Reviews major tenets of the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments of 1997, including strengthening of the role of parents, ensuring access to the general education curriculum, modification of discipline procedures, and changes in how Individualized Education Programs are developed and written. Discusses potential…

Autism presents parents and families with many challenges under normal circumstances. Autism in a military family magnifies many of those challenges and adds a few more that are unique to the demands of military life and service, further complicating an already complex neurobiological disorder. Military sources indicate that more than 13,000…

Successful and meaningful transition services are the result of careful planning. This planning is driven by a young person's dreams, desires, and abilities. It builds a youth's participation in school, home and community living. Transition planning helps to prepare young people for their futures. It helps them to develop skills they need to go on…

Public schools must make available special education and related services to all IDEA-eligible (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) students with disabilities beginning at age three and through age 18. Services to students, ages 19, 20, and 21, are permissive. That means the decision to serve 19, 20 and 21-year-old students is determined…

Regulations governing the implementation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in Washington State, specifically Chapter 392-171 WAC, are printed here. The regulations cover the follow areas relating to education of handicapped students: definitions, membership and functions of the state advisory council, students' rights to special…

Comments on a previous paper concerning Early Childhood Special Education in the year 2000 identifies additional factors including the nature of the population served, changes in the Individualized Education Program process, program approaches, states' implementation of Public Law 99-457, interagency cooperation, and federal leadership. (Author/DB)

This guide focuses on ways that parents and teachers can help students with disabilities become involved in developing their own Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The guide is organized into lesson plans for use in classrooms. A section on "Laying the Foundation" offers five preparatory suggestions, such as photocopying each…

The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (the State Board) is responsible for the assurance of a free appropriate public education to all students with disabilities - ages three through twenty-one years, including students with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school - and, at the discretion of the local…

The comprehensive nature of the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975 is why educators question its applicability to the United States Pacific Territories. The components of the act are viewed against a framework of the territories' traditional cultural values and current economic needs. (Author/TLJ)

Evidence from Arizona and other states demonstrates that children with disabilities lack equal access to charter schools. Charter school operators are avoiding potentially high-cost students and are unprepared to meet their needs. Charter schools need to strike cooperative resource-sharing arrangements with neighboring districts. States must…

This analysis of parents' procedural due process rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act examines the 1982 case of Hendrick Hudson Central School District Board of Education versus Rowley and reviews principles concerning parental rights, parental notification, procedural errors, the Individualized Education Program conference…

Presents the legal requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in disciplining students with disabilities, describes IDEA's requirement that school officials address student problem behavior in the Individualized Education Program, and offers recommendations regarding the formation of school district policies and…

This article reviews transition as it relates to students with learning disabilities (LD). Specifically, it provides a discussion of transition planning for individuals with LD, an overview of state and federal mandates and initiatives that influence transition practices, and a discussion of transition practices. (Author/DB)

Examines principles, procedures, and research of the British Special Education Needs (SEN) "Code of Practice" in the context of requirements for implementation of a revised code by 2002. Considers code administration, paperwork, Individualized Education Program requirements, assessment criteria, transition planning, parent role, and…

A survey of 26 secondary school special educational needs coordinators found that 21 felt that instead of writing Individual Education Plans (IEPs), it would be more efficient to describe flexible systems that were in place. Twenty-four believed time spent writing and administering the IEP would be better spent on direct pupil support. (Contains…