Schools- A Fact Sheet For Parents
When a child is sufficiently recovered from a brain injury to return to school, the involvement of both parents and school professionals is critical to ensure that reintegration is as smooth as possible. Parents must ensure that all the needs of their child will be met.
Get A 100% Free CASE EvaluationPlanning the Return
Proper planning will help to avoid many problems and frustrations that a child may experience on the return to school. Accordingly, parents should enlist the help of their child’s rehabilitation professionals to liaise with school personnel to communicate any special requirements.
Many schools have trained personnel and specific programs for the reintegration of students with disabilities. It is essential for parents to ascertain that the responsible educators have experience in working with children with brain injuries.
Where schools do not have dedicated personnel on their payroll, they can usually access assistance from a consultant in their state education department for advice on how to cater for a child with special needs.
There are specific federal laws that impel schools to provide special services for children with disabilities:
- The Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004. Under this statute, students are entitled to receive free education that meets their special requirements.
- The Rehabilitation Act, Section 504. Students who do not qualify under the provisions of IDEA are eligible for school support under this act.
- The American With Disabilities Act. This law prohibits discrimination of any kind against a person with a disability.
The Role of School Personnel
Schools are required to provide all support to ensure that a child’s education is not interrupted unnecessarily. To achieve this, they must meet with a neuropsychologist familiar with the case and the members of the child’s rehabilitation team to implement a plan for the child’s reintegration.
Both pre-injury and post-injury assessments of the child’s cognitive skills and abilities must be taken into account. Decisions for further education must also take into account the student’s physical limitations and social skills. Only then can a final decision be made on where to place students on their return to school.
Classroom Placement
In order to determine the right classroom setting for the child, the parents must confer with school personnel to determine:
- The solution that Is most conducive to learning.
- The relative advantages and disadvantages of returning to a regular classroom.
- Special technology or techniques needing for teaching.
- The type of skills that should be developed to maximize the child’s chances of gaining employment and independence on leaving school.
Having made a determination, the child could be placed in one of four types of classroom setting. These are:
- An inclusion class. This is a regular classroom where children will follow a special curriculum that caters to their individual needs.
- A resource room. This is an add-on to regular classroom sessions to enable a child to work more closely with a special education teacher where necessary.
- A self-contained class. This is a class that accommodates a small group of students with special needs to ensure enhanced individual attention.
- An out-of-district placement. This option may be necessary if the student’s previous school cannot address special needs.