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I am a military instructor with 20 years of experience in military operations and training. But I am also a father of a special needs son, Jackson.  He is on the autism spectrum and is extremely high functioning and he is able to attend regular classes.  However, he does participate in special education programs at Fairview Alternative Learning Center as well as mainstream classes at Wall ISD.  I am writing a legal guide for parents and/or caregivers of children with autism to help them more effectively advocate for their children.

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•I interviewed Mrs. Julia Koehler, who is a teacher at Glenn Middle School in San Angelo, Tx.  She is qualified in English Language Arts and Reading and in Special Education.  She team teaches with a fully qualified SPED instructor and they both work with 6th grade students with special needed.  Glenn Middle School information found at website found at https://glenn.saisd.org/ .

•The importance of effective special needs (including autism ) advocacy is special needs students are a growing population of students across the country as well as Glenn Middle School. Mrs. Koehler has 25 students in here class and 16 of them have IEPs and are considered Special Needs. The legal guide is to help parents understand rights and roles of special needs education, but also to provide insight into how to effectively collaborate with classroom teachers.  These professionals are literally the front line and an effective relationship is critical to any student success, but even more so with special needs students.

•Mrs. Koehler outlined the best practices she has experienced:

•IEP meetings with parents and a student’s support team.  This allows her to understand a student more holistically and build a relationship with parents or caregivers.

•Flexibility in IEP implementation that allows the teacher to meet the intent and not just the letter of the IEP.  This is especially needed in a class with 16 students with IEPs.

•Full time scheduler and admin support for the required meetings and documentation.  This allows teachers to teach.

Mrs. Koehler suggested that there is a need to be honest about special needs student achievement in elementary and middles schools.  There seems to be an unwritten requirement to just pass the SPED students no matter how poorly they  perform on academics.  It seems that in Central High School, the students are given needed vocational training to help manage earlier poor academic performance, but she would suggest that hands-on, vocational type training should be integrated earlier in order to help special needs students competency in subjects they need for independent living.  Mrs. Koehler cited the coffee truck run by special needs students at Central High School as a successful example of practical training and job experience for special needs students.

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Padlet Slide #3 Professional Association

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Padlet Slide #3 Professional Association

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Cai, Jinghong. (2019, April 12). Teaching Social Skills to Students with Autism. National School Boards Association. https://www.nsba.org/News/2019/Social-Skills-Autism

Autistic children have challenges with social skills in school and that impacts their ability to learn in a classroom setting. The article provides a starting point for collaboration with teachers to teach social skills for an autistic student.  Jinghong’s article quoted William Frea, a clinical psychologist concerning 3 components to teach social skills:

•Creating opportunities across the day for social skills to flourish

•Preparing peers to support the use of social skills

•Planning direct instruction time to ensure the acquisition of new social skills

As you advocate for your child, these are good principles to collaborate with your child’s teacher and support team to incorporate.  Best of all, they support compliance with laws and regulations and ultimately make your student more successful in life.

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Jacobson, Linda (2019, October 15).  'Free and appropriate': Special ed stakeholders work to make IEP meetings less one-sided. K-12 Dive

https://www.k12dive.com/news/free-and-appropriate-special-ed-stakeholders-work-to-make-iep-meetings-l/564423/

• Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are critical to ensuring special needs children, including those with autism, have a “roadmap” for progress.

• Many times parents may not feel their child is being treated fairly and that can lead to litigation, or poorly written IEPs.

•This article outlines the importance of training both teachers and parents about IEPs and provides contact for an organization that helps everyone with IEPs: http://www.specialresolutions.com/

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Boroson, B. (2020, November 12). Decoding Autism in the Context of the Coronavirus. ASCD Express 16(5). http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol16/num05/decoding-autism-in-the-context-of-the-coronavirus.aspx

•This article provides some insights into how to help your autistic student cope with anxiety associated with disruptions to school due to Covid-19.

•Disruptions to routine can cause anxiety in autistic students

•Boroson gives advice on how set up a new routine to reduce the anxiety during disrupted schedules or new procedures to combat Covid-19:

•New scheduling ideas

•Alternative ways to wear masks if there are issues with texture

•How to support your student’s distance learning

•How to maintain links with classmates and friends

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Padlet Slide #6 Original Sources of Law:

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Padlet Slide #6 Original Sources of Law:

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•Source of law:  Constitutional

•U.S. Const. amend. X

•https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/full-text

•Description:

•The 10th Amendment states that all powers not listed in the US Constitution are vested in the states

•States, therefore, have the lead in determining educational matters

•The link to autism advocacy is that the states have the lead in education

•Start with the state points of contact first in order to advocate for autistic students.

•The best point to start with is the school counselor

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Padlet Slide #7 Original Sources of Law: 

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Padlet Slide #7 Original Sources of Law: 

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Source of Law: Judicial

Board of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982)

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/458/176

•Description: Parents of a hearing impaired student sued the school board because they did not provide a sign language interpreter in accordance with 20 U.S. Code § 1412’s mandate to provide “A free appropriate public education is available to all children with disabilities residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21”

•The school contended that they provided hearing aides and that was the extent of their responsibility

•The Student was able to perform above grade level with both hearing aides and sign language interpreter

•The US Supreme Court found in favor of Rowley

•The link to autism advocacy is that schools need to accommodate students to the maximum extent possible.

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Padlet Slide #8, Original Sources of Law:

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Padlet Slide #8, Original Sources of Law:

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•Source of Law: Statutory

TEC § 26.0081

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.26.htm#26.0081

•Description

•This statute defines the roles and responsibilities of the state and school district to parents of children in special education programs

•It provides details on how Texas fulfills its mandates under federal law to provide equal access to education for children with disabilities

•The link to autism advocacy is that this the basis on which you can request special educational program support for your student

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Padlet Slide #9 Original Sources of Law:

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Padlet Slide #9 Original Sources of Law:

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•Source of Law: Administrative

•Policy Council for Children and Families, 1 Tex. Admin. Code  §351.815

•https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=2&p_dir=&p_rloc=201954&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=201954&ti=1&pt=15&ch=351&rl=815&dt=&z_chk=342314&z_contains=autism

•Description:

•This administrative law establishes a the Policy Council for Children and Families

•It also outlines the tasks the Policy Council is responsible for

•Links with autism advocacy in subsection 5: “studies and makes recommendations to ensure that the needs of children with autism spectrum disorder and their families are addressed, and that all available resources are coordinated to meet those needs;”

•Details on the Policy Council are found at https://hhs.texas.gov/about-hhs/leadership/advisory-committees/policy-council-children-families

•Includes contact information and resources for parents

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Padlet Slide #10 Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule:

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Padlet Slide #10 Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule:

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•Students Who Have Learning Difficulties or Who Need Special Education or Section 504 Services

•Wall Independent School District. (2020-21). Wall Independent School District Student Handbook 2020-2021 School Year. pg 18. Retrieved from https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/900233/WallISDHandbook-2020-2021.pdf

•The Wall Independent School District’s policy is that a parent may request an evaluation for special education or Section 504 services at any time.   Additionally, parents have the right contact the school counselor for assistance in enrolling in special education programs or to address any issue that might arise with a special needs student.

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“Standard 3.4. The educator shall not exclude a student from participation in a program, deny benefits to a student, or grant an advantage to a student on the basis of race, color, gender, disability, national origin, religion, family status, or sexual orientation.”

•Educators’ Code of Ethics, 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 247.2 (D)

•https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=247&rl=2

•Standard 3.4 from the Educator’s code of ethics prohibits exclusion of a student from educational programs or benefits based on disability.  This is a key ethical principle that guides Texas educators when there are areas of legal ambiguity with regards to special needs students.

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Padlet Slide #12 Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards:

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Padlet Slide #12 Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards:

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This project has not been about my personal education journey as much as its has been about a brilliant young man named Jackson who is neuro-atypical, with a diagnosis of autism.  My wife and I are his very proud parents and we have both fiercely supportive of Jackson’s education.  We have been assisted many times with legal advice from educational professionals who shared our support for Jackson’s education.

My wife and I had a generalized understanding of the legal and ethical mandates to provide quality education to special needs students, but this course was instructive in teaching the different sources of law, how they worked together, and how they impacted our son Jackson.  Even with a general understanding of the laws and regulations, my wife has been able to advocate for Jackson in his education.  Most of our interactions have been very positive with the three different school districts across two states, however, the few instances of conflict were quickly resolved leveraging professionals who had a mastery of the legal and ethical principles related to special needs and to autism specifically.

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Padlet Slide #13 Bulleted list of Recommendations

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Padlet Slide #13 Bulleted list of Recommendations

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Jacobson, Linda (2019, October 15).  'Free and appropriate': Special ed stakeholders work to make IEP meetings less one-sided. K-12 Dive

https://www.k12dive.com/news/free-and-appropriate-special-ed-stakeholders-work-to-make-iep-meetings-l/564423/

This article also appeared earlier in the guide, but it has best practices to  keep in mind as you work with your child’s teachers and support team to go beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations and facilitates real success for your child.

•Work hard on the IEP to make it specific, measureable, and attainable.  Ambiguity is where legal issues arise.

•Meet with IEP participants ahead of the actual meeting to get a feel for what each one will bring to the meeting and to help resolve any issues ahead of time.

•IEP workshop or training to ensures educators are more comfortable with building an IEP and provide advice for parents.

•Be proactive with the scheduling.  Schools need to give ample time for you to adjust your work schedules and to prep.  If the school has problems with this, then take the initiative and work with them.

From Mrs Koehler’s interview, best practices are:

•Find someone to handle the administrative and scheduling.  This will help the focus remain on compliance and student success

•Build a positive relationship with your child’s teacher and support team.  Education is sometimes messy and unprecise at times, but legal requirements are exacting.  Working together to reach the intent behind IEPs, the educational success of your child.