Looking to the future can feel exciting, hopeful, confusing, overwhelming—or all emotions at once. For families supporting a young person with a disability, it’s never too soon to begin planning to ensure a smooth process from the teen years toward whatever happens next. This toolkit supports families as they organize this multiyear project.

Presenting our newest resource – the Planning My Path Practical Tips and Tools for Future Planning. This toolkit encompasses a collection of our informative articles, complemented by easy to understand timeline charts to provide you with a solid foundation as you navigate through this crucial transition period. Taking some time to look through it may answer some questions that pop up as you get closer to your high school graduation.

Learn the Words

A good place to begin is a Glossary of Key Terms for Life After High School Planning, which provides vocabulary building and an overview of topics relevant to this important phase of life.

Earning a Diploma

To earn a high-school diploma in Washington State, students must:

OSPI provides a two-page summary of graduation requirements to support families and students. Included is this statement: “Students who receive special education services under an Individualized Education Program (IEP), also have an IEP Transition Plan, which begins by the school year when a student turns 16 or sooner. The HSBP is required to align with their IEP Transition Plan to ensure a robust planning process toward post-high school goals.”

Various state agencies collaborated to provide a guidebook: Guidelines for Aligning High School & Beyond Plans (HSBP) and IEP Transition Plans.

The state’s 2019 legislature changed graduation requirements (HB 1599). Students may earn a Certificate of Academic Achievement (CAA) or a Certificate of Individual Achievement (CIA) to graduate. How a student earns a CIA is determined by their IEP team.

Students with disabilities seeking a diploma through General Educational Development (GED) testing may be eligible for testing accommodations. A website called passged.com lists a variety of disability conditions that might make a person eligible for testing supports.

Commencement Access

Regardless of when a diploma is earned, a student can participate in Commencement at the end of a traditional senior year, with peers, under a Washington provision called Kevin’s Law. Families may want to plan well in advance with school staff to consider how senior year events are accessible to youth with disabilities.

The Big Picture

The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) includes the right to school-based services that prepare a young person with a disability for adult life.

Here are links to a training video, infographic, and article:

English Video – Life After High School: Tools for Transition
Spanish Video – La Vida Después de la Preparatoria – Herramientas para la Transición
Infographic – Transition Triangle
Article – Tips to Make a Well-Informed Transition into Life After High School
PAVE has a college readiness workbook ready for you to use. Including downloadable and fillable worksheets for easy access.

Various state agencies collaborated to provide a downloadable guidebook: Guidelines for Aligning High School & Beyond Plans (HSBP) and IEP Transition Plans. Included are career-planning tools and linkages to current information about Graduation Pathways, which changed in 2019 when the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 1599.

Student Self-Advocacy

As they move toward adulthood, many students benefit from opportunities to practice skills of self-advocacy and self-determination. One way to foster those skills is to encourage youth to get more involved in their own Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). To support that, PAVE provides this article: Attention Students: Lead your own IEP meetings and take charge of your future. Included is a handout that students might use to contribute to meeting agendas.

The RAISE Center (National Resources for Advocacy, Independence, Self-determination and Employment) provides a blog with transition related news, information, ideas and opinions. Topics in 2020-21 include how to “Be the Best You,” how issues of race and disability intersect with equity, and how “The Disability Agenda Could Bring Unity to A Fragmented Society,” by RAISE Center co-director Josie Badger, who is a person living with disability.

Student Rights after High School

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) ends when a student leaves secondary education. The protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are ongoing throughout the lifespan.

These laws provide for appropriate accommodations in public programs and facilities. To support these disability protections, The IEP accommodations page or a Section 504 Plan can travel with a student into higher education, a vocational program, or work. Often a special services office at an institution for higher learning includes a staff member responsible for ensuring that disability rights are upheld. PAVE provides an article with general information about Section 504 rights that apply to all ages: Section 504: A Plan for Equity, Access and Accommodations.

Universal Design supports everyone

Asking for rights to be upheld is not asking for special favors. A person living with disability, Kyann Flint, wrote an article for PAVE to describe how Universal Design supports inclusion. Her article can provide inspiration for young people looking for examples of what is possible, now as ever: COVID-19 and Disability: Access to Work has Changed.

Agencies that can help

Washington State’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) provides services for high-school students engaged in transition planning as well as adults seeking employment. PAVE provides an article that describes Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) and more: Ready for Work: Vocational Rehabilitation Provides Guidance and Tools.

DVR’s website includes a section with information about Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation (TVR), which is available for people with tribal affiliations in some areas of the state. Each TVR program operates independently. Note that some TVR programs list service areas by county but that sovereign lands are not bound by county lines. Contact each agency for complete information about program access, service area, and eligibility.

Services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are provided by Washington’s Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth (CDHY), which was formerly called the Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss (CDHL). This statewide resource supports all deaf and hard of hearing students in Washington, regardless of where they live or attend school.

Services for individuals who are blind or living with low vision are provided by Washington’s Department of Services for the Blind (DSB). Youth services, Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), Vocational Rehabilitation, Business Enterprise Program, and mobility and other independent-living skills are served by DSB.

The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) also has a variety of school-to-work and waiver programs that support youth. PAVE provides a video to support families through the DDA eligibility process. An article provides further detail: How to Prepare for a DDA Assessment.

Not all youth with disabilities are able to access employment-related services through DVR, TVR, DSB, or DDA. A limited additional option is Goodwill, which provides access to a virtual learning library. Students can take classes at their own pace for skills development. Employment skills, workplace readiness, interviewing skills and more are part of the training materials. To request further information, call 253-573-6507, or send an email to: library@goodwillwa.org.

Graduation’s over: Why is school calling?

Schools are responsible to track the outcomes of their special education services. Here’s an article to help families get ready to talk about how things are going: The School Might Call to Ask About a Young Adult’s Experience After High School: Here’s Help to Prepare

Benefits Planning

A consideration for many families of youth with disabilities is whether lifelong benefits are needed. Applying for social security just past the young person’s 18^th birthday creates a pathway toward a cash benefit and enables the young person to access Medicaid (public health insurance) and various programs that depend on Medicaid eligibility.

The Washington Initiative for Supported Employment (gowise.org) provides benefit planning information and resources through a program called BenefitU.

When a person 18 or older has a disability, family members may want to stay involved in helping them make decisions. Supported Decision Making (SDM) is the formal name for one legal option. Washington law (Chapter 11.130 in the Revised Code of Washington) includes Supported Decision Making as an option under the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act. The law changed in 2020 when the state passed Senate Bill 6287. The changes took effect Jan. 1, 2022. PAVE’s article about Supported Decision Making has more information about this and other options for families to support an adult with a disability.

Download the School to Adulthood: Transition Planning Toolkit

The Importance of Fathers and Father Figures

Posted on June 15, 2023June 16, 2023 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief overview

Parents are children’s first and primary teachers.
Every parent has a unique way of caring for and interacting with his/her/their child, with mothers and fathers typically interacting with their children in different ways.
Male family members and father figures serve key roles in the healthy development of children and youth.
Fathers and father figures can experience barriers in supporting their children, including the myth that there are no barriers.
Resources are available to support fathers and father figures on their parenting journey.

Full Article

Parents are children’s first and primary teachers. Every parent has their own way of caring for and interacting with his/her/their child, with mothers and fathers typically interacting with their children in different ways.

Who are fathers and father figures?

Fathers and father figures play an important role in supporting a child’s growth and development across the lifespan. The term “father figure” is sometimes used broadly to describe males who are important in the life of a child. Father figures can include adoptive fathers, foster fathers, loving male relatives, godfathers, uncles, legal guardians, even mentors and older friends.

Research has shown in the early years, fathers support school readiness and the overall well-being of the family.

What are some barriers fathers have to full involvement with their children?

In addition to the many challenges families of children with disabilities face when navigating education and healthcare, there are additional obstacles which may include:

Complex legal systems that historically demonstrated bias against males.
Lack of confidence in parenting.
Conflicts in cultural values that may view caregiving as the role of the mother.
Systems that may favor or support mothers’ involvement as a priority.
Overall lack of adequate resources to support fathering.
Challenges in communication when parents are parenting apart.

The lack of support is often connected to the myth that fathers and father figures are not in need of specialized assistance. When fathers and father figures are seen, supported, and engaged with their children, the child and the whole community benefits. There are many resources available to schools, community organizations, and agencies who are serving or interested in supporting strong fathers and families.

Additional Resources:

Infant Early Childhood Mental Health

Posted on May 19, 2023May 19, 2023 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief Overview

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) is a term that describes how young children develop socially and emotionally. They learn about their emotions form close and secure relationships with their caregivers and family members. They learn and explore the environment – all in the context of family, community, and culture.
Families concerned about a child’s development can call the Family Health Hotline at 1-800-322-2588, with support in multiple languages. Parents can complete a developmental screening online for free at Parent Help 123.
PAVE provides an article for next steps after age 3: What’s Next when Early Childhood Services End at Age 3? Another PAVE article for families new to special education: Steps to Read, Understand, and Develop an Initial IEP.
PAVE’s Parent Training and Information (PTI) staff help families understand and navigate service systems for children 0-26. Click Get Help on the PAVE website or call 800-572-7368.
Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) helps young children with disabilities or delays to learn and supports their unique development.

Full Article

New parents may struggle to know whether their child’s emotional development is on track. They may have a feeling that a milestone is missed, or they may observe siblings or the emotional well-being of other children and notice their child is developing differently. Sometimes a parent just needs reassurance. Other times, a child may have a developmental delay or a disability. In those cases, early support, including Infant Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) can be critical to a child’s lifelong learning and development.

IECMH is a term that describes how very young children develop socially and emotionally. They form relationships with other people. They learn about their emotions and how to control them. This happens in the settings of their family, community, and culture. (Zero to Three, Basics of Early Childhood Mental Health, 2017).

According to Best Starts for Kids, relationships are at the heart of human development and thriving for infants, toddlers, and young children. Relationships with parents and caregivers give very young children the social and emotional foundations they need to learn and thrive.

The Washington Health Care Authority reports around 1 in 6 young children has a diagnosed mental, behavioral, or developmental condition (Cree et al., 2018). These conditions may be treated with infant early childhood mental health (IECMH) services.

Services work to improve the quality of the child’s relationship with parents or caregivers. They can:

Help the distress of the mental health concern.
Support the return to healthy development and behavior.

When families receive Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) services for a child, the child is tested as part of an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

The evaluation looks at the child’s ability to:

Identify and understand their own feelings;
Accurately notice and understand other people’s emotional states.
Manage strong emotions in a positive way.
Control their behavior.
Develop empathy (understand how people feel based on the child’s own experience)
Make and support relationships.

The evaluation may show the child is not developing well in some of these areas. IECMH services may help.

Some examples of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health services include:

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
Parent training
Childcare provider training
Group training
Parent Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Infant/Child – Parent Psychotherapy
Play therapy

If you are concerned about a child’s development:

To learn about typical development, read the birth-to-6 pre-screening chart in English or Spanish
Please Ask is a three-minute video that shows the importance of referring infants and toddlers for early intervention. ESIT is a part if the Department of Children, Youth and Families
Families can call the ESIT local lead agency: Local Lead Agencies by County
Family Health Hotline: 1-800-322-2588. This statewide, toll-free number offers help in English, Spanish, and other languages.
Early Learning Transition: When Birth-3 Services End

More Resources:

Informing Families
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)
OSPI Early Childhood services
Early Intervention Resources in English and Spanish on the Parent Center Hub
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Information for Families
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation

Prior Written Notice (PWN): An Important Document to Read and Understand

Posted on February 21, 2023February 27, 2023 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief Overview

Prior Written Notice (PWN) is a document that explains school district decisions about a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Family members can request changes to the PWN if their concerns or positions are inaccurately described or left out of the PWN.
If a family caregiver files a special education complaint, the PWN may be among documents reviewed in an investigation.
PWN must be provided in the family’s native language.

Full Article

When family members and school staff meet to discuss a student’s services, certain things have to happen. One requirement is for the school to take notes and share those notes with the family within a reasonable amount of time (usually a few days) after the meeting. Those notes are formatted as a Prior Written Notice (PWN). This document is shared after a decision is made and prior to changes in a student’s program.

For example, if the IEP team meets and decides to change a student’s placement (where educational services are delivered), that decision is written down on the PWN. The PWN includes information about how the team made its decision and when the student will start receiving services in the new placement.

Parents can ask for their positions and reasons to be included in the PWN

During a meeting, family members can specifically ask for their position to be noted in the PWN. For example, if a school district staff member recommends changing a service and the parent does not agree to that change, the parent can say, “Please include in the Prior Written Notice that I do not agree to this change in service.” Family members can make sure their reasoning is included along with their position.

Family members also can request changes to the PWN after a meeting if they disagree with the wording or if their concerns or positions are left out. They might also provide something in writing and ask for it to be attached to the PWN for the record.

If the school takes an action that the family continues to disagree with, the family member might use a PWN among documents filed with a formal complaint. The PWN shows how disagreements were managed and documented through the IEP meeting process and whether family participation in decision-making was honored.

Washington State’s educational agency is the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). On its website, OSPI guides families in what to expect in the PWN. According to OSPI, “The Prior Written Notice should document any disagreements with you and should clearly describe the reasons for this disagreement.”

PWN is an aspect of federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA Sec.300.503(b)).

In accordance with IDEA, a PWN must include:

A description of the action proposed or refused by the school
An explanation of why the school proposes or refuses to take the action
A description of each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report the school used as a basis for their decision
A statement that the parents of a child with a disability have protection under the procedural safeguards and how the parents can obtain a copy of them
Sources for parents to contact to obtain assistance in understanding these provisions
A description of other options that the IEP Team considered and the reasons why those options were rejected
A description of other factors relevant to the school’s proposal or refusal

The school is required to provide PWN to the family when:

The school plans to evaluate your child
You’ve asked for your child to be evaluated and the school denies your request
The school wants to begin or change your child’s identification as a “child with a disability”
The school proposes or refuses a particular educational placement for your child
The school wants to change your child’s educational placement
The school wants to change aspects of the special education or related services that your child is receiving
The school refuses a request from you, as parents, with respect to the educational services your child is receiving

Like all formal educational documents, PWN must be provided in the family’s native language.

For more information about PWN and other special education requirements, refer to the Procedural Safeguards, available for download in multiple languages from OSPI’s website.

Evaluations Part 1: Where to Start When a Student Needs Special Help at School

Posted on January 31, 2023March 21, 2024 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief Overview

Special Education is provided through the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student with a qualifying disability. The first step is to determine eligibility through evaluation. This article describes that process and provides information and resources related to each eligibility category.
Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) is the “special” in special education. The evaluation determines whether SDI is needed to help a student overcome barriers of disability to appropriately access education. Learning to ask questions about SDI can help families participate in IEP development. To learn more, watch PAVE’s three-part video series: Student Rights, IEP, Section 504, and More.
Washington law requires evaluation referrals in writing. The state provides a form for referrals, downloadable from a website page titled, Making a Referral for Special Education. The person making the referral can use the form or any other format for their written request.
PAVE provides a Sample Letter to Request Evaluation.

Full Article

If a student is having a hard time at school and has a known or suspected disability, the school evaluates to see if the student qualifies for special education. A child is protected in their right to be evaluated by the Child Find Mandate, which is part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

If eligible, the student receives an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Information collected during the evaluation is critical for building the IEP.

The school follows specific deadlines for an evaluation process. They have 25 school days to respond to the referral in writing. If they proceed with the evaluation they have 35 schools days to complete the assessment. For an eligible student, an IEP must be developed within 30 calendar days.

If parents disagree with the school’s evaluation, they can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) in writing. The school must either pay for the IEE or defend its evaluation and their IEE denial through Due Process. PAVE provides an article, Evaluations Part 2, with more information and a sample letter for requesting an IEE.

Complaint options and family/student rights are described in the Procedural Safeguards, downloadable in multiple languages on the website of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

When a written referral is submitted to the school district: The IEP Services begin ASAP with the signed consent of the parent. The school district has 30 calendar days to develop the IEP and 35 school days to complete the evaluation.

Evaluation is a 3-part process

Not every student who has a disability and receives an evaluation will qualify for an IEP. The school district’s evaluation asks 3 primary questions in each area of learning that is evaluated:

Does the student have a disability?
Does the disability adversely impact education?
Does the student need Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)?

If the answer to all three questions is Yes, the student qualifies for an IEP. After the evaluation is reviewed, the IEP team meets to talk about how to build a program to meet the needs that were identified in the evaluation. A summary of the most important findings is listed in the Adverse Educational Impact Statement on the IEP. Additional findings become part of the present levels statements, which are matched with IEP goal-setting and progress monitoring.

TIP: Read the Adverse Educational Impact Statement carefully to make sure it captures the most important concerns. The rest of the IEP is responsible to serve the needs identified in this statement. Families can request changes to this statement at IEP meetings. PAVE’s article, Advocacy Tips for Parents, provides information to help families prepare for and participate in meetings.

Don’t wait to evaluate because of provider wait lists

Depending on a student’s suspected areas of disability (see categories listed below), the district may need medical information. However, the school cannot delay the evaluation while requiring parents to get that medical information. If medical information is necessary for an eligibility determination, the district must pay for the outside evaluation. OSPI includes more detail about these requirements in a Technical Assistance Paper (TAP No. 5).

What areas can be evaluated?

When a parent signs consent for an evaluation, looking through the list of areas the school intends to evaluate is important to ensure that all concerning areas are included. Families can request additional areas to include in the evaluation, including a Functional Behavioral Assessment, for example.

Listed below are examples of skill areas that are commonly evaluated:

Functional: Functional skills are necessary for everyday living, and deficits might show up with tasks such as eating, handling common classroom tools or using the restroom.
Academic: Testing in specific academic areas can seek information about whether the student might have a Specific Learning Disability, such as dyslexia.
Cognitive: Testing to determine intelligence quotient (IQ) scores: verbal IQ, performance IQ, and full-scale IQ. These tests provide important data about a student’s strengths and weaknesses and can be important for IEP teams making decisions about how to adapt materials to ensure accessibility.
OT and Speech: Occupational Therapy and Speech/Language can be included as specific areas for evaluation, if there is reason to suspect that deficits are impacting education.
Social-Emotional Learning: Many evaluations collect data in an area of education called Social Emotional Learning (SEL), which can highlight disabilities related to behavior, social interactions, mental health or emotional regulation. It’s common for parents to fill out an at-home survey as part of an SEL evaluation process.
Autism Spectrum: Testing can look for disability related to autism spectrum issues, such as sensory processing or social difficulties. Testing in this area can be done regardless of whether there is a medical diagnosis.
Adaptive: How a student transitions from class-to-class or organizes materials are examples of adaptive skills that might impact learning.

TIP: Keep in mind that strengths are measured alongside challenges and can provide important details. An IEP should always include statements about what the student does well, and the IEP team uses this information to reinforce and build on strengths throughout the program.

Below is an infographic showing this: See this infographic in PDF form

An infographic of what areas can be evaluated.

Eligibility Categories of Disability

Areas of evaluation are associated with 14 eligibility categories. These are broad categories, and sometimes there is discussion about which is the best fit to capture information about a student’s unique situation. Please note that there is no such thing as a “behavior IEP” or an “academic IEP.” After a student qualifies, the school is responsible to address all areas of need and design programming, services and a placement to meet those needs. An IEP is an individualized program, built to support a unique person and is not a cut-and-paste project based on the category of disability.

Below is a list of the 14 eligibility categories, including some information about places to get further information or specific resources.

Autism: A student does not need a medical diagnosis to be evaluated by the school. If features of autism may significantly impact access to learning, then the school can assess those features to determine eligibility and special education needs. See PAVE’s article about Autism Spectrum Disorder for information and resources.
Emotional Disturbance: Psychological or psychiatric disorders (anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress, etc.) can fall under this category, which Washington State refers to as Emotional Behavioral Disability (EBD). Please note that all eligibility categories are intended to identify the needs of students and are not intended to label children in ways that might contribute to stigma or discrimination. PAVE provides a Behavioral Health Toolkit for Navigating Crisis, School-Based Services, Medical Services, Family Support Networks, and More.
Specific Learning Disability: Issues related to dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or other learning deficits can be educationally assessed. A formal diagnosis is not required for a student to qualify under this category. The school might find, for example, that a student has a reading disability “with the characteristics of dyslexia,” although the school may not be willing to name the condition using formal diagnostic terms. Washington requires schools to screen primary school children for dyslexia. The Office of Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI) has information about state requirements. PAVE provides an article, Dyslexia Screening and Interventions: State Requirements and Resources, and a video,Supporting literacy: Text-to-Speech and IEP goal setting for students with learning disabilities.
Other Health Impairment: ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome and other medical diagnoses are captured within this broad category, often shorted to OHI or Health-Impaired on the IEP document. Sometimes a Related Service is needed to assess a student because school staff do not have the expertise to properly understand a disability condition in order to make service recommendations. “Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes” are written into federal law (IDEA Section 1432) as something schools provide at no cost to the family, if necessary as part of special education process.
Speech/Language Impairment: This category can include expressive and/or receptive language disorders in addition to issues related to diction (how a student is able to produce sounds that are understood as words). Social communication deficits also might qualify a student for speech services. The Washington Speech Language Hearing Association (wslha.org) provides Consumer Information on its website and published a downloadable resource, Guidelines for Evaluation and Identification of Students with Communication Disorders.
Multiple Disabilities: Students with complex medical and learning needs can meet criteria in this category. Depending on their impairments, a student eligible in this category might receive services in a range of ways that overlap with other disability categories. Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS.wa.gov) may have information and resources to support families and schools in these complex situations.
Intellectual Disability: A student with Down Syndrome or another genetic or cognitive disorder might meet criteria in this category. Washington State’s Department of Social and Health Services manages the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) that provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). DDA’s Informing Families website and newsletter is a place for information and resources. A child with a disability related to I/DD may be identified early and receive Birth-3 services through an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). PAVE provides an Early Learning Toolkit.
Orthopedic Impairment: OI refers to physical disabilities that impact access to education. PAVE provides an article about Related Services to help families understand services provided through school versus the medical system.
Hearing Impairment: Whether permanent or fluctuating, a hearing impairment may adversely affect a child’s educational performance. The Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth (cdhy.wa.gov) provides information and resources for families and schools. Another place for information is Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS.wa.gov).
Deafness: A student unable to process linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, may be eligible for services under this category. The Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth (cdhy.wa.gov) provides information and resources for families and schools.
Deaf blindness: A combination of hearing and visual impairments establishes a unique set of special education service needs. The Washington DeafBlind Program (deafblindprogram.wa.gov) provides information about seeking educational support and connecting with other families.
Visual Impairment/Blindness: Partial sight and blindness may fit this category when, even with correction, eyesight adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Washington State’s Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) is an agency that provides youth and adult services for individuals who are blind or low vision. Other places to seek resources and information are Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS.wa.gov) and Outreach services from the Washington State School for the Blind (wssb.wa.gov/services/outreach).
Traumatic Brain Injury: The state provides resources related to TBI, including guidance about Returning to School After Traumatic Brain Injury. Another place for resources and support is the Brain Injury Alliance of WA.
Developmental Delay (ages 0-9): This category can qualify a child for early learning (Birth-3) services in addition to IEP services through age 9. By age 10, a new evaluation may determine eligibility in another category for IEP services to continue. PAVE’s Early Learning Toolkit includes information to support families of babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and children in early elementary school.

What to do if you disagree

The IDEA requires schools to use “technically sound” instruments in evaluation. Generally, that means the tests are evidence-based as valid and reliable, and the school recruits qualified personnel to administer the tests. The IDEA is clear that a singular measure, such as an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test, does not meet the standard for an appropriate evaluation.

Parents can take action if they disagree with the way testing was done or the way it was interpreted.

Parents can always ask school staff to describe their decisions in writing, and parents have rights guaranteed by the IDEA to informally or formally dispute any decision made by the school. The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) offers a variety of guidebooks that describe these options. In Washington State, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) provides state-specific guidelines for dispute resolution.

A student may qualify for a Section 504 Plan, if not an IEP

Section 504 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This Civil Rights law protects individuals with disabilities that severely impact “major life activities,” such as learning, breathing, walking, paying attention, making friends… The law is intentionally broad to capture a wide range of disability conditions and how they might impact a person’s life circumstances.

A student with an IEP has protections from Section 504; those protections are included in the IEP.

Sometimes students who don’t qualify for the IEP will qualify for accommodations and other support through a Section 504 Plan. PAVE has an article about Section 504, which provides an individual with protections throughout the lifespan.

Protections against bullying and discriminatory discipline are aspects of Section 504. Watch PAVE’s video, Behavioral Health and School: Key Information for Families.

Help from PAVE

PAVE’s Parent Training and Information (PTI) team provides 1:1 support and additional resources. Click Get Help or Call 1-800-5PARENT (572-7368) and select extension 115, English or Spanish available, to leave a dedicated message.

Advocacy Tips for Parents

Posted on January 23, 2023April 26, 2024 by Nicol Walsh

When a child has a disability, parents often learn that getting their child’s needs met requires persistence, organization, and advocacy. Advocacy is an action. A person is an advocate when they organize the work and press onward until a goal is achieved. Laws that protect the rights of students with disabilities also protect parents as legal advocates for their children.

This article includes tips for parent advocates working with the school. For more about parent rights, read PAVE’s article, Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law.

Before a meeting…

Invite someone to attend with you. A friend or family member can help you take notes, ask questions, and keep track of your agenda.
Make sure you understand the purpose of the meeting. Is it to talk about an evaluation, review the Individualized Education Program (IEP), write a Section 504 Plan, consider a behavior support plan, discuss placement, or something else? If you want a certain outcome, make sure it’s within the scope of the meeting. If not, you may need more than one meeting.
Make sure you know who will be at your meeting. An IEP team has required attendees. PAVE provides more detail about IEP team requirements in an article that includes a Sample Letter to Request an IEP Meeting.
Consider anyone else you want to attend. Parents have the right to invite vocational specialists, related service providers, behavioral health providers, peer support specialists—anyone with knowledge of the student and their needs.
Get copies of important documents (evaluation, IEP, 504 Plan, behavior plan, etc.). Read them carefully so you can use these documents to organize your concerns and questions. Keep in mind that a services program/plan is a draft until after you meet.
If the school doesn’t provide documents with enough time for you to prepare, consider rescheduling.
Mark up a Draft IEP with your suggestions and questions:
- Read the educational impact statement carefully. Consider if it accurately summarizes your student’s strengths and needs. If not, makes notes about what you want to add or change.
- Note any changes you want under Medical/Physical or Parent Concerns.
- If a goal is too hard or too easy, make a note to ask about adjusting it.
- If a goal is written with jargon and impossible to understand, ask for an explanation and maybe a rewrite
- Prepare to ask how teachers are using Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) to help your student reach IEP goals.
- Read the services table, sometimes referred to as a “services grid” or “services matrix” to understand how often and where your student is being served.
- Consider any questions you have about placement or access to general education settings. If you believe your student could be successful in general education for more of their day, consider what supports would make that possible.
- Write down any questions about how the classroom or curriculum are adapted to be accessible. You might ask if the teachers are using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies to support multiple types of learners.
- Write down your questions about progress and how it’s being tracked.
For an IEP or 504 Plan, read the accommodations carefully and make notes to ensure they are individualized and implemented to truly support your student.
Highlight anything in the behavior plan that sounds like bias or prejudice and consider how it might be rewritten. PAVE provides examples in a video training about development of a Behavior Intervention Plan.
To help you organize your questions and concerns, PAVE provides: Get Ready for Your Meeting with a Handout for the Team.
Learn about student and family rights and practice the vocabulary that empowers your advocacy. PAVE provides a three-part video training to help: Student Rights, IEP, Section 504 and More.

At your meeting…

Do your best to arrive on time to make sure there is time to address concerns. If you notice there may not be enough time to do this, request to schedule another meeting.
Make sure the meeting begins with introductions and that you know everyone’s job and what role they serve on the IEP team. If it’s important to you, when you introduce yourself you can ask team members to use your name instead of mom, dad, gramma, or something else other than your name when they refer to you.
Ask school staff to explain acronyms or jargon while they are talking because you want to understand what everyone says.
If an IEP team member is absent (WAC 392-172A-03095), parents must sign consent for the absence. If someone is missing and you don’t think it’s appropriate to continue, ask to reschedule. If key members need to leave before the meeting is over, consider ending the meeting and schedule an alternative day/time.
Keep focus on your student’s needs. Here are a few positive sentence starters: I expect, I understand, My child needs….
If you notice the conversation steering into past grievances, the district’s lack of funds, or what “all the other children” are doing, bring focus back to your child and their current needs. Try stating, “I want to focus on [name].”
Use facts and information to back up your positions and avoid letting emotion take over. Ask for a break if you need time for some regulated breathing or to review documents or notes.
Notice other team members’ contributions that support your child’s needs. Here are a few phrases to consider:
- “I think what you said is a good idea. I also think it could help to…”
- “I think you are right, and I would like to add…”
- “I hear what you are saying, and…”
If you don’t understand something, ask questions until the answer is clear.
If you disagree about something and your comments aren’t changing anyone’s mind, explain that you want your position included in the Prior Written Notice (PWN), which is the document the school is required to send immediately after an IEP meeting.
If you hear something confusing, ask the school to put their position and rationale in writing so you can follow up.
Request to end the meeting if it stops being productive. Tell the other team members that you would like to continue working with them and ask to schedule another meeting. This might include adding people to the team to help resolve issues.

After a meeting…

Review your notes and highlight or circle places where there is an action or something that needs follow through. Transfer relevant information into your calendar.
When the Prior Written Notice (PWN) arrives (usually within a few days), compare it to your notes. Make sure all key agreements, actions, and IEP/504 amendments match what you understood to be the plan when you left the meeting.
If you want something changed in the PWN, ask for those changes in writing.
If you disagree with the outcome of the meeting, review your Procedural Safeguards (downloadable in multiple languages) and consider your dispute resolution options.
If you consider filing a Community Complaint, PAVE provides a video training to walk you through that option.
Consider contacting school district special education staff if they didn’t participate in the meeting and you think your team needs more support.
Consider asking for another meeting, Mediation, or a Facilitated IEP meeting, if issues are unresolved.

PAVE’s Parent Training and Information (PTI) program can help family caregivers organize their concerns and options. Click Get Help for individualized assistance.

Special Education is a Service, Not a Place

Posted on December 9, 2022April 5, 2024 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief Overview

A student with a disability has the right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). General education spaces and curriculum are LRE.
Services are generally portable, and special education is delivered to the student to enable access to FAPE within the LRE to the maximum extent appropriate.
Federal law protects a student’s right to FAPE within the LRE in light of a child’s circumstances, not for convenience of resource allocation.
The TIES Center at the University of Minnesota partnered with the Haring Center for Inclusive Education at the University of Washington to build a resource for families and schools writing IEPs to support students within general education: Comprehensive Inclusive Education: General Education and the Inclusive IEP.

Full Article

An ill-informed conversation about special education might go something like this:

Is your child in special education?
Yes.
Oh, so your student goes to school in that special classroom, by the office…in the portable…at the end of the hall…in a segregated room?

This conversation includes errors in understanding about what special education is, how it is delivered, and a student’s right to be included with general education peers whenever and wherever possible.

This article intends to clear up confusion. An important concept to understand is in the headline:

Special Education is a service, not a place!

Services are portable, so special education is delivered to the student in the placement that works for the student to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), in light of the child’s circumstances. A student with a disability has the right to FAPE in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).

General education is the Least Restrictive Environment. An alternative placement is discussed by the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team if access to FAPE is not working for the student in a general education setting with supplementary aids and supports.

Keep in mind that genuine inclusion doesn’t just meet a seat in the classroom. Adult support, adaptations to the learning materials, individualized instruction, and more are provided to support access to education within the LRE.

Here is some vocabulary to further understanding:

FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education. The entitlement of a student who is eligible for special education services.
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The entitlement to FAPE is protected by this law that allocates federal funds to support eligible students.
LRE: Least Restrictive Environment. A student eligible for special education services has a right to FAPE in the LRE to the maximum extent appropriate. General education is the least restrictive, and an alternative placement is discussed when data indicate that supplementary aids and supports are not working to enable access to FAPE in general education.
IEP: Individualized Education Program. School staff and family caregivers make up an IEP team. The team is responsible to develop a program reasonably calculated to enable a student to make progress appropriate toward IEP goals and on grade-level curriculum, in light of the child’s circumstances. Based on a student’s strengths and needs (discovered through evaluation, observation, and review of data), the team collaborates to decide what services enable FAPE and how to deliver those services. Where services are delivered is the last part of the IEP process, and decisions are made by all team members, unless family caregivers choose to excuse some participants or waive the right to a full team process.
Equity: When access is achieved with supports so the person with a disability has a more level or fair opportunity to benefit from the building, service, or program. For example, a student in a wheelchair can access a school with stairs if there is also a ramp. A person with a behavioral health condition might need a unique type of “ramp” to access equitable learning opportunities within general education.
Inclusion: When people of all abilities experience an opportunity together, and individuals with disabilities have supports they need to be contributing participants and to receive equal benefit. Although IDEA does not explicitly demand inclusion, the requirement for FAPE in the Least Restrictive Environment is how inclusion is built into special education process.
Placement: Where a student learns. Because the IDEA requires LRE, an IEP team considers equity and inclusion in discussions about where a student receives education. General education placement is the Least Restrictive Environment. An IEP team considers ways to offer supplementary aids and supports to enable access to LRE. If interventions fail to meet the student’s needs, the IEP team considers a continuum of placement alternatives—special education classrooms, alternative schools, home-bound instruction, day treatment, residential placement, or an alternative that is uniquely designed.
Supplementary Aids and Supports: The help and productivity enhancers a student needs. Under the IDEA, a student’s unique program and services are intended to enable access to FAPE within LRE. Note that an aid or a support is not a place and therefore cannot be considered as an aspect of a restrictive placement. To the contrary, having additional adult support might enable access to LRE. This topic was included in the resolution of a 2017 Citizen Complaint in Washington State. In its decision, OSPI stated that “paraeducator support is a supplementary aid and service, not a placement option on the continuum of alternative placements.”

Note that the IDEA protects a student’s right to FAPE within LRE in light of a child’s circumstances, not in light of the most convenient way to organize school district resources. Placement is individualized to support a student’s strengths and abilities as well as the needs that are based in disability.

Tip: Families can remind the IEP team to Presume Competence and to boost a student from that position of faith. If the team presumes that a student can be competent in general education, how does it impact the team’s conversation about access to FAPE and placement?

LRE does not mean students with disabilities are on their own

To deliver FAPE, a school district provides lessons uniquely designed to address a student’s strengths and struggles (Specially Designed Instruction/SDI). In addition, the IEP team is responsible to design individualized accommodations and modifications. (Links in this paragraph take you to three PAVE training videos on these topics.)

Accommodations: Productivity enhancers. Examples: adjusted time to complete a task, assistive technology, a different mode for tracking an assignment or schedule, accessible reading materials with text-to-speech or videos embedded with sign language…
Modifications: Changes to a requirement. Examples: an alternative test, fewer problems on a worksheet, credit for a video presentation or vision board instead of a term paper.

Note that accommodations and modifications are not “special favors.” Utilizing these is an exercise of civil rights that are protected by anti-discrimination laws that include the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (particularly Section 504 as it relates to school) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA—particularly Title II).

Related Services may support LRE and other aspects of equitable access

An IEP may include related services (occupational therapy, speech, nursing, behavioral or mental health support, parent training, transportation, and more). For some students, related services may be part of the support structure to enable inclusion in the Least Restrictive Environment. If an IEP includes related services, then the IEP team discusses how and where they are delivered.

A tool to support inclusion

The TIES Center at the University of Minnesota partnered with the Haring Center for Inclusive Education at the University of Washington to build a resource to support families and schools in writing IEPs that support students within general education classrooms: Comprehensive Inclusive Education: General Education and the Inclusive IEP.

The resource includes a variety of tools and recommendations for how school and family teams can approach their meetings and conversations to support the creation and provision of a program that recognizes:

Each child is a general education student.
The general education curriculum and routines and the Individual Education Program (IEP) comprise a student’s full educational program.
The IEP for a student qualifying for special education services is not the student’s curriculum.

Who is required on an IEP team?

Keep in mind that IEP teams are required to include staff from general education and special education (WAC 392-172A-03095). All team members are required for formal meetings unless the family signs consent for those absences. Here’s a key statement from the TIES Center resource:

“The IEP is intended to support a student’s progress in general education curriculum and routines, as well as other essential skills that support a student’s independence or interdependence across school, home, and other community environments. A comprehensive inclusive education program based upon these principles is important because without that focus, a student’s learning opportunities and school and post-school outcomes are diminished. In order to create an effective comprehensive inclusive education program, collaboration between general educators, special educators, and families is needed.”

LRE decisions follow a 4-part process

OSPI’s website includes information directed toward parents: “Placement decisions are made by your student’s IEP team after the IEP has been developed. The term ‘placement’ in special education does not necessarily mean the precise physical building or location where your student will be educated. Rather, your student’s ‘placement’ refers to the range or continuum of educational settings available in the district to implement her/his IEP and the overall amount of time s/he will spend in the general education setting.”

Selection of an appropriate placement includes 4 considerations:

IEP content (specialized instruction, goals, services, accommodations…)
LRE requirements (least restrictive “to the maximum extent appropriate”)
The likelihood that the placement option provides a reasonably high probability of helping a student attain goals
Consideration of any potentially harmful effects the placement option might have on the student, or the quality of services delivered

What are placements outside of general education?

If a student is unable to access appropriate learning (FAPE) in general education because their needs cannot be met there, then the IEP team considers alternative placement options. It’s important to note that a student is placed in a more restrictive setting because the student needs a different location within the school, not because it’s more convenient for adults or because it saves the school district money.

According to IDEA, Sec. 300.114, “A State must not use a funding mechanism by which the State distributes funds on the basis of the type of setting in which a child is served that will result in the failure to provide a child with a disability FAPE according to the unique needs of the child, as described in the child’s IEP.”

IEP teams may discuss whether there’s a need for a smaller classroom setting or something else. Keep in mind that a home-based placement is a very restrictive placement because it segregates a student entirely from their peers.

The continuum of placement options includes, but is not limited to:

general education classes
general education classes with support services and/or modifications
a combination of general education and special education classes
self-contained special education classes
day treatment, therapeutic school specializing in behavioral health
private placement outside of the school district (non-public agency/NPA)
residential care or treatment facilities (also known as NPAs)
alternative learning experience (ALE)
home-based placement

School districts are not required to have a continuum available in every school building. A school district, for example, might have a self-contained setting or preschool services in some but not all locations. This gives districts some discretion for choosing a location to serve the placement chosen by an IEP team.

Placement and location are different

Note that the IEP team determines the placement, but the school district has discretion to choose a location to serve the IEP.

For example, an IEP team could determine that a student needs a day treatment/behavioral health-focused school in order to access FAPE—an appropriate education. If the IEP team chooses a Day Treatment placement, then the school district is responsible to find a location to provide that placement. Following this process, a public-school district might pay for transportation and tuition to send a student to a private or out-of-district facility. If a request for a specialized placement is initiated by the family, there are other considerations.

OSPI’s website includes this information:

“… if you are requesting that your student be placed in a private school or residential facility because you believe the district is unable to provide FAPE, then you must make that request through a due process hearing.”

Resources about inclusionary practices

An agency called Teaching Exceptional Children Plus features an article by a parent about the value of inclusion in general education. The January 2009 article by Beth L. Sweden is available for download online: Signs of an Inclusive School: A Parent’s Perspective on the Meaning and Value of Authentic Inclusion.

Understood.org offers an article and a video about the benefits of inclusion.

An agency that promotes best-practice strategies for school staff implementing inclusive educational programming is the IRIS Center, a part of Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

As stated earlier, The TIES Center at the University of Minnesota partnered with the Haring Center for Inclusive Education at the University of Washington to build a resource for families and schools writing IEPs to support students within general education: Comprehensive Inclusive Education: General Education and the Inclusive IEP.

The Inclusionary Practices Family Engagement Collaborative is a partnership of four non-profit organizations committed to strengthening family-school partnerships to support culturally-responsive approaches that center the experiences of students with disabilities. Watch recorded trainings offered to help you start the conversation.

Life After High School: Tools for Transition

Posted on October 26, 2022October 26, 2022 by Nicol Walsh

Helping a student with disabilities prepare for life after high school requires thoughtful organization and planning. This presentation describes three ways to support this important time of life:

High School and Beyond Plan
IEP Transition Plan
Agency Support

Here are resources referenced in the video:

OSPI Model Forms: Scroll down to find and open the IEP Form with Secondary Transition
OSPI Graduation Requirements, including links to download the High School and Beyond Plan in various languages
DDA: Developmental Disabilities Administration
DVR: Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
TVR: Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation, for Native Americans with disabilities
DSB: Department of Services for the Blind, for people with blindness or low vision
WAC 392-172A-03090, including description of Age of Majority rights that transfer to the student at age 18
PAVE article about Supported Decision Making
OSPI: The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has a family liaison for special education
OEO: The Office of the Educational Ombuds provides online resources and 1:1 support
OCR: The Office for Civil Rights can help with questions about equity and access
ESD: Nine Education Service Districts; each has a behavioral health navigator, and some are licensed to provide behavioral health services
Developmental Disabilities Ombuds
PAVE School to Adulthood Toolkit

Discipline and Disability Rights: What to do if Your Child is Being Sent Home

Posted on October 26, 2022October 11, 2023 by Nicol Walsh

Learning the skills to maintain expected behavior and follow school rules is part of education. All students learn social, emotional and behavioral skills. Students with disabilities may get extra help in these areas of learning. Some have individualized behavior support plans.

When the pre-teaching and interventions fail to stop a behavior from causing a problem, the school might call a parent to say, “Take them home.” What happens next could depend on how well-informed parents are about the rights of students with disabilities.

This video provides key information about what to do if your child is being sent home. The first thing to ask is, “Are they being suspended?” If the answer is yes, the school is required to file specific paperwork. If the answer is no, a parent has choices and may support better long-term outcomes by carefully documenting what happens next.

Below are links to resources referenced in the video:

Supporting Students with Disabilities and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Student Discipline under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, from the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, July 2022
WAC 392-400-455, the Washington Administrative Code that describes the schools responsibility to notify parents and the details they must include in writing if a student is excluded from school as a disciplinary action
OSPI Special Education Technical Assistance Paper No. 2, a Technical Assistance Paper from Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) about discipline procedures for students eligible for special education services
PAVE’s Behavioral Health Toolkit
PAVE’s video training about developing an individualized behavior plan
PAVE’s sample letter to request a functional behavioral assessment
PAVE article with more detail: What Parents Need to Know when Disability Impacts Behavior and Discipline at School

Related Services in School and Beyond can Support a Child’s Development and Learning

Posted on September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief Overview

At school, related services help children with disabilities benefit from their special education by providing extra help and support. Options for related services are described in state law (WAC 392-172A-01155).
If a child with public health insurance needs specific therapies to meet medical needs, their insurance company is obligated to support those needs. Medical necessity is described in state law (WAC 182-500-0070).
Sometimes a service meets educational and medical needs. In those situations, the school might bill Medicaid directly, with parent permission. Families can learn more about School-Based Health Services (SBHS) and ask if their school is participating in this optional program.
Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) issued guidance in August 2022 to clarify that all parts of a student’s IEP begin with the start of school unless an IEP team has agreed to shift something to meet a student-centered need. Schools may not delay the start of related services for their own reasons related to scheduling or resources.
For federal information about the range of options for related services provided by the school, see parentcenterhub.org.

Full Article

Children with disabilities have a range of needs that may be educational, medical, or both. As they grow, develop, and learn, those needs can shift. How family, school, and medical providers respond can impact how much progress the child makes in their emerging skills. This article includes information to help families understand how therapeutic services may be provided at school or elsewhere.

What are related services?

Schools call services that lie outside the scope of traditional teaching “related services.” Another term is “ancillary services.” Related services help children with disabilities benefit from their special education by providing extra help and support.

Therapies for disabilities that impact physical movement or speech are common. Transportation provided through the special education system also is a common related service. Less common in Washington State are in-school mental health services or counseling for behavioral health conditions. Various possibilities are listed in state law (WAC 392-172A-01155). Here are examples from the Washington Administrative Code (WAC):

Occupational, Physical, Speech Therapies
Counseling
Psychological Services
Behavioral Services
School Social Worker
Special Transportation
Parent Training

What does parent training mean?

Notice that the final option on this list is parent training. This service might mean the school helps parents understand the special needs of their child or something about their child’s development. Through the related service of parent training, the school can teach family members to help their child practice emerging skills when they’re at home.

Who provides a related service, and who pays?

A related service may be provided by any professional who is trained to assess and/or serve a specific need for a child with a disability condition that affects their learning or development.

When therapeutic services are paid for through medical insurance, they generally must meet a standard of being “medically necessary.” Keep reading for more information about therapeutic services available through the medical system.

Services are provided at school when they are determined to be “educationally necessary.” In those cases, the school district is responsible for payment.

Sometimes a service is both medically and educationally necessary. Sometimes schools seek parent consent to bill the student’s insurance to fund all or part of a related service. Washington State’s Health Care Authority (HCA) manages a program to reimburse schools for services provided to students who are eligible for Apple Health when those services are delivered as part of their Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Tip: See HCA’s website page about School-Based Health Services (SBHS) and consider asking your school if they are participating in this optional program. The guidebook includes information about allowable services. Note that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is explicitly excluded as a reimbursable service through the state’s SBHS program. Most other therapeutic options are reimbursable, including a range of mental health services.

A related service might be part of evaluation

Sometimes a related service is needed to assess a student because school staff do not have the expertise to properly understand a disability condition in order to make service recommendations. “Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes” are written into federal law (IDEA Section 1432) as something an IEP can provide.

Keep in mind that special education evaluations must be comprehensive, in order to identify all of a child’s special education and related service needs, not just those that relate to the IEP eligibility category.

Families can seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if they disagree with the methods or conclusions of a school district special education evaluation. PAVE provides an article and sample letter for requesting an IEE.

Related services support FAPE

The federal law that governs special education services is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA makes clear that its list of related services (see below) includes possibilities and options but does not include every related service a student might need. Other therapeutic services might be included in the IEP if they are educationally necessary.

Access and equity are protected by various educational and civil rights laws; anything that helps a student access school-related opportunities can be included as part of a student’s services. Extracurricular activities and school-sponsored sports count.

An IEP is a written commitment for the school to serve a student’s educational needs. Educational needs might be academic, social-emotional, or something else. They might have to do with how the student functions or adapts to the environment of school.

Educational needs are determined through a comprehensive evaluation and a collaborative process that includes family, school staff, and anyone else with knowledge of the student and their disability-related needs. If an IEP team decides that a service is necessary for the student to access their right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), then the school district is responsible to deliver those services.

IDEA does not expressly require that the IEP team include related services personnel. However, if a particular need or related service is discussed in an IEP meeting, it would be appropriate for the provider to attend. IDEA states that, at the discretion of the parent or the public agency, “other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate” may be part of a child’s IEP team.

School-based related services might include, but are not limited to:

speech-language pathology and audiology services
interpreting services
psychological services
physical and occupational therapy
recreation, including therapeutic recreation
early identification and assessment of disabilities in children
counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling
orientation and mobility services for blindness/low vision
medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes
school health services and school nurse services
social work services in schools
parent counseling and training

The national Center for Parent Information and Resources (parentcenterhub.org) provides additional information about each of these possible related services and what they might look like for a student receiving them as part of an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

IEP services start on Day 1 unless the student needs something different

Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) issued guidance in August 2022 to clarify that all parts of a student’s IEP begin with the start of school unless an IEP team has agreed to shift something to meet a student-centered need.

According to OSPI, “School districts are reminded that they cannot arbitrarily determine when special education and related services will begin or schedule them to begin after the start of the school year for some providers.”

OSPI’s guidance references a parent complaint and the state’s decision that schools cannot delay the start of certain services because of provider availability or district scheduling preferences. If it’s in the IEP, then the school is responsible to provide the service on all scheduled days that the student attends school. If services aren’t provided as scheduled by the IEP, then the IEP team can discuss how and when the student will receive compensatory services to make up the missed time.

Families have the right to file a complaint with the state if the school does not fully serve their student’s IEP. One option is the community complaint: PAVE provides a video describing that process. Another option is Due Process. The Procedural Safeguards describe all dispute resolution options that are free for families and protected rights under federal and state laws.

Options for therapeutic services through the Medicaid system

If a child needs specific therapies to meet medical needs, their insurance company is obligated to support those needs. For children younger than 21 with Medicaid (Apple Health in Washington), medical necessity is determined through assessments that are a protected benefit called Early Screening and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT). This screening process is overseen by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP).

For help navigating complex medical issues, families can request case management from their insurance provider. Calling the number on your insurance card and asking if there a form for requesting case management is a way to begin. Sometimes a case manager is automatically assigned if claims become complex and expensive.

Medical criteria are different than school criteria. While school-based services are built to support a student’s educational access, EPSDT determinations are made to support safety and health in the home and community. Here are examples:

Physical Therapy (PT) at school might support adapted physical education (PE) or help the student navigate the school building or curriculum. Outside of school, PT can support navigating the home, community, recreational activities, and more.
Speech/language services at school are tailored to help the student achieve goals on their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or access their curriculum. Outside of school, speech/language services can expand to support communication for daily living and might be paired with Occupational Therapy (OT), for example, to work on feeding issues, sensory aversions, breathing challenges, alternative communication systems, and more.

Services to support access to school, home, and community might intertwine, and the school district might choose to bill Medicaid for reimbursement, with the family’s signed consent.

TIP: If the school is going to bill insurance, families may want to find out if the insurance company has a reimbursement limit for the service. If the child is getting a similar service in and out of school, care coordination is important to make sure all the services will be paid. Insurance may be willing to pay for more services if it’s clear which are for school-based needs and which are medical. Those details also may be important to note if services are denied and the family wants to appeal the denial through a medical or special education complaint option.

What meets the standard of medical necessity?

The Washington Administrative Code (WAC 182-500-0070) describes medical necessity. If a service is likely to prevent, diagnose, or treat an identified condition that is causing major life impacts, then it may meet the standard. The WAC says medical necessity is:

“…a term for describing requested service which is reasonably calculated to prevent, diagnose, correct, cure, alleviate or prevent worsening of conditions in the client that endanger life, or cause suffering or pain, or result in an illness or infirmity, or threaten to cause or aggravate a handicap, or cause physical deformity or malfunction.”

The same WAC goes on to say that all federally funded insurance is obligated to pay for a service if it’s the most reasonable option available to serve the need. That standard is met when:

“There is no other equally effective, more conservative or substantially less costly course of treatment available or suitable for the client requesting the service.”

The same WAC also explains that a chosen course of treatment might mean a choice to track a condition through observation or offer no treatment. The WAC says:

“For the purposes of this section, ‘course of treatment’ may include mere observation or, where appropriate, no medical treatment at all.”

A medical specialist, therapist, or pediatrician might assess the child to determine whether a specific service is medically necessary. In some situations, a case manager from the state’s Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) may make the determination.

What about private insurance?

Families with insurance through an employer or the healthcare exchange will need to ask their provider for specific information about what therapeutic services are covered. A company’s human resources department is another place to ask about coverages and whether there is a choice of health plan with more allowable options. School-based services may be the only option for some, as medical parity laws do not protect all possible therapeutic services.

Here are a places to get support in understanding your health plan and navigating access to services:

Washington Health Plan Finder
Within Reach: ParentHelp123.org

Insurance denials for employer-based plans can be appealed through:

Washington State Department of Labor and Industries: 360-902-4817
Office of the Insurance Commissioner/Consumer Advocacy: 800-562-6900

PAVE’s Family to Family (F2F) Health Information Center provides additional information and resources through it’s website, Family Voices of Washington. Click Get Help at wapave.org to request individualized support.

Sample Letter to Request Evaluation

Posted on April 29, 2022February 6, 2024 by Nicol Walsh

Download the Sample Letter to Request Evaluation

A Brief Overview

Washington State requires special education referrals to be in writing (WAC 392-172A-03005). Anyone with knowledge of a student can write a referral.
The state provides a form for making a special education referral, downloadable from a website page titled, Making a Referral for Special Education. The form is not required—any written request is valid.
Schools are responsible to provide families with a referral form in their native language and to provide qualified interpreters so families can participate in all meetings to discuss their student’s special education eligibility and services.
Another option is to write a referral using the sample letter at the end of this article.
Evaluation process and family/student rights are described in the special education Procedural Safeguards, updated in 2022.

Full Article

When a student is struggling in school and there is reason to suspect the challenges are disability related, anyone can refer the student for an educational evaluation. If the evaluation shows that the student is eligible, services are provided through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Washington State requires special education referrals to be in writing (WAC 392-172A-03005).

If someone who knows the student asks for an evaluation, the school is responsible to:

Document the request
Record the date the referral was made
Provide a referral form in the person’s native language
Respond to the request within 25 school days

If the person asking for the evaluation cannot write, the school is responsible to support them to complete the referral.

The school must provide a referral form in the native language of the person making the request. Schools are required to provide qualified interpreters to support parent participation in the referral process and for all meetings where a student’s eligibility and/or educational services are discussed. See Parent Rights Information Sheets, downloadable in many languages.

Here’s a summary of evaluation timelines:

The school has 25 school days to respond to a referral.
After a parent/caregiver signs consent, the school has 35 school days to evaluate the student.
If eligibility is found, the school has 30 calendar days to write an IEP and seek parent/caregiver consent for services to begin.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the guidance agency for Washington State. OSPI provides a form for making a special education referral, downloadable from a website page titled, Making a Referral for Special Education. Families may use OSPI’s form, a form provided by their school, or their own choice of format to write their request for a student to be evaluated. PAVE’s sample letter at the end of this article is an option.

A non-discriminatory evaluation is part of the protections for a student with a known or suspected disability that may significantly impact their access to education (Child Find Mandate). Child Find protections are part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Child Find applies whether there are academic and/or non-academic school impacts.

PAVE provides more detail about IEP eligibility and evaluation process: Evaluations Part 1: Where to Start When a Student Needs Special Help at School.

The clock starts ticking when a request is made

The school has 25 school days after the initial request date to decide whether to evaluate the student who was referred. School days are days when students attend school. The school district lets the family know their decision through a formal letter called Prior Written Notice (PWN), which is described in the Washington Administrative Codes (WAC 392-172A-05010).

Often the school and family meet to discuss the referral and how the student is doing. If all agree to proceed with an evaluation, parents sign consent for the testing to begin. The family can ask questions about what the evaluation will include. Evaluating all areas of suspected disability and educational impact is important to learn as much as possible about the student’s strengths and needs. Information from the evaluation is used to build the services program if the student is found eligible for an IEP.

If the school says no to the evaluation and the family disagrees, they have dispute resolution options that are described in special education Procedural Safeguards, updated in 2022.

Parent consent is required

When the school agrees to evaluate the student, staff must promptly seek parent consent to begin the evaluation process (WAC 392-172A-03005).

Generally, parents sign a form that lists what the school will include in its evaluation. Parents can ask for additional areas to be evaluated to make sure the school gets data for all areas of concern. Families can ask for more information about what the evaluation will look like, where it will take place, how long it will take, and who will participate. The school and family can creatively plan the evaluation process if accommodations are needed. For example, if a student isn’t able to attend in-person school, the evaluation can be done in alternative locations.

After a parent signs consent, the school has 35 school days to finish the evaluation and meet with the family to talk about the results. The deadline may be extended if the family agrees, particularly to accommodate needs of the family or student.

The 35-day deadline does not apply if the student is unavailable for the evaluation or enrolls in another school district before the evaluation is finished (WAC 392-172A-03005).

For students found eligible for services, the school develops an IEP within 30 calendar days and requests parent consent for services to begin. The school and family meet to review a DRAFT version of the IEP and write a final version together before consent is signed. School staff provide a Prior Written Notice (PWN) with a summary of the meeting, agreements, and timelines before services start. PWN requirements are described in WAC 392-172A-05010.

Special Education is a service, not a location within the school

A request for a special education evaluation is NOT a recommendation to remove a student from the regular classroom and move them into an exclusive learning environment. Federal and state laws require that students receive education and services in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to the maximum extent possible to meet their needs.

Decisions about placement are made by the IEP team, which includes the family. The IEP team is responsible to consider the child’s circumstances and capacities as its top priority—not pre-built programs or district resources.

Special Education is a service, while LRE refers to placement. PAVE’s article provides further information: Special Education is a Service, Not a Place. Another article provides detail about parent participation in special education process: Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law.

Parents can appeal decisions and/or seek a 504 plan

If a student is evaluated and found not eligible for an IEP (or if the school refuses to do an evaluation), the family has the right to dispute the decision using Procedural Safeguards.

If they disagree with the district’s evaluation or its findings, the family may seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), which is done by an agency outside of the school district. The district must pay for an IEE or deny the request using Due Process. See PAVE’s article: Evaluations Part 2: Next Steps if the School Says ‘No’ to Your Request. The article includes a sample letter to request an IEE.

Another option if a student doesn’t get an IEP is to develop a Section 504 Plan, which accommodates a person with a disability that impacts a major life activity (learning, walking, speaking, writing, socializing…). Section 504 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities against discrimination throughout their lives. See PAVE’s article about Section 504 rights, which also protect students who qualify for an IEP: Section 504: A Plan for Equity, Access and Accommodations.

Sample letter for a special education referral

Below is a sample letter to write a request for a special education evaluation. You can copy and paste the text of this sample letter into your word processor to build your own letter.

The state provides an alternative form, downloadable from OSPI’s website page titled, Making a Referral for Special Education. Your school district is responsible to provide a form, in your language, for you to submit your written request. These formats are your choice—any written request is valid. If you cannot write, you can ask for an evaluation by telling the school and they can write the request with you.

Submit your written request through email, by mail, or by hand delivery, to the special education/special services manager at your school’s district office. You may submit additional copies to school administrators and/or a school psychologist—the person who manages evaluations for your school. Be sure to keep copies of all of your communications with the school in an organized, safe place.

Your Name
Your relationship to the student
Your phone number
Your email address

The date you submit the request

To: [name of person and/or district],

I am requesting a full and individual evaluation for NAME, (birth date: 00-00-0000), for assessment as a special education student as stipulated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, (IDEA, Public Law 108-446), and in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-172A). My child is being evaluated for the first time [or include information if student was previously evaluated or received IEP or Section 504 services].

My student attends [name of school] and is currently in [grade level]. We speak [language] in our home, and we need a qualified interpreter for all meetings where our child’s eligibility and services are discussed.

I have concerns that (NAME) is not receiving full educational benefit from school because of their struggles with [brief summary of biggest disability-related concern].

I understand that the evaluation is to be in all areas of suspected disability, and that the school district is to provide this evaluation at no charge to me. My reasons for requesting this evaluation are: [be as specific as you can/note that OSPI’s form suggests possible academic and physical/behavioral concerns]

Use bullet points.
Use bullet points.
Use bullet points.

Here are some areas where [name] is struggling:

Use bullet points.
Use bullet points.
Use bullet points.

Based on what I know about my student, here are some supports that I think are needed:

Use bullet points.
Use bullet points.
Use bullet points.

[Name] has been medically diagnosed with [Diagnoses, if available… Or you might write: Name is awaiting a medical evaluation for … Note that a medical diagnosis is not required for schools to conduct an educational evaluation and to find a student eligible for services].

I have attached documentation from [list any outside providers who provided letters or reports]. Please take note that [Dr. NAME] recommends [highlight any specific recommendations from those attached documents] because [reason].

I understand that I am an equal member of the team for development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and that I will be involved in any meetings related to evaluation, identification of disability, provision of services, placement, or other decisions regarding my child’s access to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). I would appreciate meeting with each person who will be doing an evaluation before [NAME] is tested so that I might share information and history. I will expect a copy of the written report generated by each evaluator so that I might review it before the team meeting.

I understand you must have my written permission for these tests to be administered, and I will be happy to provide that upon receipt of the proper forms.

I appreciate your help in behalf of [NAME].

Sincerely,

Your Name

CC: (Names and titles of other people you give copies to)

Please Note: PAVE is a nonprofit organization that provides information, training, individual assistance, and resources. PAVE is not a legal firm or legal service agency, and the information contained in this handout is provided for informing the reviewer and should not be considered as a means of taking the place of legal advice that must be obtained through an attorney. PAVE may be able to assist you in identifying an attorney in your area but cannot provide direct referrals. The contents of this handout were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education. The contents do not represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Government.

Behavior and School: How to Participate in the FBA/BIP Process

Posted on April 14, 2022February 22, 2023 by Nicol Walsh

This 2-part training has information about how to support a child’s behavior at school. When behavior gets in the way of learning, schools are responsible to figure out what the child is trying to communicate and to teach the child what to do instead.

PAVE’s accessible, fillable worksheet goes with the videos to help with behavior planning.

The process of figuring out why a child is acting out is called a Functional Behavioral Assessment—FBA for short. The first video in this 2-part series is about the FBA process.

A Behavior Intervention Plan—BIP for short—is a working document that the school and family build together and review regularly to make sure the child is supported with positive reinforcement and encouragement for meeting behavioral expectations. The second video in this 2-part series is about BIP development.

PAVE provides a Sample Letter to Request a Functional Behavioral Assessment to help families formally ask the school to assess their child’s behavior and consider how to thoughtfully build a behavior support plan.

Schools are guided by the state to use best practices when evaluating and serving students with special needs. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the state educational agency in Washington State. OSPI’s website is k12.wa.us. A page called Model Forms for Services to Students in Special Education has links to downloadable forms schools use to develop IEPs, Section 504 Plans, and more.

Here are links to OSPI’s model forms for:

After you view the video, please take a quick moment to complete our survey. Your feedback is valuable!

Sample Letter to Request a Functional Behavioral Assessment

Posted on April 14, 2022April 14, 2022 by Nicol Walsh

When a student’s behavior gets in the way of their learning and/or the learning of others, the school is responsible to figure out how to support behavioral expectations. One way to do that is to assess why the student might be acting out and use that information to consider how positive behavioral interventions might teach the student what to do instead.

The end of this article includes a sample letter to ask the school to begin a specific evaluation called a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA). Data from the FBA is used to build a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).

PAVE provides a video training called Behavior and School: How to Participate in the FBA/BIP Process.

Ideally a school will notice if a student’s behavior has patterns of disruption and begin the FBA/BIP process before a student with disabilities is disciplined. PAVE provides an article: What Parents Need to Know when Disability Impacts Behavior and Discipline at School.

A teacher or school administrator might alert parents and request consent to begin an FBA. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the state agency for Washington schools. OSPI provides guidance about discipline in a Technical Assistance Paper (TAP #2). Included are best practices for schools to follow when there are persistent behavioral concerns:

Develop behavioral goals in the Individualized Education Program (IEP)
Provide related services needed to achieve those behavioral IEP goals (specific therapies or counseling, for example)
Provide classroom accommodations, modifications and/or supplementary aids and supports (a 1:1 paraeducator, for example)
Provide support to the student’s teachers and service providers (staff training)
Conduct a reevaluation that includes a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
Develop a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP), as defined in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-172A-01031)

Manifestation Determination

If an FBA process begins after a student has been excluded from school through a disciplinary removal (suspension, expulsion, or emergency expulsion), families can review their procedural safeguards to understand rules related to a special education process called Manifestation Determination.

Here are the basics: When a behavior “manifests” (is directly caused by) a disability condition, then there is recognition that the student has limited fault for violating the student code of conduct. Management of behavior is part of the special education process. A Manifestation Determination meeting is to talk about how a student’s services can better serve their needs to prevent future behavioral episodes that are getting in the way of education.

Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) may not be excluded from their regular educational placement, due to discipline, for more than 10 days in a school year without the school and family holding a Manifestation Determination meeting. According to the Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-172A-05146),thestudent’s behavior is considered a manifestation of disability if the conduct was:

Caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the student’s disability
The direct result of the school district’s failure to implement student’s IEP

When these criteria are met, the school is responsible to review and amend the student’s services to ensure that the behaviors are addressed to prevent future escalations. If there isn’t a BIP, the school is required to develop one by initiating an FBA. If there is a BIP, the school is required to review and amend it to better serve the student’s needs.

Request FBA formally, in writing

Family caregivers can request an FBA/BIP process any time there are concerns that a student’s behavior is a barrier to their education. Families have the right to participate in all educational decision making for their students. See PAVE’s article: Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law.

Make any request for an evaluation in writing. This is important because:

There will be no confusion about how/when/why request was made.
The letter provides critical initial information about what is going on with the student.
The letter supports a written record of family/school interactions.

If the family wishes, they can attach information from outside providers with their request. For example, if an outside therapist or counselor has recommendations for behavioral interventions at school, the family has the option to share those. The school district is responsible to review all documents and respond with written rationale about how the information is incorporated into recommendations. Families may choose to disclose all, a portion, or none of a student’s medical information. Schools may not require disclosure of medical records.

Family caregivers/guardians must sign consent for any school evaluation to begin.

The FBA/BIP might prevent a shortened school day

According to OSPI, serving a student through a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is a priority. OSPI discourages schools from reducing the student’s schedule because of behaviors:

“District authorities should not use a shortened school day as an automatic response to students with challenging behaviors at school or use a shortened day as a form of punishment or as a substitute for a BIP. An IEP team should consider developing an IEP that includes a BIP describing the use of positive behavioral interventions, supports, and strategies reasonably calculated to address the student’s behavioral needs and enable the student to participate in the full school day.”

Special Education is a service, not a location within the school

Please note that a request for behavioral support is NOT a recommendation to remove a student from the regular classroom and move them into an exclusive learning environment. Federal and state laws require that students eligible for special education services receive their education in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to the maximum extent appropriate.

Special Education is a service, while LRE refers to placement. PAVE’s article provides further information: Special Education is a Service, Not a Place.

General education classrooms and spaces are the least restrictive. A child may be placed in a more restrictive setting if an IEP team, which includes family participants, determines that FAPE is not accessible even with specially designed instruction, accommodations, modifications, ancillary aids, behavioral interventions and supports, and other documented attempts to support a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) within the general education environment.

If the student was removed from their previous placement prior to a manifestation determination meeting, the school district is responsible to return the student to their placement unless the parent and school district agree to a different placement as part of the modification of the student’s services on their IEP and BIP.

Sample letter to request an FBA

Below is a sample letter family caregivers can use when requesting a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA). You can cut and paste the text into your choice of word processing program to help you start a letter that you can print and mail or attach to an email. Or you can build your letter directly into an email format. Be sure to keep a record of all requests and correspondence with the school.

Your Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Date

Name (if known, otherwise use title)
Title/Director of Special Education/Special Services Program Coordinator
School District
Street Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Name (if known, otherwise use district person’s title):

I am requesting a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) for my [child, son, daughter], NAME, (BD: 00-00-0000).

I have concerns that (NAME) is not receiving full educational benefit from school because of their struggles to meet behavioral expectations due to their disability circumstances. Their condition includes [brief summary of any diagnoses], which makes it difficult to [brief summary of the challenges]. I believe this has become a pattern of behavior that needs to be addressed with a positive behavioral support plan so my child with special educational needs can receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

I understand that the FBA will look for triggers and seek to understand what is happening in the environment when my child’s behaviors become problematic. I have learned that these are “antecedents” that the school can identify through data tracking. I hope we can begin to understand how [name] may be trying to communicate their needs through these behaviors. Here are some of my thoughts about what might be going on:

Use bullet points if the list is long.
Use bullet points if the list is long.
Use bullet points if the list is long.

I look forward to discussing the results of the FBA and working with school staff on development of a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP). I hope we can choose a small number of target behaviors to focus on in the BIP. I understand that we will work together to identify replacement behaviors that the school can teach [name] to do instead. I hope these will be skills we can work on at home also. I look forward to learning how we can partner to encourage the learning that I know [name] is capable of.

I have attached documentation from [any outside providers/therapists/counselors who may have provided letters or reports or shared behavioral recommendations].

I understand that I am an equal member of the team for development of educational services and that I will be involved in any meetings where decisions are made regarding my child’s access to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). I will also expect a copy of the FBA and a draft of the BIP before our meeting.

I understand you must have my written permission for this assessment to be administered, and I will be happy to provide that upon receipt of the proper forms.

I appreciate your help in behalf of [child’s name]. If you have any questions please call me at [telephone number] or email me at [email address, optional].

Sincerely,

Your Name

CC: (Names and titles of anyone else you give copies to)

You can email this letter or send it by certified mail (keep your receipt), or hand carry it to the district office and get a date/time receipt. Remember to keep a copy of this letter and all school-related correspondence for your records. Get organized with a binder or a filing system that will help you keep track of all letters, meetings, conversations, etc. These documents will be important for you and your child for many years to come, including when your child transitions out of school.

Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law

Posted on March 15, 2022March 21, 2022 by Nicol Walsh

A Brief Overview

Schools are required to accommodate parents to ensure their attendance and participation at meetings where their child’s special education services are discussed. Those rights are affirmed in a court decision from 2013: Doug C. Versus Hawaii.
A meeting that includes family is a higher priority than a renewal deadline.
If a deadline is missed, a student’s IEP services continue uninterrupted while meeting schedules are arranged to include family participation. The student’s eligibility does not expire.
The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) describes the participation rights of parents (WAC 392-172A-05001).
Failure to accommodate parent access to meetings when a child’s eligibility or services are discussed is a denial of the student’s right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

Full Article

Parents have the right to participate in all meetings where a student’s special education services are discussed. Those rights are protected by federal and state laws.

Students have a right to attend meetings about their school services at any age. Schools must invite students once their Individualized Education Program (IEP) includes a Transition Plan—a legal requirement by the school year when a student turns 16. The student is not required to attend but must be invited and accommodated to participate if they choose to.

A court decision in 2013 includes statements that family rights are more important than other legal requirements, such as renewal deadlines. More information about that case, Doug C. Versus Hawaii, is included later in this article.

Accessibility is a right

When inviting families to participate in meetings, the school is required to accommodate their needs related to scheduling, language access, parent or student disability, or something else. If a parent is ill, for example, the school is responsible to wait until the parent is well enough to meet. The school is responsible to provide a meeting format to meet the family’s needs, including through in person, virtual, or telephone attendance with any interpretation services needed for full participation.

IEP eligibility and services do not lapse or expire because the school delayed a meeting to accommodate the family. If a deadline is missed, a student’s services continue uninterrupted while meeting schedules are arranged to include family participation.

Here are examples of meetings where a parent/guardian must be invited and accommodated to participate:

Referral meeting to discuss whether to evaluate a student for eligibility
Evaluation review meeting
IEP meeting
Placement meeting
Transition conference to discuss moving into a new school or level of school (preschool into kindergarten, for example)
Meeting to discuss a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) or Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)
Meetings related to discipline, truancy, or complaints about Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB)
Any other meeting where school-based services are discussed

What does the state say about parent rights to participate?

The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) describes the participation rights of parents (WAC 392-172A-05001).

The WAC explains that schools are not required to invite parents for “informal or unscheduled conversations involving school district personnel and conversations on issues such as teaching methodology, lesson plans, or coordination of service provision. A meeting also does not include preparatory activities that school district personnel engage in to develop a proposal or response to a parent proposal that will be discussed at a later meeting.”

The WAC includes information about a parent’s right to visit school: “A parent of a student eligible for special education services may request permission to observe their student’s current educational placement, and to observe any educational placement proposed or under consideration either by a parent or a group that makes decisions on the educational placement of the parent’s child, in accordance with applicable school district policy and state law.”

Here is a key statement from the WAC related to parent participation:

“The parents of a student eligible for special education services must be afforded an opportunity to participate in meetings with respect to the identification, evaluation, educational placement and the provision of FAPE to the student.”

What is FAPE?

The statement above includes the word FAPE. FAPE stands for Free Appropriate Public Education. FAPE is what a student with a disability is entitled to receive. The school district is responsible to deliver FAPE.

The district must ensure that students with disabilities receive accessible, equitable, and appropriate services: All are elements of FAPE. PAVE provides a video training with more information about these key features of student rights: Student Rights, IEP, Section 504, and More.

An IEP provides FAPE through specially designed instruction and goal setting, progress monitoring, supplementary aids and services, accommodations, a thoughtfully chosen placement, and more. The IEP team meets to discuss all of this and make sure FAPE is being provided. Parents are equal partners for discussing all aspects of a student’s education.

TIP: Ask for a draft copy of the IEP or any other documents that will be discussed with enough time to review them before a meeting. The draft IEP is unfinished until it’s been reviewed and finalized in a team meeting that includes family participation.

Families have always been a priority under the law

The collaborative process of an IEP team that includes the family has been part of special education since federal laws were written to protect a student’s right to receive an education designed just for them. Parent participation is one of six primary principles of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Here’s more language that describes FAPE: The IEP must be “reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.”

This phrase—progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances—comes from another court decision, referred to as Endrew F. That Supreme Court decision established that meaningful progress must be tracked and monitored, and that the IEP must be adjusted if meaningful progress isn’t being made.

The IEP meeting is where families participate in tracking and monitoring that progress. Parents contribute important information about the progress or unmet needs of their children. Their observations provide critical information for team decision-making, and the federal laws were written to acknowledge the value of those contributions. That’s why parent participation is required for FAPE

TIP: Here’s a way to talk about parent rights within the process of special education: Failure to accommodate parent access to meetings when a child’s eligibility or services are discussed is a denial of FAPE.

What if parents cannot attend a meeting by the required renewal deadline?

Legal protections for students and families require a timely process. Schools are responsible to host a meeting that includes the family to update a student’s IEP at least every year. The IEP lists an “annual renewal date” on its cover page.

The school is also responsible to re-evaluate the student at least every three years to determine ongoing eligibility and to ensure that information about the student’s strengths and needs is up-to-date and the student is appropriately served through the IEP.

Sometimes there is a conflict when an evaluation or IEP renewal date sneaks up on the team and meetings aren’t scheduled early enough to accommodate the family and meet the deadline. It’s also possible that a family emergency or illness could prevent their timely participation.

In those situations, federal law has made it clear that the family’s participation is more important than the re-evaluation or IEP renewal deadline. The school can document the reason that the deadline is delayed, and a student’s services can continue without interruption until the meeting happens with family participants.

A student’s IEP eligibility does not expire because an evaluation is delayed, and the IEP does not lapse. Families can share this article and information about the federal court ruling if there is confusion.

What did Doug C. Versus Hawaii say?

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision on June 13, 2013, that reversed rulings by lower courts. The final ruling meant that the school in Hawaii was held accountable for having an IEP meeting without a parent.

The court explained that schools must include parents at meetings unless they “affirmatively refused to attend.” Other legal language uses the phrase “good faith effort” to describe how schools must attempt to include families.

In the case of Doug C., the court found the school did not try hard enough to include the parent. In a hearing, the parent was able to share documentation showing he had provided the school with explanations each time he was unable to attend a meeting at the school’s suggested time and location. One documented explanation was that he was ill. In that case, the school held the meeting without him because they believed the IEP was about to “expire.”

The court said this rationale was based on a flawed premise. Earlier court rulings already had found that services do not end because an IEP renewal deadline is missed.

In its decision, the court stated, “Parental participation is key to the operation of the IDEA for two reasons: Parents not only represent the best interests of their child in the IEP development process; they also provide information about the child critical to developing a comprehensive IEP and which only they are in a position to know.”

A place to get more information about court rulings related to special education is Wrightslaw.com. A Wrightslaw analysis of Doug C. Versus Hawaii includes a question-and-answer summary of the case. Here are highlights from that information:

Question: If a meeting is held after an annual renewal deadline, do IEP services lapse?

Answer: No. A child’s IEP does not lapse. Continuing to provide services based on the most recent IEP does not deny FAPE or “deprive a student of any educational benefit,” the court determined. The court further explained that there is no basis for assuming a school cannot provide services for a student whose annual IEP review is overdue.

Question: If there are scheduling conflicts, is priority given to school staff or the parent?

Answer: Priority is given to the parent. The court stated, “The attendance of [the]. . . parent, must take priority over other members’ attendance . . . an agency cannot exclude a parent from an IEP meeting in order to prioritize its representatives’ schedules.”

Question: If the school has a meeting without the parent, can they make it okay by having another meeting within 30 days?

Answer: No. The court found that parental involvement after-the-fact is not enough because “the IDEA contemplates parental involvement in the creation process.”

Question: If a school district violates a procedural safeguard, such as parental involvement in meetings, does there need to be another finding of fault to show denial of FAPE? For example, would a court need to show that a child wasn’t receiving meaningful educational benefit from the services?

Answer: No. The court does not need to determine a second violation. The denial of a parent’s right to participate in meetings is a violation of FAPE.

A parent’s right to participate in IEP process is part of the Procedural Safeguards that are written into the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Schools are responsible for sharing a copy of the Procedural Safeguards at every formal meeting or whenever a parent requests them.

A copy of the Procedural Safeguards is downloadable from the website of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). An OSPI page titled Parent and Student Rights lists multiple translated versions of the Procedural Safeguards available for download.

Procedural Safeguards: How to File a Special Education Complaint

Posted on March 15, 2022March 15, 2022 by Nicol Walsh

This training has information about parent rights and describes a process for filing a community complaint. When parents believe their child’s school has done something inappropriate related to the Individualized Education Program—their IEP—filing a complaint is one option available.

This training will help you know where to get a community complaint form and walks you through a pretend situation to demonstrate use of the form. The community complaint process is a no-cost option for families of children who receive special education services.

For more information and to access the community complaint form in your language, visit the website of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the state educational agency for Washington State. To find the form, click on the question, “Is there a form for filing a community complaint?” The drop-down menu provides language options to download the form.

After you view the video, please take a quick moment to complete our survey. Your feedback is valuable!

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Tag: School

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The Importance of Fathers and Father Figures

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A Brief Overview

Full Article

Evaluations Part 1: Where to Start When a Student Needs Special Help at School

Advocacy Tips for Parents

Life After High School: Tools for Transition

Sample Letter to Request Evaluation

Sample Letter to Request a Functional Behavioral Assessment

Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law

Procedural Safeguards: How to File a Special Education Complaint