by Common Ground | Apr 16, 2012 | Capitols
Currently, more than $1.6 billion a year in Medicaid funding is used to pay for physical, occupational and speech therapy, mental health services, transportation and counseling.The U.S. Education Department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services...
by Common Ground | Apr 14, 2012 | Courts
A federal judge has ruled that Washington, D.C. public schools must dramatically change the ways in which they identify and serve preschoolers with disabilities. A class action lawsuit was filed in 2005 by parents of seven young children with disabilities, claiming...
by Common Ground | Apr 11, 2012 | Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a California school district ordered to provide compensatory tutoring to a teen with learning disabilities. The case, Compton Unified School District v. Addison, involves a tenth-grade student who had failed...
by Common Ground | Apr 5, 2012 | Features, Parents, Professionals, Teachers
By: Dr. Meir Flancbaum As a teacher, you can serve as the child’s “coach,” when he implements strategies in the classroom. Sam is a bright, considerate, athletic middle school student, but he dreads going to school. Throughout his day, unintended movement and noises...
by Common Ground | Nov 15, 2011 | Snapshot
Two and a half million students — or about 5% of all students in public schools — are identified as having learning disabilities (LD) in 2009 and are eligible for assistance under IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In the last decade, the number of...
by Common Ground | Sep 12, 2011 | Features, Parents, Professionals, Teachers
An Interview with an Expert on Bullying Provides a Thought-provoking Perspective “Bullying by teachersis enabled by a conspiracy of silence.” – Dr. Alan McEvoyBy Jean Harkness Many parents would advise a child that the only way to deal with bullies is to stand...
by Common Ground | Sep 12, 2011 | Parents
By Lisa Shields After a child is born, parents focus on the “milestones:” Sitting up. Crawling. First Words. Walking. For parents of kids with disabilities, milestones hold their luster. We become less interested in the “time line” than we are in the actual...
by Common Ground | Jun 1, 2011 | Features, Parents, Teachers
The Symptoms of TBI The symptoms of TBI vary and depend on a number of factors, such as the severity of injury, the location and extent of injury in the brain, the child’s age and many other factors. There are, however, many common symptoms presented by students with...
by Common Ground | Jun 1, 2011 | Capitols
Earlier this winter, the U.S Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs released a memo reminding states that a response-to-intervention (RTI) process cannot delay the initial evaluation for special education services of a child suspected of having...
by Common Ground | Jun 1, 2011 | Capitols
New Jersey is among eight states to receive a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education to reduce the amount of state financial support provided to local districts for special education in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Under IDEA, states must maintain the same level...
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