Summary
For more than 25 years, this classic guide has taken parents, guardians, educational advocates, and special educators step-by-step through the special education process. Now revised and updated, reflecting the latest changes to the special education laws, NEGOTIATING THE SPECIAL EDUCATION MAZE continues to provide thorough, time-tested advice based on the authors’ years of experience helping parents advocate for their child.
The book covers all the crucial components parents and advocates need to consider from anticipating a child is not succeeding in a program or school to seeking an evaluation; from planning an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), to understanding classroom placement options and monitoring progress.
Key topics include:
- Eligibility for services
- Understanding the IEP process
- How to write effective goals
- Tips on participating in IEP meetings
- Making sure IEPs are carried out and effective
The new fourth edition provides expanded information on:
- Transitioning from high school to adult life
- Employment
- Independent living
- Self-advocacy
- Continuing education
- Required statewide assessments for all students
- Problem solving disagreements between families and schools
- Due process and other legal recourses
Invaluable forms and charts help parents plan their IEP strategy, keep records and key contacts, log conversations and correspondence with important players, and track progress. This guide is one of the best tools available for understanding how to navigate the special education maze!
Reviews
“While this is a wonderful, step by step guide for families who have a child with a disability, it is also an essential guide and resource for teachers and administrators in both regular education as well as special education. Not only will they be better informed about the law, they will also have a much better understanding of what families go through as they learn to manage the special education system. This should be mandatory reading for all teachers-to-be at the pre-service level.”
-Sue Ferguson, Chair, National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE)
"Children with special education needs are a glory and a challenge. This book is a must to appreciate both."
-Ben Bradlee, former Executive Editor, The Washington Post
“What a pleasure to see a fourth edition of this very useful book. It's a resource families will return to often as they navigate the education system, services, procedures, policies, and opportunities. Negotiating the Special Education Maze is a personal guide, knowledgeable of the education system and understanding of the family's role and concerns; taking your hand and walking through the halls with you as you find your way to all the opportunities schools have to offer your child.”
-Suzanne Ripley, Ph.D., Director, National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Beginning the Journey--A Plan for the Trip
Chapter 2: People and Procedures--Charting Your Course
Chapter 3: You and Your Child--Strengthening Exercises for the Journey
Chapter 4: Referral and Evaluation--Which Way to Go
Chapter 5: The Evaluation Process--Navigation Survival Tips
Chapter 6: The Eligibility Decision--A Turning Point
Chapter 7: The Individualized Education Program--Road Maps, Sign Posts, One-Way Streets
Chapter 8: Placement: Crossroads and Intersections--Which Way to Go?
Chapter 9: The Individualized Education Program Meeting--Choosing the Route Forward
Chapter 10: Checking Up--Making Sure You’re Going in the Right Direction
Chapter 11: Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers—A Place to Start
Chapter 12: Transition--Pathways to the Future
Chapter 13: Transition Plans--Mapping the Rest of the Journey
Chapter 14: Resolving Disagreements—Detours
Chapter 15: Protection Against Discrimination--Alternative Routes through the Maze
Chapter 16: Looking Back at the Special Education Maze--Does the Journey Ever End?
Glossary
Resources
Index
