Rosa's Law changing term from "mental retardation" to "intellectual disability"

The term "mental retardation" has been changed to "intellectual disability" in federal laws, including the IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, the ESEA / ESSA, and the Higher Education Act.  The change was made in accordance with Rosa's Law.  The law is named in honor of an 8-year-old girl with Down syndrome.  The change in terminology does not change the technical meaning of the disability and the change does not affect any types of disability coverage or rights.

Arizona's Special Education Lawyers

What is the IDEA?

What is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (the IDEA)?  Here is a snippet from a presentation by Arizona education attorneys Hope Kirsch and Lori Kirsch-Goodwin of
Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, PLLC
IDEA

Bullying, Discipline & Placement vs. Location

Bullying, Discipline & Placement vs. Location 

PowerPoint from one of our presentations.
http://phxautism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Kirsch-and-Kirsch-Goodwin.pdf

www.azspecialeducationlawyers.com

Decision in ENDREW F. v. DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

According to Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, the Supreme Court today issued its opinion in ENDREW F. v. DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 15–827, which was to how much educational benefit an IEP must provide to a student with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that "a school must offer an IEP reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances." Not the enlightenment parent attorneys would have liked, but some welcome guidance in the nearly 20 page decision, including that a student must be offered an educational program that provides more than de minimis progress from year to year, and not so low that children with disabilities should receive instruction that aims so low that it would be tantamount to sitting idly. The Court vacated the decision of the 10th Circuit below, and remanded the case back to that court for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court's opinion. So what does that mean? More litigation.

Acronyms

SPECIAL EDUCATION ACRONYMS 

SPECIAL EDUCATION ACRONYMS 

Ever get lost with all the acronyms schools throw around at IEP meetings, print this list out and put it in your IEP notebook - the notebook that you should have for your child, and which you take with you to every IEP meeting, RED meeting, pre-MET meeting (ah, more acronyms). For discussion and explanation of some of these terms, visit our website Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, PLLC.  

A Autism

AAC Arizona Administrative Code (State regulations)

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

ADAAA Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act

ADD Attention Deficit Disorder

ADE Arizona Department of Education

ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

AHCCCS Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System

AIMS Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (now replaced by AZ Merit)

AIMS-A Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards—Alternative

APR Annual Performance Report

ARS Arizona Revised Statutes (State laws)

ASAT Alternative State Achievement Test

ASBA Arizona School Boards Association

ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder

ASDB Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind

ASVAB Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery

AT Assistive Technology

AYP Adequate Yearly Progress

AzEIP Arizona Early Intervention Program

AZ LEARNS Arizona Leading Education through the Accountability and

Results Notification System

AZ READS Arizona Readiness, Early Diagnosis and Intervention,

Accountability, Development of Teacher Expertise, Support

BHS Behavioral Health Services

BIP Behavior Intervention Plan

CAI Computer Assisted Instruction

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CFT Child Family Team

CP Cerebral Palsy

CPS Child Protective Services

CST Child Study Team

CTE Career and Technical Education

DD Developmental Delay

DDD Division of Developmental Disabilities

DES Department of Economic Security

DHS Department of Health Services

DSM-V Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V (the most current version)

ED Emotional Disability

EDP Emotional Disability, Private School

ELL English Language Learners

ESS Exceptional Student Services

ESY Extended School Year

FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education

FBA Functional Behavioral Assessment

FERPA Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

HI Hearing Impairment

IAEP Interim Alternative Educational Program

IAES Interim Alternative Educational Setting

ID Intellectual Disability

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

IEE Independent Educational Evaluation

IEP Individualized Education Program

IFSP Individualized Family Service Plan

IQ Intelligence Quotient

LD Learning Disability

LEA Local Education Agency (including charter schools)

LEP Limited English Proficient

LRE Least Restrictive Environment

MD Multiple Disabilities

MDSSI Multiple Disabilities with Severe Sensory Impairment

MET Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team

MIID Mild Intellectual Disability

MIPS Medicaid in the Public Schools

MOID Moderate Intellectual Disability

MSW Master of Social Work

NCLB No Child Left Behind

OCR Office of Civil Rights

OJT On-the-Job Training

OI Orthopedic Impairment

OHI Other Health Impairment

O and M (O&M) Orientation and Mobility

OSEP Office of Special Education Programs

OSERS Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

OT Occupational Therapy

OTR Occupational Therapist, Registered

PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

PEA Public Education Agency (including charter schools)

PHLOTE Primary Home Language Other Than English

PIN Parent Information Network

PINS Parent Information Network Specialist

PLAAFP Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

PMD Progress Monitoring Data

PSD Preschool Severe Delay

PSN Procedural Safeguard’s Notice (Parent’s Rights)

PT Physical Therapy

PWN Prior Written Notice

RBHA Regional Behavioral Health Authority

RED Review of Existing Data

RTC Residential Treatment Center

RTI Response to Intervention

SAIS Student Accountability Information System

SEA State Education Agency

SELP Survey of English Language Proficiency

SI Sensory Integration

SLD Specific Learning Disability

SLI Speech Language Impairment

SLP Speech Language Pathologist

SLT Speech Language Technician

SSDI Supplemental Security Disability Income

SSI Supplemental Security Income

SST Student Study Team

TA Technical Assistance

TBI Traumatic Brain Injury

USC United States Code

USDOE United States Department of Education

VI Visual Impairment

VMI Visual Motor Integration

VR Vocational Rehabilitation

Arizona's Special Education Law Firm

WRIGHTSLAW coming to Arizona

Pete Wright / WRIGHTSLAW coming to Arizona, February 23, 2017.

Information and registration, www.wrightlsawaz.info

Presented by Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch and Parent Support Arizona.

KGK among Top 100 Law Firms

Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, PLLC, is proud to announce that it again made the Phoenix Business Journal's List of the Top 100 Law Firms.