ADAMS ESQ attorneys and advocates review IEPs to determine if they offer a free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) and can meet your child’s unique needs. Often, parents believe that they have only one shot each year to beef up their child’s IEP and they insist upon pages and pages of goals and objectives in a wide variety of areas. Some IEPs include a long list of boilerplate accommodations that sound impressive but are not designed to help the child. This is a mistake. Complicated goals

Después de analizar miles de IEPs durante los últimos 15 años, hemos resuelto en los cinco principales errores que hemos descubierto en nuestras críticas del IEP. En esta serie compuesta de 5 partes (empezando con el número cinco y nuestra forma de trabajo hacia arriba) exploramos errores comunes y cómo evitarlos. Si usted es un cliente anterior de ADAMS ESQ o ha referido niños con necesidades especiales a nosotros, usted probablemente ya sabe cómo navegar por una reunión de IEP y el equipo. Pero hay

After analyzing thousands of IEPs over the past 15 years, we’ve settled on the top five IEP mistakes.  If you’re a past client of ADAM ESQ or have referred special needs children to us, you probably already know how to navigate an IEP.  But there are many other families, teachers and special education service providers who may be able to benefit from this information.  So please feel free to forward, share, post, text, tweet or otherwise give a “shout out” to your friends warning them

Dyslexia: Frequently Asked Quesions 1.  What is dyslexia?  Dyslexia is a common learning disorder affecting as many as 80 percent of California students with learning disabilities in special education.  According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is a language-based specific learning disability (a neurodevelopmental disorder that hinders the ability to learn or use certain academic skills.) and generally refers to a cluster of symptoms resulting in difficulty with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as

Important Notice to Parents  Important notice to Parents in the Berkeley Unified School District The California Department of Education’s (CDE) Verification Review (VR) of the Berkeley Unified School District’s special education system is scheduled for April 6th-10th.  CDE staff will be in the district reviewing policies, procedures, student records, conducting interviews, and gathering further information to evaluate the district’s compliance with state and federal special education laws.  CDE has confirmed that part of its review is based on complaints, comments and concerns that parents bring

TOGETHER. SHAPING THE FUTURE.  You’re a Grandparent.   You need to know this. Jean Murrell Adams, Senior Managing Attorney ADAMS ESQ, a Special Education Law Firm You’ve reached grandparent status.  If you don’t have a grandchild with a disability, you probably know someone who does.  You may volunteer at your local school or simply be the “go to” person in your neighborhood, church or on-line.  You may be raising your grandchild or live miles away from him.  In any case, you will probably hear the question

Si ustedprefiere la hoja informative en espanolporfavor de comunicarsea oaklandadmin@adamsesq.com  Some psychologists say the most important human emotion is trust. As infants, we learn to trust our parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents and other caregivers. As children, we build trusting relationships with friends, religious leaders and our teachers. As adults, these “social contracts”, based on mutual respect and understanding, support our relationships and every day expectations. We trust our cell phone provider to ensure service-as long as we pay the bill. We trust our first-responders

Below is a reprint of a recent press release by COPAA.  It contains a good legal analysis of the importance of “stay put” . In its amicus brief, filed July 28, the special education administrators and the school boards association argue that the appeals court ruling puts a financial burden on districts, and disrupts the collaborative framework for resolving disputes that is written into special education law. They assert that under this decision, parents have an incentive to draw out their cases as long as possible, rather than

Legal Alert: According to a recent blog post on the JDSupra website, nearly 14 years after President Bush signed the IDEA Improvement Act of 2004, California’s special education regulations have been updated and became effective July 1, 2014. The revisions align what the California Department of Education ("CDE") has referred to as "old, out-of-date regulations" with existing state statutes and federal statutes and regulations. Key Change: Updated Eligibility Criteria in Section 3030 Autism The new regulation deletes the term "autistic-like behaviors" and adds the term