Assistive Technology: Legal Issues for Students with Disabilities and Their Schools

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Neibaur Day ◽  
Dixie Snow Huefner

This paper provides an analysis of federal policy, legislation, and adjudication related to assistive technology for students with disabilities. The authors review the expanded mandate for assistive technology in IDEA 1997 and its implications, including associated costs and benefits of assistive technology. Recent federal court decisions, hearing decisions, and Section 504 rulings that address assistive technology are discussed. School district responsibilities are explored, and recommendations are offered to special education professionals and parents who have children who may benefit from assistive technology devices and services.

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
James O. Tate

This article reviews court decisions and compliance issues of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 1997, that impact rural public school special education programs. IDEA funding, alternative placement options, and qualitative standard requirements. Select elements of the IDEA 1997 Amendments are of particular importance to rural schools. Those elements are funding compliance requirements, changes in the identification and evaluation of eligible students with disabilities, and the qualitative standards required for providing special education and related services. Rural schools do not receive special compliance exemptions under the IDEA. The article presents court decisions in which litigation has produced guidelines for school administrators regarding use of resources, accommodations, modifications, and qualitative standards in rural special education programs.


1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Block ◽  
Patricia L. Krebs

The concept of least restrictive environments (LRE), originally conceived by Deno (1970) and Reynolds (1962) to advocate for a range of special education placements for children with disabilities, has become synonymous with a continuum of physical education placement options for students with disabilities. Many models have been presented over the years. Options range from full-time regular physical education in a regular school to full-time adapted physical education in a special school or facility, with various placement options in between. The emphasis of these models is on varying the placement to meet the needs of the student with disabilities. Taylor (1988) has identified several flaws to the concept of LRE placement options. In addition, many special education professionals advocate placing all students with disabilities in regular education with varying levels of support (e.g., Stainback & Stainback, 1990). This paper discusses an alternative to the traditional continuum of LRE placement options. This new model presents a continuum of support which emphasizes how much and what type of assistance is provided to a particular student with disabilities that will enable him/her to succeed in regular physical education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Rachel Grimsby

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine three elementary music teacher’s perceptions of preparation to work with students with disabilities. Research questions included the following: How do elementary general music teachers define preparedness for working with students with disabilities? What challenges do elementary general music teachers face in their work with students with disabilities? What resources do general music teachers identify as helpful? Based on major themes that emerged from the analysis, I concluded general music teachers need more preservice preparation and ongoing professional development focused on students with disabilities, more time to collaborate with special education professionals, more consistent communications and recommendations about how to work with students who have disabilities, and access to assistive technologies.


2003 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Stough

Special education has been part of the Costa Rican public education system for more than 60 years. Approximately 10% of the 75,000 students who receive special services have a severe disability; however, there is a chronic shortage of personnel trained to educate students with significant educational needs. In the last 5 years, Costa Rica has promulgated four educational service models that extend special education expertise: Consulting teachers, educational assistance teams, itinerant teams, and resource centers. These models more equitably distribute the technical skills and knowledge of special education professionals throughout the country. In addition, the Department of Special Education has developed a pragmatic educational classification system that describes the level of modifications required by students with disabilities, rather than one that is driven by their diagnostic label. Few publications have been written about special education in Costa Rica. This is the first historical overview of the development of inclusion in this country.


2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason C. Travers

Special education professionals are charged with using evidence-based practices, but various unproven, disproven, and pseudoscientific interventions continue to proliferate. Unproven and ineffective interventions emerge and are adopted for various reasons. Ineffective interventions are inevitably harmful and require professionals to adopt a conservative approach that both minimizes potential for harm and maximizes potential for educational benefit. This is fundamental to the evidence-based movement, but special education professionals may not recognize and avoid ineffective interventions. This article aims to improve recognition of potentially ineffective interventions by shedding light on aspects of science, pseudoscience, and some mistakes frequently made in evaluating claims of intervention effectiveness. By becoming familiar with the distinctions between science and pseudoscience, and by developing an understanding of how errors in thinking are used to promote and defend interventions unsupported by empirical evidence, special education professionals can better protect their students with disabilities from potential harms associated with ineffective practices.


2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lissa Power-deFur ◽  
Perry Flynn

Abstract The role of the speech-language pathologist to enable the academic success of students with speech-language impairments using the standards and general curriculum is well established (Haskell, 2004; Power-deFur, 2010; Wallach, 2008). The Common Core Standards Initiative (2011a) emphasizes that “students with disabilities…must be challenged to excel within the general curriculum” (p. 1). The key for the success of students with disabilities is how special education professionals use the standards to enable the success of students with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to provide an approach for using the standards to identify appropriate targets and design intervention.


2015 ◽  
Vol 166 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-245
Author(s):  
Willi Zimmermann ◽  
Kathrin Steinmann ◽  
Eva Lieberherr

Annual review of Swiss forest policy 2014 Swiss forest policy in 2014 was marked by the passage of the Federal Council's message and draft of an amendment of the Forest Law, which was also treated by the Council of State's Commission for Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy and by the Council of State itself. This revision affects more than 20 articles of the current Forest Law. Despite these numerous alterations, the revision has not caused major debates. The forest-relevant parliamentary interventions decreased drastically in 2014, but since the beginning of 2015 a countertrend is notable. The forest budget remained practically the same as in previous years. The number of federal court decisions in relation to the forest sector has stayed small. Yet there are increasingly significant cantonal court decisions in this domain. In terms of broader forest policy, the public administration has mainly undertaken new standpoints regarding spatial planning and energy policies.


2012 ◽  
Vol 163 (5) ◽  
pp. 145-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willi Zimmermann

Annual review of Swiss forest policy 2011 The revision of the Forest Act, the adoption of the Forest Programme 2020 by the Federal Council as well as the preparation of the second contribution period of the New System of Financial Equalisation and Division of Tasks between the Confederation and the Cantons (NFE) shaped, in addition to the routine business, the forest policy of 2011. The parliamentary initiatives on forest and forest policy issues remained of about the same amount as in previous years, while the Federal Court decisions on forest legislation have declined significantly. In various forest-related sectoral policies, the government and parliament made important decisions. In climate policy, the Parliament adopted the CO2 Law. However, this has not yet happened to the revision of the Spatial Planning Act. In nature and landscape policy, the administration has prepared the Swiss biodiversity strategy so far that the Federal Council could send it out for consultation. The revision of the Hunting Regulation, with changes in the management of large carnivores, is nearing adoption. At the international level, the Federal Council has submitted the European Landscape Convention to the Parliament for ratification, and the European forestry ministers have agreed to the preparation of a European Forest Convention.


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