Parents of children with disabilities are finding it important to learn about the changes in the law and regulations and to understand how they affect their child. For example, parents should know that new Individualized Education Program (IEP) requirements in IDEA '97 were in effect for all IEPs reviewed or developed on or after July 1, 1998.
While it is difficult to summarize all the changes in IDEA '97 and the final regulations, a sampling of issues, which may be of particular importance to parents, follows:
***Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have been added to the list of conditions that could make a child eligible for special education services under the "other health impaired" category.
***Children may be eligible for special education, even if they are progressing from grade to grade. Previously, some schools considered children not to be eligible for services because they passed to the next grade.
***Children cannot be determined eligible for services based solely on limited English proficiency or lack of instruction in reading or math.
***Evaluations must identify all of the child's needs for special education and related services, even if those needs are not commonly linked to the disability under which a child has been found eligible for services (services must be based on need, not disability category).
~For example, schools cannot exclude a child who has learning disabilities from instruction in behavior management assistance in those areas.
Parents input is a source of information to use in etermining a child's elgibility for services.
