Parenting Children With Special Needs (continued)

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Public Law 99–457, enacted in 1986, has also influenced the assistance provided to families with exceptional children. It requires states to establish comprehensive multidisciplinary approaches to provide early intervention to infants and toddlers with special needs. It extends the ages of children being served from birth through age 25, emphasizing a focus for services during the prekindergarten years. This law requires that individualized family service plans (IFSP) be provided to children with special needs. An IFSP is written for each child between birth and age 3 by a multidisciplinary group of professionals and the parents. It includes the following: (1) an assessment of the child’s present level of functioning and developmental status; (2) a statement of the family’s strengths and needs in facilitating the child’s developmental progress; (3) a list of goals and objectives for the child’s progress; (4) the means by which the child is expected to achieve these goals and objectives or the experiences that will promote their accomplishment; (5) the means by which the child will be transitioned from early intervention experiences into a preschool program; (6) the time frame during which these will be provided; and (7) the name of the child’s case manager.

In 1991, another federal law, Public Law 102–52, provided states with an additional 2 years to develop systems to serve eligible children with special needs. Public Law 102–119, also enacted in 1991, reaffirmed the early intervention approach to the 1975 Education of the Handicapped Act and strengthened the involvement of families in the educational process of children with special needs.

Taken together, all of these laws comprise the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Turnbull & Cilley, 1999). In complying with this legislation, states have established an Interagency Coordinating Council that oversees the delivery of early intervention services to families and children with special needs. Families are protected from having to advocate individually for their children with special needs, as each state is required to provide a state education representative. This person has sufficient authority to actively provide policy planning and implementation for children with special needs and their families.

The IDEA has not sailed through Congress without hitches. There have been disagreements about providing for the costs of these services to individuals and families and resistance to policies relating to disciplining children with special needs at school. President Clinton was finally able to sign the legislation authorizing the IDEA in 1997. In its finalized form, this legislation: (1) reduces incentives to segregate students with special needs, (2) increases federal funding for services, (3) increases the involvement of teachers and parents in developing IEPs for children, (4) generally increases the flexibility of states to provide services, (5) affirms the importance of classroom discipline for all students, and (6) enhances the provision of services to infants and toddlers.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (also known as the No Child Left Behind law) contains provisions that address the needs of exceptional children in supplementing other legislation. This legislation, considered controversial by some observers (see http://www.nea.org/esea/), allows school districts to provide programming that may increase parental involvement, reallocate financial resources to provide research-based curricula, and heighten accountability of instruction. This law also permits children with disabilities to become classified as having cognitive disabilities, which qualifies special education classrooms and programs for financial assistance.

Community Services.

The kinds of services needed to assist exceptional children and their families often depend on the age and specific problems of the child. Some problems become evident long before a child enters the public school system. In some instances, these problems are noticed at birth or when expected developmental progress fails to occur within the months or years after birth. It is also not unusual for problems to be discovered through special screening activities that regularly occur in many communities. When infants and young children are seen on a regular basis by a physician or health care professional, the doctor or nurse may discover and evaluate the child’s current or future developmental problems. Early detection is crucial because treatment and therapy can often alleviate many potential difficulties if begun soon in a child’s development. Available community services for parents of infants and young children with special needs include day-care centers, hospital programs, public school programs, Head Start programs, and programs offered through colleges and universities.

Respite care is a community service for families and disabled individuals. This service provides temporary relief for developmentally disabled individuals who live at home and also acts as an important element in preventing their institutionalization. This supervisory service assists families in coping with emergency situations that require the absence of primary caregivers and also provides relief from the daily stresses involved in caring for a disabled family member.