For Parents

Being a parent is the most wonderful—and hardest—job in the world. If you have a child with special needs, your job is no less wonderful, but it can be more complicated.

Your child’s education is most likely an area of great interest to you. As a child with a disability, he or she may be eligible for special education services in school. If so, then it will be important for you to learn:

more about special education,
what special education can do for your child, and
what part you can play in the special education process.

The good news is that there is a lot of information available for parents. This Parent’s Guide can help you begin to learn what you need to know. This guide explains the basics of the special education process and gives you information on how to be an effective partner with your child’s school.

Thanks to a powerful and important federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, children with disabilities are entitled to a “free appropriate public education” (often called FAPE). This means that schools must provide eligible children who have a disability with specially designed instruction to meet their unique needs at no cost to the child’s parents. This specially designed instruction is known as special education. The IDEA includes lots of information to help states design special education programs for children with disabilities. The IDEA also includes regulations to protect the rights of parents and children.

Getting to know the IDEA will be very useful to you, because it is the basis of your child’s educational rights. NICHCY can help you learn about the IDEA. We have many publications that explain the IDEA’s requirements. Some publications are short, others go into detail. You can also call us toll-free to request a copy of these publications.It’s also helpful for you to know the policies of your state and local school district. States must meet the minimum federal requirements of the IDEA, but they can also give students and parents more rights and services. Call or write your state department of education (or your local school district) and ask for a copy of your state (or local) special education regulations. There may also be a special education handbook or parent guide available from your state or local district.

One of the most important parts of the special education process is creating a plan for your child’s education. This plan is called the Individualized Education Program, or the IEP. The IEP is the foundation for your child’s education, and you are a very important member of the team that develops it. Your child’s IEP lists the specific special education services your child will receive, based upon his or her individual needs. This is why it is so important that you understand and help develop your child’s IEP.

We’ve packed a lot of information into this guide. If you’ve never helped to create an IEP before, this information may seem strange and overwhelming. It helps to think of the IEP both as a process and as a document to be written. Understand the process one step at a time—it has many parts. Learn the process of writing the document the same way. It, too, has many steps.

You will quickly become familiar with all the steps to writing an IEP. If your child continues to receive special education each year, you will soon become an IEP expert yourself!