The Law is Generous to Students with Learning Disabilities; the Authorities are often Not
If anyone wants information on special education, they should probably have a chat with my friend Teresa, who with her 18-year-old son Matthew, has probably seen more of the world of special education resources than anyone else - offices, counselors, the rule books, the ins and outs. Her son, when he was born, had congenital orthopedic developmental problems and some urological deficiencies as well. When he was in elementary school, new problems seemed to surface each day. They were able to put a name to a couple: he had ADHD, and he had terrible dyslexia. And Matthew's mother soldiered through the whole process, battling the system, trying every possible way to bring the boy every kind of therapy that would help him with a fair chance in life. What she discovered was that as well as it was that students with learning disabilities had the right of subsidized or free services in the public school system to help with their situation, those services aren't ever handed to a child on a platter. They are always hard-won. If you don't have the resources you need to send your child to a private school, you do need to be as pushy and as wily as Teresa had to be.
The thing is, Teresa's struggles aren't the exception: they are the rule. When parents of students with learning disabilities finally make it out of the woods after 12 years of struggling with the public education system, they feel they've really achieved something - like they just succeeded in wringing blood out of a stone. More than 5% of all school children in this country, millions actually, wait on the public education system for help with special education needs. And the government spends thousands of dollars for each child each year. They know that if they don't, society will be burdened with far more in the end.
The responsibility of the federal government in helping students with learning disabilities is laid out in The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the theme it works on is a pretty inspiring one - every child with learning disabilities in the nation is to be granted an education that is appropriate, and is to be granted that in an environment of the greatest freedom possible. The law doesn't make it the responsibility of the system to find out what best suits your child though - it is up to you to find out which among the resources available to your child, would work the best.
The very first step you need to take in all of this is to really understand what rights you have, and what services you have a right to demand. Those rights and services happen to be pretty far-reaching. For instance, you can demand that the school system prescribe a free learning disability evaluation for your child; and you can demand a reevaluation anytime you want. And when the results come, according to the law, you the parent are an important part of the team that decides on the direction your child's education will take - you, along with a special education instructor, a representative of the school district, a teacher of your child's, and a school administrator. The law not only makes sure that nothing is thrust upon you, it states that you have an absolute right to demand a custom-made plan for your child, that is formed in consultation with an expert. For students with learning disabilities - you could ask for occupational therapy, speech therapy or even a full time personal nurse in the classroom for your child - you have the right, if you can demonstrate to them that valid medical opinion requires it.
More often than not, either willfully or out of ignorance, the school district will assert that you do not have the right to lots of these services. You'll need to download and print out a copy of the law if you wish to go and speak to them about demanding a new service for your child. They might argue that he only needs occupational therapy twice a week, and you would prefer four times. If you see that your child isn't progressing on the experts' plan as well as they hoped, you have the rights to right away demand a reevaluation of the whole arrangement. As much as the school district has experts on the law, they don't really care for your child as much as you do. If you read up on the law as much as they need to, there's really no questioning your authority. You'd know what was best for your child.