For a parent of a child with a handicap or disability, the term special education is familiar. Nevertheless, to many, it is a much broader term than one might think. Special education also encompasses children with learning disabilities who may find schoolwork increasingly difficult and complex, falling behind as the grades stack up.
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is federal law that protects children with disabilities, physical, mental and emotional, to ensure they receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

IDEA and FAPE are two acronyms you will see frequently in Special Education Law.
Children in the United States have a federal right to a free and appropriate public education; this is well and good if a child can learn within the confines of a “traditional” school setting, but what about children with special needs, or with learning disabilities.

Does this “FAPE” apply to them too? You bet it does. Parents with children with special needs or learning challenges know too well the difficulties they can face ensuring school districts provide appropriate assistance and resources to their child.
A recent statistic estimates the children in America that have special needs in the educational system at 6,000,000.
That is a lot of zeros – six million. Wow. Mathematically, you have more than six million parents, or guardians, potentially fighting for those kids, to ensure they receive the adequate resources they need to learn in school.
Unfortunately, school resources are finite - limited. Therefore, schools have to decide where the resources will be allocated. In making these dollar and cents decision, children are impacted.

Who would argue that a good education is the cornerstone and birthright of every child in America?
Thus, the dilemma is presented: how do schools provide the resources necessary for all children to achieve their goal of a free and appropriate public education.

Parents are the best advocates for their children.
Who knows your child better than you do? You know what time of day they are grouchy, what time of day they are the most attentive, what irritates them or calms them.
Who better than you to advise the school district what your individual child needs in their educational program.
Parents are often overwhelmed when a child with special needs navigates the public school system.
This does not have to be the case – there is help “out there.” It can come in the form of books on special education that guide, or websites that offer support to parents in similar circumstances or by seeking the advice of an attorney that specializes in special education law.

Some school districts are exemplary, some not so much.

The common denominator in all of this is the partnership parents and schools districts have to develop an individualized educational program (another acronym – IEP) for the child.