Legal Rights of Persons With Disabilities - Ossh.com

disability learn. However, special education can also include instruction in basic aspects of daily life --
toilet training, personal care, etc. -- if that is the sort of instruction a child with a disability needs. Special
education can also include instruction in methods of communication specially tailored to the needs of a
child with a disability, such as American Sign Language and the use of Bliss symbols.
Special education also includes physical education, either offered to children with disabilities
along with other children or modified to meet the unique needs of the child with a disability. (20 U.S.C. '
1401(25).)
b. Related Services
"Related services" are supportive services that enable children with disabilities to take advantage of
their special education. Examples of related services are transportation to and from school, between
schools, and between or within school buildings, including the use of wheelchair - accessible buses and
vans, occupational and physical therapy, speech therapy, and school health services.
Related services are services other than instruction that make the instruction meaningful. Medical
services provided by a doctor are not included, but school health services may administer drugs or services
prescribed by a doctor. Necessary services which a nurse or lay person could perform must be provided.
For example, intermittent catheterization for a child suffering from spina bifida must be provided, since the
procedure can be accomplished by a trained nurse or lay person. (Irving Independent School District v.
Tatro (1984) 468 U.S. 883.) Since there are so many different kinds of disabilities, it is impossible to list
every kind of supportive service a child might need. If a child needs a particular service during the school
day in order to attend or profit from school, then the school district generally must provide it. (20 U.S.C. '
1401(29); cf. Nevada County Office of Education v. Riles (1983) 149 Cal.App.3d 767.)
2. What Is An "Appropriate" Education
a. The Program Must Allow Progress in Learning
A school district must provide a child with a disability with an "appropriate" education. A school
district is not required to do everything possible to maximize the child's achievement or fulfillment of his or
her potential. Under federal law, the school district simply must provide a child with a disability with a
special education that enables the child to make progress in learning.
b. Mainstreaming Should Be the Goal
School districts are required to educate children with disabilities together with children who do not
have disabilities to the maximum extent feasible, so long as the co-education of children with disabilities
and children without disabilities will meet the educational needs of the child with a
disability. (20 U.S.C. ' 1412(a)(5)(A).) The right of children with disabilities to be educated with children
who do not have disabilities includes the right to participate in non-academic and extracurricular activities.
The only situations which justify educating children with disabilities apart from children who do not have
disabilities are when:
$ "mainstreaming" would be of no benefit to a child with a disability;
$ the benefits of educating a child with a disability in isolation from children who do not have
disabilities far outweigh the benefits of "mainstreaming";
41