December 1, 2020
This is a personal story about how IDEA – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – has affected our family. And the nation.
by Meriah Nichols, Unpacking Disability, and DREDF Board Member
Category: Special Education
On Labels, Telling Our Own Stories, and “Special” Education
June 29, 2020
In the sense I had a 504 plan and received accommodations from the beginning, I had the "special education" label from preschool through high school.
The phrase means different things to different people, often depending on the context. But when I personally think of the label, the first image that pops into my head is of a big wooden chair with SPED in big black letters written across the back from seventh grade. It was one of my classroom chairs, but I picture it in an isolated room where I dictated my tests.
“Kids Would Bully Me. I Would Always Go Into The Library. And Do Really Nothing.”
Making Restorative Justice Inclusive for Students with Disabilities
The use of restorative justice programs in school settings is relatively new. According to an article in Edutopia published in 2015, "Restorative justice empowers students to resolve conflicts on their own and in small groups, and it's a growing practice at schools around the country. Essentially, the idea is to bring students together in peer-mediated small groups to talk, ask questions, and air their grievances."
Special Education and the “Deserving Disabled”
Backbone Campaign
The 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is coming up next month and the disability rights community has launched a campaign to celebrate the anniversary that has the tag line, "Disability Rights Are Civil Rights." … I think it's an interesting choice for a slogan because I see it as a tacit admission that society as a whole still does not fully understand disability rights as civil rights… Continue reading
Lack of Oversight of Restraint and Seclusion in Special Education
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats
On April 19, 2015, EdSource published an investigative report that explores the California Department of Education's (CDE) lack of oversight of restraint and seclusion in special education. The report concludes that the July 2013 repeal of the Hughes Bill—a law that imposed data collection and other oversight obligations on CDE and regional special education agencies—has created "a shadow discipline system in many special education classrooms, where minimally trained classroom aides have significant leeway in using emergency interventions to manage disruptive students."
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