newsletter, we reported speaking with various legislators about the need to change in our special education system in Pennsylvania. Specifically, we asked for:
- an information campaign to families of K-12 age children, advising them of their right in special education and resources they could access
- a special education advocacy agency for parents
- an explanation as to why we have heard that family requests for contact of the Pa Department of Education’s Office for Dispute Resolution are met with silence
Some legislators seemed perplexed by our request, noting that:
- special education service information is readily available online
- they were under the impression that districts were advising parents of their general rights to special education
- the respective Intermediate Units were funded and existed, in part, to act as an information and advocacy source for families in the special education process
Lots of assumptions here: that parents even know that their child has a verified disability; that they would know where to look; that districts are a reliable information source and distributor; or that the varied services (and they do vary greatly in terms of breadth of services- just look at their websites) of Intermediate Units include special education assistance for families.
The point of this all is not to place blame or fault anyone, but rather point out that the system as it stands does not work well for families – especially those who are having difficulty within the system of special education.
Before we even leave the hospital and bring our new babies home, we’re inundated with information about car seats, vaccination schedules, sleep safety, signs to look out for, when our next appointment is… Similarly, interventions should be happening from the day that 5 or 6 year old steps into the “classroom.” Parents should know what to look for and how to easily obtain services if needed. We should be proactive and set that student up for success at every level – which is not currently happening in many schools.
Let’s work together and get it right.