Survey Says…

 

Only 8% of parents felt like their kids were progressing while schools were closed this spring, and 49% reported regression.

 

39% of families said that they felt they didn't have enough time to really do distance learning, the way it was supposed to be, or they hoped it would be done, and there was a lot of guilt about it.

 

69% of parents said their districts were delivering some kind of special education services.

Of that 69%, many people wrote in that the services were very minimal. They were far less than what was in the IEP.

 

Many schools just sent home paper packets that parents were to implement, and that was what constituted special education.  For others, their child's special education services only consisted of weekly check-ins with the teacher.

 

Diane Willcutts, an education advocate in Connecticut, wrote a survey and with the assistance of Pete Wright, distributed it to parents to obtain some data on what distance learning looked like in April 2020.

 

Over 3,200 parents responded from 49 states and the District of Columbia.  To her surprise, families wrote over 10,000 comments on the 11 question survey!

 

Most reports from families stated that COVID-19 distance learning was a bit chaotic and unpredictable. Only 38% of parents reported that their students got any kind of synchronous instruction, real-time instruction with a teacher.

 

You can catch the replay here OR listen to the podcast version of this show here.

 

We know the bar has to be raised for the fall.

As Diane said, "We don't get to suspend all the civil and educational rights of students with disabilities, just because of some natural disaster. We have to figure it out."

What are some things that can be changed for the 2020-2021 school year?

1. Staff training on effective ways of teaching online and training on how to use the online software. 

Did this happen this summer in your school district?

2. Parent training on supporting learning at home and how to use all the technology required for distance learning. 
 

Has anyone in your school district told you there's an option to write both teacher and parent training in IEPs?

 

3. Students actually receive instruction from general education, special education teachers, and related service providers.

Would you like your child's IEP to be amended so specific language is added to describe the services and supports your child will get this next school year?

4. Students who cannot return to the school building and whom online learning was not successful last spring will still have the education they are entitled to.

Has anyone from your school district said what other instructional options the district has trained teachers on this summer?

5. IEP teams need to meet to discuss compensatory services if your child is eligible for it, and what are the options for how compensatory education will be delivered.

Have you heard any information from your district about compensatory services?

6. IEP teams need to also meet to review your child's current IEP and make necessary amendments for distance learning and to ensure your child's last in-school IEP would be the operative IEP unless the IEP team agrees otherwise.

 

Have you made a written request for an IEP meeting to occur within the first 30 calendar days of the school year?

 

Yes, our work continues. 

 

The good news is you don't have to do it alone. 

 

I would love to sit down with you and have time to talk on the phone (no charge) about your child's current situation.  We can talk about the next steps you can take to make this Back To School time as smooth as possible.  Click here to pick a 30 minute time when you can have a free phone consultation with me.

 

 

Thurs. July 23rd, 2020 

Our Fight For Disability Rights -- And Why We're Not Done Yet
We'll watch Judy Heumann's TED Talk together and discuss disability rights.

Judy Heumann has been a disability activist for several decades. She had polio as a baby and uses a wheelchair. You may have seen her recently on the Netlix movie The Crip Camp.  You may have also read her just released book, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.
 

In 1977 she led a 28 day "504 Sit In" at the federal building in San Francisco when there were still no regulations in place for the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The sit in was a success and many of the protections under Section 504 laid the groundwork for the American with Disabilities Act.

Judy Heumann was the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services at the US Dept. of Ed. from 1993 - 2001. She was the Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the US Dept. of State from 2010 - 2017.

Needless to say, she has been an active leader for disability rights, has seen the evolution, and knows we aren't done yet.

As we get ready to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26th I thought it would be perfect to learn from Judy Heumann as we watch her TED Talk together.