Brain Injury Rights Group, LTD

10/08/2024

Today, October 8, 1986, Public Law 99-457, an important milestone for special education, was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. This amendment to the Education of the Handicapped Act (formally EHA) laid the foundation for improved services for young children with special needs and their families. It introduced an early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities and established key procedural safeguards, including the right to administrative complaint resolution, confidentiality, and record examination for parents.

This law, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), has since been updated to expand protections, including new categories like autism and traumatic brain injury (1990), and emphasizes access to the general curriculum (1997), and improve educational outcomes with a focus on accountability (2004).

At Brain Injury Rights Group, we continue to fight for families, ensuring their rights under IDEA are fully upheld.

10/07/2024

A New York State Supreme Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state Education Department from implementing an amendment that would have significantly restricted services for special needs children in nonpublic schools. Agudath Israel hailed this as a major victory for special needs children and a setback for the state's efforts to limit these services.

Read More by Hana Levi Julian at the The Jewish Press:

The contested amendment "has been wreaking havoc on the provision of services to children with special needs who attend nonpublic school."

10/07/2024

This is why school districts must conduct Child Find to recognize students with disabilities. A video by Jaclyn Borowski from Education Week gives insights on Dyscalculia a severe and persistent learning disability in math that affects about 5 to 8 percent of school-age children and how teachers can recognize and help students with Dyscalculia.

Dyscalculia Awareness & The Dyscalculia Forum you may find this interesting too.

Dyscalculia is a math learning disability that affects 5 to 8 percent of the population. Here's what teachers should know.

09/27/2024

New research from the University of Kansas finds people with pre-existing disabilities had long COVID at much higher rates..

Study finds those with disabilities hit harder by long COVID

09/03/2024

Thousands of NYC special ed students denied services days before school starts. Read More By Deirdre Bardolf and Susan Edelman at the New York Post

Thousands of private and homeschooled students in need of special education services from the city have been denied crucial resources just a week before school starts.

07/03/2024

DOJ complaint sheds light on CT school district's reliance on private special ed providers

A shortage of qualified special education teachers and staff in Connecticut school districts is partly why local schools now rely on private special education providers. That practice has led to a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice against four school districts.

Find Out More Details on Connecticut Public | By Eddy Martinez

A shortage of qualified special education teachers and staff in Connecticut school districts is partly why local schools now rely on private special education providers. That practice has led to a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice against four school districts.

07/02/2024

Impact of Missed Special Ed. Evaluations Could Echo for Years.

The rocky onset of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic halted special education evaluations in most schools. Four years later, a new study hints at the massive scale of the impact.

Read More By Evie Blad from Education Week

The onset of COVID-19 slowed special education identification. Four years later, a new study hints at the massive scale of the impact.

06/26/2024

New York, NY - There's still no 'Pre-K for All' for special needs children.

The end of the public school year is approaching — but for some children with special needs, there hasn't been a school year. Read More by JILLIAN JORGENSEN at Spectrum News NY1
https://loom.ly/qaRFi18@

The end of the public school year is approaching — but for some children with special needs, there hasn't been a school year.

06/20/2024

Christine Stuart from CTNewsJu**ie reports: Investigation Reveals Systemic Failings in Connecticut Special Education

The Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) and Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT) have unveiled the culmination of a multi-year investigation into the operations of the state Department of Education and High Road Schools, a consortium of eight state-approved private special education progr...

06/12/2024

FYI - Washington must provide FAPE to students until their 22nd birthday.

The IDEA requires states to provide special education and related services to students with disabilities until their 22nd birthday, but an exception allows states to discontinue services as early as age 18.

Read More By Frank Ferreri District Administration

The IDEA requires states to provide a FAPE to students with disabilities until their 22nd birthday, but there's an exception.

06/05/2024

Gov. Hochul is leaving developmentally disabled NY-ers behind.

Hochul needs to do more to support New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities by boosting the pay of the Direct Support Professionals who work hard to look after them.

Read More By Roberta Bernstein and Heather Ash Burroughs New York Post

Nearly five years ago, a nonprofit-run group home with room for six young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) made plans to open in Westchester County, N.Y. With group hom…