Special Education Law Blog

Children with Special Needs Should Not Be Used As Political Emblems

With 19 days before the election, having just watched the final Presidential debate, it is time for me to publicly weigh in on the issues that are most vital to me. Not surprisingly, among the primary issues for me are  education and special education. Senator McCain's position in favor of vouchers will in no way strengthen public schools, any more than draining blood from a person fortifies their health. Although public schools have much to improve upon, and I will and have fought on a case by case basis for out of district placements; to systemically weaken public education would not make for a better education system and in the process would not help nor improve the lot of students with special needs. It is an ideological position that will permanently and irrevocably leave students with special needs behind.

I have been simmering on a daily basis every time Governor Palin holds up her son Trig as a political symbol. I have to say, that I think all small children should be left out of the political forum, and it is wrong to use an infant with special needs as an emblem of your own personal rectitude.  As to her comments that she will be an advocate for children with special needs, this statement rings hollow with me personally. She may be sincere in these statements, but I do not think she realizes how little she knows about what it means to raise a child with special needs, or the daily struggles against deeply ingrained stereotypes about children with Downs and special needs generally.

She has not even begun to know the daily pain of fighting small battles when well-meaning people touch your young child's head and body invading any sense of personal space and privacy. Or the people who say "is he tired" for the umpteenth time when he is slumped on your shoulder; the reality is that his head control has disappeared that day, and you would prefer to just have a private outing with your family without well meaning intrusions. Obviously, the big arena that she has not experienced at all is the fights over so many things in school. In this life it is important to know what you know, and it is even more important to know what you do not know. She does not have any sense as to how much she does not know. She is not a knowledgeable member of this involuntary club called "Special Needs Parenthood" and I am disturbed that she thinks she is.

Finally tonight when Senator McCain brought up research for autism as a political brownie point, I had to speak out.  He has obviously read the statistics from the CDC that 1 in 150 children have autism, which represents a lot of moms, dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends and others that care about children with autism. It is wrong at this late date to shill yourself as a champion for the vulnerable populations of children with autism, when he has no record to speak of before now. Senator Obama and for that matter Senator Clinton have taken affirmative positions on funding and supporting efforts for children with autism.

Children with special needs whether those with Downs or Autism or CP or any other disability are not emblems to be held up for political gain. It is offensive and wrong! If Senator McCain's voting record with President Bush was not enough to disqualify him for the Presidency, then his use of children with special needs as a political tool certainly rules him out once and for all. I think Senator Obama is thoughtful and steady and qualified,  but he has also shown that he is respectful of the people and issues that matter most to me. He has my vote and for what it is worth my hearty endorsement.

[Here is another blog taking a similar perspective on the debate.]

A Teenager with Disabilities Statement of Love and Courgage

The following is a statement from a client of mine who has disabilities. He is a teenager. He was adopted a number of years ago. Over the last year and a half he has been the frequent victim of bullying based on race and disability from peers. Unfortunately, school personnel have not been responsive to him and have not been protective of him. Despite all that he has been through, he is an amazingly resilient person who has an enormous capacity for love for his parents and courage in the face of adversity. It is students like him that make my job so very satisfying.

Input in His Own Words

The following blog is from a young man about to enter high school. The statement represents his first thoughts, anxieties and concerns about entering high school. It was used at a recent IEP where I represented him transitioning to high school.

This student has LD, organization and executive functioning issues. He also is bright with a dedicated family which can sometimes mask the real underlying educational issues. With this good positive input and some legal umph we had a positive meeting and hopefully designed an IEP to meet his needs for next year.

In the System, but Not of the System

In a few weeks we are going into our son's articulation IEP meeting to High School. Articulation refers to that high stress meeting when we morph a grade schooler into a high schooler. We have had several productive pre-meetings, but this IEP is still a high stress event.

A Metaphor for Our Lives

I recently came across a story of a father, Dick Hoyt, who competes in marathons and Ironman competitions with his now adult son, Rick Hoyt, who is disabled. Besides being incredibly moving and motivating, it forms a metaphor for our lives as parents with children with special needs.

• In the Ironman swim he pulls his son along in a raft. At times we all have felt that we are pulling and at times pushing uphill and against the current to achieve our goals for our children. This man and his son do that in real tangible ways and achieve their goals.
• In every aspect of the races and competitions his son is always an integral part of his efforts, and they achieve success or experience failure together.  Parents of children with special needs experience in very real and excruciating ways the successes and failures of their child. I know some will say that is true for all parents, but the successes are so much more hard won for our children with disabilities and the failures so much more disheartening.
• The deep-seated sense I get from this story is of a father who wants to experience profound moments together with his son without regard to the fact of his disability.  That desire is something that I face and think about all the time. At times I have a struggled fruitlessly to move my son's chair to a dinosaur dig site in Colorado to only get bogged down in the rocks and soil. I was glad that I tried even though my wife was anxiously waiting for me not to fall. Other times I have carried my son, when he was smaller and lighter, up to Native American wall paintings in New Mexico.  These and so many other things are important to experience together between parent and child despite the challenges.
• Apparently the father began running at the prompting of his son. The son drove the father to run, just as the father literally drives the son.  In my own life, my son and the fact of his disability has been a life-altering experience. As much as I advocate for him and his future, his strength and determination drive me to go on and help others. The mutuality between this father and son pair is something that many of us can relate to and draw strength from.

Working On a Miracle

Many of you have written wondering what's up with the blog; no postings in 6 weeks. Well I have two pieces of good news--I am back and intend to be more regular in my postings, and the other news is that I have been away working on a miracle of sorts.  No I do not mean one of the big miracles involving lamp oil lasting for 8 days, or the parting of the water variety, but something much more tangible in my life today.

Catching a Branch...

I believe in the power of courageously sticking with a positive vision for  children with disabilities. The challenges and obstacles to this vision are enormous but not insurmountable.  Sometimes the only thing we have to sustain our vision, as parents and advocates, is what I call “catch a branch.”  This phrase refers to my stubborn faith in a future of positive outcomes despite events which cascade in such a way that the future feels in state of free fall.  Despite this free fall, I force myself to stubbornly maintain faith that even though I have fallen off a cliff [or have been pushed], I will “catch a branch” before I hit the ground and will regain my way.  However, to put this belief in its proper perspective there is a lot of angst, chocolate eating and tirades both public and private which occur before I come to the calmer understanding that I will not go splat and will catch a branch. No, I am not a  saint and not a polyanna.

Reflections on a School Year by Cole Fox

The following blog post is from my son, Cole Fox, who just finished 7th grade in an inclusive placement. He has physical challenges and a seizure disorder. This post reflects back on the difficult times he has had this past year.  I suspect that he has put into words what many students feel at the conclusion of a challenging school year.

A Survival Guide to High School for Students with (and Without) Disabilities By David A. Kuriniec [Part 2]

Below is the second part of the essay and observations by David Kuriniec, who is a young adult with a disability who attends a 4 year University.

A Survival Guide to High School for Students with (and Without) Disabilities By David A. Kuriniec [Part 1]

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” 1916, lines 18-20

I am a young adult with a disability. I atttend a 4 year university and have an enoromous amount of experience to share regarding survival both in High School and in life. At six months old, I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy ("CP").   The only limitations resulting from my CP are physical.  Nevertheless, those limitations required the district to provide an aide whose tasks were to take notes and assist in any other essential daily functions.  With the role of the aide came the immediate suspicion on the part of my peers that he or she was the one completing assignments and not me.  I was, despite the aforementioned fact, the talk of the town; you see, I had a motorized scooter, and everyone’s day was made if he or she had a ride on its back at recess.  But as junior high school came, cliques began to form; in other words, students realized that I was different and began leaving me out of activities and sometimes acted as if my existence was not a reality.  That forced me to ask the painful question: “why me?”  Suicide did cross my mind.  But I hung on and found other pursuits, mainly intellectual in nature, to keep my mind stimulated and numb the emotional pain.

Things changed as I entered high school.  In the first semester, because I had a love for baseball, (and still do—Let’s go White Sox!) I wanted to be a sports broadcaster; a position in that arena would allow me to travel the country and experience the game I love.  But then, I sat at home one day and watched ESPN; on the screen, the anchor was detailing the Supreme Court’s holding in PGA Tour Inc v. Martin 532 U.S. 661 (2001).  This case helped to spur my passion for advocacy and catapulted my life in a truly unexpected direction.  It was after hearing about the case that I wrote Congressman Mark Kirk, who has since been a great ally and voice in Congress, supporting initiatives that help to make society more open and accessible to people with disabilities.  But a full explanation of my activism is beyond the scope of this piece; what is important here is that socialization became even harder in high school, because students who I believed were my friends ostracized me because they thought that what I was doing was “gay.”  I realized, after quite a bit of deep thought, that their ad hominem attacks were immature and that they did not truly comprehend the reasons for my actions or its positive impact on the community.

It was because of my struggles and challenges in high school that I began to consider at length the concept of inclusion. I had first considered inclusion in an article I had begun writing for a journalism class. In that class I had detailed the experiences and opinions relative to inclusion of two other students with disabilities and various teachers at school.  Following the completion of the article, I sat down and thought about all the things teachers had done over the course of my entire educational career to ensure that I was truly included.  As I examined the list, I realized that my inclusion was successful because I too had done everything discussed below.  So, without further introduction, here is the list, supplemented with short anecdotes and/or supporting arguments. Students should: