Children with disabilities and their parents had limited rights and educational options prior to the creation of our current comprehensive special education laws in the mid-1970’s.  At least one state imposed criminal penalties on parents who tried to enroll their children with special needs in public school.  Even after Congress established basic rights and protections, state and local governments and school districts continued imposing disability-based and racist segregation, testing and housing practices.  Learn about these African American jurists who advanced the rights—and changed the lives—of

Protecting Your Child’s Education It’s comparatively easy to navigate the calm waters of general education.  Public and charter schools post yearly calendars, standardized tests are regularly administered, parent-teacher conferences are brief and reassuring and report cards are timely and clear. In short, parents of general education students know what to expect from the public education system and can sail through fairly well. In contrast, special education’s complexities and hidden undercurrents can throw children with disabilities dangerously off-course.  Parents of children with IEPs must be proactive

ADAMS ESQ Special Halloween Edition Spooked by school district lawyers?  Frightened by the thought of hiring your own special education attorney? Special education lawyers may seem scary and intimidating, but they are not ogres, vampires or monsters.  In fact, many attorneys are moms and dads who were drawn to help other parents after fighting for the rights of their own children with special needs.  If just the thought of hiring a special education lawyer makes your skin crawl, or if school district lawyers keep popping

My son is a 7-year old 1st grader attending an on-line charter school. He has an active IEP under the classifications of Autism (primary) and Speech and Language Impairment (secondary). His charter school claims that because he is doing well academically, even though he has gaps in speech, he no longer qualifies for an IEP.  Citing outdated assessments, his virtual charter school now wants to switch him to a 504 plan instead.  Should I agree to exit him from special education? No.  Just like entering

Can lightning strike the same place twice?  That seems to be the case for the special education law firm of ADAMS ESQ.  Facebook has just awarded ADAMS ESQ monetary and advertising grants to help us support our special needs community during these uncertain times.  We’re fired up to do just that!  Combining the recent Salesforce Care Grant (thanks again you guys!) with the new Facebook awards, ADAMS ESQ has already begun using these blessings to fund academic screenings for eligible children with special education needs. 

DEJAR A SU HIJO EN LA ESCUELA Todos estamos ansiosos por que la escuela reabra para el aprendizaje en clase.  Pero los padres, especialmente los padres de niños con necesidades especiales, necesitan hacer mucho más de la preparación para la escuela este año.  Aquí hay cinco cosas que todos los padres de educación especial deben considerar antes de dejar a un niño en la escuela durante la pandemia COVID-19.  1. Seguridad.  Asegúrese de que su hijo esté seguro en la escuela.  El Departamento de Salud

LEAVING YOUR CHILD AT SCHOOL We’re all eager for school to reopen for in-class learning.  But parents, especially parents of children with special needs, need to do a lot more back-to-school prepping this year.  Here are five things every special education parent should consider before leaving a child at school during the COVID-19 pandemic.     1. Safety.  Make sure your child will be safe at school.California’s Department of Public Health recently published updated guidance for all schools and learning pods (cohorts).  Among other things, this

Usted puede estar firmando los derechos y beneficios de su hijo/a Jean Murrell Adams, Esq. La escuela está de vuelta en sesión (bueno, más o menos) y hemos estado recibiendo un montón de preguntas sobre si los distritos escolares y las escuelas chárter tienen que cumplir con los IEP.  La respuesta corta es: ¡Sí!  Los padres y las escuelas deben seguir siendo razonables y flexibles para garantizar que los niños con necesidades de educación especial reciban oportunamente todas las pruebas, enseñanzas y otros servicios de

You May be Signing Away Your Child’s Rights and Benefits Jean Murrell Adams, Esq. School is back in session (well, sort of) and we’ve been getting lots of questions regarding whether or not school districts and charter schools have to comply with IEPs.  The short answer is—yes!  Parents and schools should remain reasonable and flexible in ensuring that children with special education needs are timely receiving all testing, teaching and other services consistent with their IEPs.  Unfortunately, some school districts are forcing parents to waive