Many of us consider special education as a program used to help children with intellectual disabilities learn and grow at a different pace than other children.
However, special education is a right for any child with a qualifying disability under the IDEA. If you’re seeing disability symptoms in your child and he or she is struggling at school, it’s important to consider how special needs education might help.
Special needs education is for many disabilities
Qualifying disabilities under the IDEA may not necessarily impact a child’s intellect. For example, children with conditions such as blindness, deafness, autism and mobility restraints, may all be able to achieve academic success without special help.
However, students with these conditions have a right to a helping hand. A bit of extra help in overcoming the challenges they face can make a huge difference in their social and academic success at school.
Is special education helpful or hurtful?
Parents who discover that their child is on the spectrum for any given disability often worry that by entering their child into special education, they may be removing their child’s opportunity to fit in with other children.
However, there is a vast spectrum of placement options you can consider when choosing to introduce special education services for your child.
The laws which define and ensure special education lend each child the right to an education that’s appropriate for them, given their circumstance. That means each child’s special education should be tailored to fit the child’s potential.
If, for example, your child was blind, the special education aspect of the child’s overall education may only be Braille lessons and the use of an assistant for taking tests and navigating the halls, bathroom or lunchroom.
Ensure you know your child’s options
To learn more about your child’s rights or to ensure they are being met appropriately at school, you can speak with an experienced education attorney for free by contacting us online or meeting for a consultation.
Attorney Meagan Nuñez has experience in education and is on the board of the Disabled Services Advisory Council. She is dedicated to ensuring that each and every child with a disability has the meaningful education they deserve.