Every child has the right to a free and appropriate education. The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), which was first enacted in 1975 and most recently revised in 2004,
mandates that each state provide all eligible children with a public education that meets their
individual needs.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was most recently revised in 2007 (and, in fact,
renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, but most people still refer
to it as IDEA. The law mandates that the state provide all eligible children with a free and
appropriate public education that meets their unique individual needs.

IDEA specifies that children with various disabilities, including autism, are entitled to early intervention
services and special education. If your child has been diagnosed with a form of autism,
the diagnosis is generally sufficient to gain access to the rights afforded by IDEA. The IDEA legislation
has established an important role for parents in their children’s education.

You, as a parent, are entitled to be treated as an equal partner with the school district in deciding
on an education plan for your child and his or her individual needs. This enables you to be a
powerful advocate for your child. It also means that you must be an informed, active participant
in planning and monitoring your child’s unique program and legal rights. As described previously,
IDEA provides for a “free and appropriate education” for all children with disabilities. Each
word in this phrase is important, but “appropriate” is the one that relates specifically to your child
with autism.

Your child is entitled to an education that is tailored to his or her special needs and a
placement that will allow them to make educational progress. Although you and your child’s
teachers or therapists may want to provide your child with the best or optimal program and services,
the school district is not required to provide the best or optimal but rather an appropriate
education. One of the challenges here is working with the school district to determine what is
appropriate and, therefore, what will be provided for your child. This is a collaborative process
that may involve considerable negotiation to secure the services from the school.

As specified in the IDEA, your child is also entitled to experience the “least restrictive environment.”
This means that your child should be placed in the environment in which he or she has
the greatest possible opportunity to interact with children who do not have a disability and to participate
in the general education curriculum. This is commonly referred to as mainstreaming or
inclusion. In the general education setting, providing the least restrictive environment can sometimes
be accomplished with accommodations, such as using a one-on-one aide who is trained to
work with children with autism. While it may be true that seeking the least restrictive environment
is beneficial for children with autism, it’s important to consider whether or not an option such as
inclusion is right for your child. It may or may not be more appropriate for your child to be placed
in a special education program, in a school for children with special needs, or in a home instruction
program.

Early Intervention (EI) services can vary widely from state to state and region to region.
However, the services should address your child’s unique needs rather than being limited to what
is currently available or customary in your area. EI services are aimed at minimizing the impact
of disabilities on the development of your child. Services for your child may include, but are not
limited to, speech and language instruction, occupational therapy, physical therapy, Applied
Behavior Analysis (ABA) and psychological evaluation. Services for families may include training
to help reinforce the affected child’s new skills and counseling to help the family adapt.
Your local school district provides Special education services through their special education
department. The focus of special education is different from that of early intervention. While early
intervention addresses your child’s overall development, special education focuses on providing
your child with an education, regardless of disabilities or special needs. The document that spells
out your child’s needs and how these needs will be met is the Individualized Education
Program (IEP).

Like the IFSP, the IEP describes your child’s strengths and weaknesses, sets goals and objectives,
and details how these can be met. Unlike the IFSP, Individual Family Service Plan, the IEP
is almost entirely related to how the needs of your child will be met within the context of the
school district and within school walls. If there is evidence that your child experiences a substantial
regression in skills during school vacations, he or she may be entitled to ESY (Extended
School Year) services. These services would be provided over long breaks from school (summer
vacation) to prevent substantial regression, but not to acquire new skills.

It is important for the family to remain involved in determining appropriate goals, communicating
with the educational team about progress, and working to provide consistency between home
and school.

© 2005 - 2010 Families with ASD, Inc. Autism Yellow Pages, Autism Awareness Matters to Me design by Janis Hastings, and "I am an Adult with Autism" are trademarks owned by Families with ASD. All rights reserved.

web hosting companies