Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

strengthening the role and responsibility of parents and ensuring that families of such childrenhave meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children …,” this paradigmhas been resisted by educators, and fraught with conflict from the beginning. While Congressenvisioned a cooperative and collaborative relationship between educators and parents, it wasalso understood that educators would have a natural advantage over parents in the system, andthus included detailed procedural requirements meant to level the playing field. Yet parents oftenlack the knowledge and skills necessary for meaningfully participation in the processes of theIDEA and frequently experience substantial psychological and emotional consequences as aresult. This presentation will explore through the lens of Therapeutic Jurisprudence the variousfactors associated with the IDEA, and its implementation, that trigger anti-therapeuticconsequences for parents of children with disabilities.Inclusion in School Settings for Parents and Students with Disabilities Using theADA and Section 504 LitigationPaula Pearlman, Disability Rights Legal Center, USA (Paula.Pearlman@lls.edu)This presentation addresses the psychological and emotional impact of the federal antidiscriminationlaws, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Sec 504) and the Americans withDisabilities Act (ADA), upon parents with disabilities and students with disabilities who requestaccommodations in school settings. While the IDEA addresses specialized instruction and relatedservices, Section 504 and the ADA address broad anti-discrimination principles based ondisability. This discrimination takes the form of exclusion, segregation and denial of access andbenefits of the programs that schools provide. These programs include classroom learning, butalso include parent-teacher-student conferences, sports activities, graduation events, artsprograms, student government and school performances. Accommodations such as an elevatorkey, a service animal or a sign language interpreter, or physical access to the campus in general,are frequently the subject of controversy and litigation.Requesting accommodations often is fraught with conflict as school administrators, parents andstudents navigate the accommodation process from a cost/benefit perspective rather than an antidiscriminationperspective and a perspective that values inclusion and diversity.This presentation will explore through the lens of Therapeutic Jurisprudence the various factorsassociated with Section 504 and the ADA accommodations in school settings, with a particularfocus on litigation and systemic reform that both address the anti-therapeutic consequences forpeople with disabilities, as well as the positive therapeutic consequences resulting from effectiveprocedural methods resulting in appropriate accommodations and inclusion.Therapeutic Jurisprudence as a New Approach to Conflict Resolution in OurSchoolsLeah Christensen, Thomas Jefferson School of Law (lchristensen@tjsl.edu)441