Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

CHAPTER FOUR
The Special Education Process for Children with Epilepsy: The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 26
4.1Q:
What are the rights of children under the IDEA?
A: Under the IDEA, children with disabilities have the right to a free, appropriate,
public education in the least restrictive environment in which their needs can be
met. A school district must find children with disabilities, assess them to
determine if they have disabilities that adversely affect their ability to benefit
from education, and, if so, provide them with individualized special education
and related services that enable them to make meaningful educational progress
and reevaluate them periodically. In addition, the district must provide
procedural safeguards to the child and his or her parents governing all aspects of
the special education process, from access to records and notice of meetings, to
proposed school district actions and administrative due process hearing rights.
Additionally, infants and toddlers with disabilities and those who are at risk of
developing disabilities are entitled to early intervention services. Early
intervention services can include special education, physical, occupational,
speech or other therapies, nursing services, assistive technology, or case
management. Children are eligible for early intervention services from birth
until they turn three. The program is part of the IDEA (Part C of the IDEA, as
distinguished from Part B, which governs school-aged children’s services), but
at the state and local levels, the early intervention program might be run by a
health department or another agency, rather than by the school system.
An infant or toddler with epilepsy might be eligible for services from the early
intervention program if his or her seizures interfere with development and either
cause him or her to be disabled or to have a developmental delay and be at risk
of having a disability. Some children who receive early intervention services do
not need further services when they turn three; others transition into the special
education system. The early intervention services to be provided are set out in an
individualized family services plan. The services are designed to address the
needs of the child and his or her family. In contrast, the special education system
is focused on the needs of the child. Early intervention services can be provided
at home, at a child care center or provider’s home, or at an agency or school. If
epilepsy does not affect the development of an infant or toddler or if the child’s
26 See Chapter 2 for a basic introduction to the requirements of the IDEA.
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