Parents of children with learning difficulties are often caught in an unexpected storm of uncertainty over how to identify and intervene with children who have specific learning disabilities. The best way to help your child is to prepare yourself with knowledge of what you will face in trying to obtain appropriate educational services for your child. Remember, you are the expert on your child and you have a critical role in the process of identifying what is best for him, including his education.
While it's still very early in the process, the recent changes in the federal regulations that govern special education in U.S. public schools are shaking up the world of learning disability determination and intervention in a major way. The new regulations reflect the conflict that has brewed in the research on determination of Specific Learning Disability for several years. The ability-achievement process for determining the presence of a learning disability has come under heavy criticism and proponents of alternative procedures for SLD determination find new support in the current special education regulations.
Parents may find the new process especially confusing since guidance on the new regulations has not been provided by the federal or state governments. Many states have been trending away from IQ-achievement discrepancy formulations for a while now, while others are faced with starting from scratch. A series of public meetings are being held across the U.S. to present information on the new regulations. Check the IDEA 2004 web site for locations and dates. If you can't make a public meeting, you may view the Powerpoint presentation for the meeting online.
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