The “Red Flags” for Child Find under the IDEA: Separating the Law from the Lore

This article provides a systematic and impartial analysis of the law, including hearing and review officer as well as judicial decisions, specific to the intersection of response to intervention (RTI) and school districts’ ongoing affirmative obligation of child find. The results reveal that this intersection has not been the subject of particularly frequent adjudication and that the majority of the rulings have been in favor of school districts. At a more nuanced level, however, the analysis suggests that the outcomes of such litigation depend on various factors, including the effective implementation of RTI with overriding attention to the two defining dimensions of child find—reasonable suspicion of eligibility and reasonable period for evaluation. Finally, the applicable legislation, regulations, and case law thus far is relatively limited in the scope and specificity of its prescriptive requirements, leaving ample latitude for prudent professional discretion.

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Ethical Challenges: Less About Moral Wrongdoing and More About Communication Breakdown

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero20.3.72 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 72-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paula Leslie ◽

Mary Casper

Keyword(s):

Ethical Challenges ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

Thickened Liquids ◽

Communication Breakdown ◽

Professional Duty ◽

Language Pathology ◽

The Law ◽

Personal Case

“My patient refuses thickened liquids, should I discharge them from my caseload?” A version of this question appears at least weekly on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Community pages. People talk of respecting the patient's right to be non-compliant with speech-language pathology recommendations. We challenge use of the word “respect” and calling a patient “non-compliant” in the same sentence: does use of the latter term preclude the former? In this article we will share our reflections on why we are interested in these so called “ethical challenges” from a personal case level to what our professional duty requires of us. Our proposal is that the problems that we encounter are less to do with ethical or moral puzzles and usually due to inadequate communication. We will outline resources that clinicians may use to support their work from what seems to be a straightforward case to those that are mired in complexity. And we will tackle fears and facts regarding litigation and the law.

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Red Flags: Barriers to Listening and Spoken Language in Children with Hearing Loss

Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood ◽

10.1044/hhdc24.1.11 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 11-18

Author(s):

Andrea Bell ◽

K. Todd Houston

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Skill Acquisition ◽

Dynamic Process ◽

Spoken Language ◽

Red Flags ◽

Careful Monitoring ◽

Auditory Development ◽

Children With Hearing Loss ◽

Family Centered

To ensure optimal auditory development for the acquisition of spoken language, children with hearing loss require early diagnosis, effective ongoing audiological management, well fit and maintained hearing technology, and appropriate family-centered early intervention. When these elements are in place, children with hearing loss can achieve developmental and communicative outcomes that are comparable to their hearing peers. However, for these outcomes to occur, clinicians—early interventionists, speech-language pathologists, and pediatric audiologists—must participate in a dynamic process that requires careful monitoring of countless variables that could impact the child's skill acquisition. This paper addresses some of these variables or “red flags,” which often are indicators of both minor and major issues that clinicians may encounter when delivering services to young children with hearing loss and their families.

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