Would You Like to “Meet the Advocate/Blogger”?
September 18th, 2011 | Author: Anne M. Zachry
I will be traveling to Northwest Arkansas the week of November 21, 2011 and am trying to find out if any of our local blog & project followers might be interested in participating in an informal get-together – sort of a “meet the advocate/blogger” experience – at some point during that week with me. I’ve been speaking with Susan Purtle of Arkansas Legal Aid and she’s graciously indicated that she’d like to meet with me regardless of whether anyone else joins us or not, but I’m thinking that it might be a good idea for blog followers to join us so that we can talk about the “lay of the land” special ed-wise in Arkansas and have a really productive discussion.
I don’t have a specific date planned at this point or a location identified. Usually when I do this kind of thing, a group of blog followers and I just coordinate via email to meet at a local restaurant or something and everyone buys their own food and drinks while we all hang out and talk about special education issues in the area. But, if I’m planning this in advance and there’s a big enough of a demand, I want to have adequate space set aside for us.
So, before I plan anything, I first want to know if anyone is even interested in joining us. I would most likely stay within the Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers area. So, in an effort to get an idea of what is reasonable to plan during that week (which is the week of Thanksgiving and everyone will probably already be pretty busy), please use our poll below to indicate if you even have an interest in getting together. I’ll close the poll in a week or two to allow time to plan the event in case folks are interested.
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The Medicaid Waiver for Autism & Special Ed
August 23rd, 2010 | Author: Anne M. Zachry
I wanted to address a key point with respect to all the work being done in Arkansas in pursuit of a Medicaid waiver that will permit for limited services to be provided to a relatively small number of very young children with autism in Arkansas and how that relates to the State’s overall special education landscape. In a nutshell, they have little to nothing to do with each other.
Early intervention services are covered under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), so to the extent that the work proposed to be done under the Medicaid waiver – which has yet to be granted, mind you – addresses early intervention for those few children who end up being lucky enough to get it, this is a medical intervention, not an educational intervention. The proposed Medicaid waiver is relevant to certain children who are eligible for special education, but it is not a special education intervention, itself.
8th Circuit Standard for What Constitutes a FAPE
August 18th, 2010 | Author: Anne M. Zachry
We received a question from one of the followers of this blog regarding what constitutes a FAPE according to the 8th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. When due process cases are being tried, being that Arkansas is within the 8th Circuit, decisions produced by the 8th Circuit are generally used to determine the legal precedents.
According to the 8th Circuit:
The IDEA entitles students with disabilities to a FAPE. Because each child’s needs and abilities are unique, however, the law does not mandate the acquisition of specific knowledge or “strict equality of opportunity or services.” Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 198 (1982). “[T]he IDEA does not require that schools attempt to maximize a child’s potential, or, as a matter of fact, guarantee that the student actually make any progress at all.” CJN v. Minneapolis Pub. Sch., 323 F.3d 630, 642 (8th Cir. 2003); see also 34 C.F.R. § 300.350.
The IDEA’s legal obligations are fulfilled when the school district (1) complies with the law’s procedures in developing an IEP, and (2) the resulting IEP is “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits[.]” Rowley, 458 U.S. at 207. “An IEP should be set aside only if procedural inadequacies compromised the pupil’s right to an appropriate education, seriously hampered the parents’ opportunity to participate in the formulation process, or caused a deprivation of educational benefits.” Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 283 v. S.D. by J.D., 88 F.3d 556, 562 (8th Cir. 1996) (quotation omitted).
Experts Do Exist in Arkansas
August 3rd, 2010 | Author: Anne M. Zachry
While I’m not even close to having reviewed all of the information provided by the Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Research in response to our FOIA request (see our previous article “Wealth of Info from Ark Leg Task Force on Autism),” I did listen to the audio recording of the May 21, 2010 meeting of the Legislative Task Force on Autism. One of the presenters was a brilliant woman named Karan Burnette of the Partners in Behavioral Health Sciences (“PIBHS”) of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (“UAMS”) in Little Rock.
Wealth of Info from Ark Leg Task Force on Autism
August 3rd, 2010 | Author: Anne M. Zachry
In response to our many Arkansas FOIA requests made to get information regarding the delivery of special education to eligible students in Arkansas, we were referred by the Arkansas Department of Education (“ADE”) to the Arkansas Legislative Task Force on Autism for some of the information we have been seeking. As indicated previously, we wrote to Mary Carol Roach of the Bureau of Legislative Research for the information maintained by the Bureau that was responsive to our requests.
Ms. Roach responded quickly with the information we requested. Read the rest of this entry »
