Disability Law Commons^™

The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle: The Intersection Of Race And Special Education, Tsega Zewdneh Shiferaw

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The privileges allotted to Americans cannot be compared to any other country’s citizens. Americans have the liberty of saying what they want, thinking what they want, and acting freely in public. Nebiyat Shiferaw (“Nebiyat”) is a thirty-year-old African American man who is unable to speak and live independently because he has autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (“ASD”). Nebiyat does not experience the same liberties as most Americans; he has gone through special education programs and has overcome discrimination, not because of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), but because of his parents advocating for him. As a …

Everything Is Bigger In Texas: Including The Horrendously Inadequate Attempts At Providing Special Education And Related Services To All Children With Disabilities, Alexandria R. Booterbaugh

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Without immediate action, the “corrections” made by the Texas legislature to meet the appropriateness requirement for special education will result in imminent peril for students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as their parents. Tens of thousands of children fall between the cracks as a result of Texas’ illegalities and the lack of responsibility Texas’ lawmakers and Texas Education Agency (TEA) have for special education. If Texas does not fully devote itself to a significant overhaul of its special education practices, students will continue to be left behind.

Congress enacted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) because …

State Laws For Due Process Hearings Under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Iv: Expedited Hearings, Andrew M.I. Lee, Perry A. Zirkel

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This article is a follow-up to a triad of analyses of state law additions to the basic requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for due process hearings (DPHs). The former three articles covered the pre-hearing, hearing, and post-hearing stages of IDEA DPHs. The present article focuses on expedited DPHs, canvassing state law provisions specific to this more rapid, specialized proceeding in the IDEA. This article covers IDEA foundational requirements for expedited DPHs, and then summarizes and codes the state law provisions that supplement the federal template. Additionally, this article provides a discussion of federal preemption of state …