Individual Education Program
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et.seq. is the primary law that provides for the education of children with disabilities. It directs schools to create an Individual Education Program for students with disabilities when their disabilities interfere with academic achievement and performance.
IDEA defines "a child with a disability as a child with intellectual disability, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this chapter as ‘emotional disturbance’), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities."
The child must need special education and services because of the disability. A specific learning disability is identified through neuropsychological testing and "means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoke or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations." 20 U.S.C. §1401, 30A.
Contact Us for Consultation
The definition of specific learning disability includes perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. Federal law requires that schools identify children with disabilities. Additionally, parents have the right to request that the school test their child for disabilities. IDEA was created to protect children and support their education towards independence.