PRECONFERENCE SESSIONS

IDEA Recovery Act Funds: Lessons Learned and Looking Forward
Diane Willcutts
Audience: All
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided $11.3 billion in additional IDEA Part B funding to local school districts nationwide. This presentation will provide a review of the ways Recovery Act funds are being used and ways advocates can influence the use of ARRA funds to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

A Parent and Advocate’s Guide to Response to Intervention
Susan Bruce, Mary Eaddy
Audience: Advocate/Parent
This presentation provides parents and advocates an overview of the IDEA 2004 mandates regarding the identification of a specific learning disability when utilizing an RtI process. Specific questions, strategies, and regulations which can be cited to avoid a student who has a true learning disability from being delayed/denied evaluation and necessary services and supports are discussed.

Litigating Injuries Of Children With A Disability & Assessing Damages - Session Cancelled
Marty Cirkel, Esq., Jeff Hunter, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
This session addresses the physical and emotional injuries a child with a disability may experience in the academic and non-academic environment. Relevant federal and state law causes of action, including and especially the rights and duties of schools, contemplated by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are reviewed. In a related vein, relevant defenses that a school may have to such a cause of action, including any immunity considerations are explored. Participants discuss the trend of settlement through negotiation and mediation rather than trial, and therefore how to set the correct pecuniary value.

Train the Trainer: Recruiting and Training Pro Bono Legal Help
Elizabeth H. Robinson, Esq. Stephanie Trevitz, PhD
Audience: Attorney
This session provides an overview of the publication “A Complete Guide to Training Young Lawyers in your State to help with Pro Bono Representation of Parents at IEP Meetings and Beyond.” South Carolina, like many states, has very few parents’ attorneys, and the local P&A is completely overwhelmed. The guide provides an overview of the essentials of the IDEA, definitions, acronyms, IEP teams and their decisions, and the administrative process. Participants receive an electronic copy of the guide to use in their state, which presents South Carolina as a model for how to structure a similar program to both recruit and train attorneys.

How to Build and Maintain your Special Education Law Practice
Dana Jonson, Esq. Jennifer Laviano, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
This workshop provides guidance and practical tools for addressing the everyday requirements of running a successful special education law practice that allows you to simultaneously protect your clients’ interests and your reputation (and possibly even your sanity!).

Least Restrictive Environment: The Intersection of Research and Law
Selene Almazan, Esq., Carol Quirk, EdD
Audience: All
The IDEA 2004 requires the use of “peer reviewed research to the extent practicable.” This session will cover the most recent qualitative and quantitative research on inclusive educational practices for students with disabilities. It will also discuss recent case law on LRE and the intersection of research and the courts.

In-depth Discussion and Q&A on the use of Aversives, Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
Joe Ryan, PhD
Audience: All
This session provides opportunity for small group discussion with General Session speaker Joe Ryan and a panel of COPAA members regarding current research, state regulations and statute, and legislative efforts to prevent the use of restraint, seclusion and aversive interventions in all educational programs.
 

Assessments and Legal Issues Regarding "At Risk" Students
Kathleen M. Loyer,Esq., Nathan Hunter, PhD
Audience: All
This session provides cutting edge information about identifying the early warning signs of children at risk, moving from warning signs to risk assessment and moving from assessments results to interventions. Participants discuss how the practitioner’s clinical experience, as well as the setting and timing of assessments affect the quality comprehensiveness of such assessments. The duties of the school district in such circumstances under the IDEA, Section 504 and the ADA are defined.

Impartial Hearings: The Hearing Officer’s Perspective
Barbara J. Ebenstein, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
Impartial hearings have become more procedurally complex and formal than many civil trials in federal court. As the impartial hearing process becomes more judicial in nature, we should consider judicial theories that explain how judges make decisions. This session explores this issue and addresses the following questions: What is that impartial hearing officer thinking? As impartial hearings How do judicial theories apply to impartial hearing officers and what can they teach us? What truly irks impartial hearing officers and how can we avoid those pitfalls in impartial hearings?

Preventing the Parent Blame Game and Increasing Parent Participation in a Hostile Environment
Carrie Watts, Esq. Mandy Favaloro, Esq.
Audience: Adv/Par,
This session will explore the idea of Meaningful Parent Participation under the IDEA, focusing on (1) the legal basis for requiring school district’s to ensure meaningful participation; (2) practical tips for advocates and parents to increase participation; and (3) what happens when “participating” is interpreted as being a “difficult parent.”

The Legal Right to Educational Observation
Mark S. Kamleiter, Esq.
Audience: All
This workshop is designed to help attorneys and advanced advocates understand the body of case law relevant to the parent’s right to obtain in school observations as part of private or independent educational evaluations. Using the structure of the recently decided case of L.H. v. Manatee County, Florida, we will examine the legal arguments from individual perspective of the parents, school board, hearing officer, and the federal judge. The ultimate purpose of this presentation is to provide a concise legal framework for obtaining needed professional classroom observations, hopefully without the need of further litigation.

The IDEA Right of Informed Consent: Its Origin, Meaning and Use
Jonathan A. Zimring, Esq.
Audience: All
This presentation addresses the IDEA right of parental informed consent by explaining its origin and meaning. This entitlement is basic to parental participation and the exercise of parental rights but is not well-understood and underutilized as a lever for addressing many IEP, record and school access issues. The use of the right of consent in evaluations, reevaluations, IEP, placement and access will be addressed with practical suggestions on managing many IEP issues through the right to have access to all relevant information for a parent’s right of decision making.

Getting Paid for Kicking Butt
Alice K. Nelson, Esq. and Jodi Siegel, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
A comprehensive review of the law regarding the recovery of IDEA attorneys’ fees, including practical tips for writing time entries and the mechanics of filing for fees.

IDEA and NCLB Reauthorization Roundtable Discussion
Debbie Lehrich, J.D., Robert Berlow, Esq., Leslie Seid Margolis, Esq.
Audience: All
Description The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) represent the two most important Federal laws for the seven million students with disabilities in the United States. NCLB states that all students should be taught from the same challenging academic content standards as their classmates, and expects all students to become proficient in the same curricular goals as their peers. IDEA requires that all students receive a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and strives to ensure that students with disabilities improve and increase their educational achievements through an individualized program of specialized services and supports. This session provides a format for COPAA members to explore identified issues that block students and their families from realizing the promise of IDEA and NCLB and is an opportunity to discuss priorities for pending reauthorization of each law.

Special Education Issues in Child Custody, Support and Divorce
Ilene Young, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
Children with special needs present unique issues in family law, ones with which most domestic relations attorneys and judges are not familiar. A lawyer who knows special education and entitlement laws has an important role to play, through consulting or active representation, in educating the courts, and guaranteeing that the needs of these children and addressed and protected. This course gives participants a practice guide to recognizing and representing the interests of children with special needs in domestic relations.

Collaborating to Improve Educational Outcomes for low-income clients
Daniel Underwood, Esq., Larry Doreson, Esq., Amanda Schneider,Esq., Lucas Caldwell-McMillan, Esq.
Audience: All
Poverty, mental illness and the lack of a safety net make obtaining appropriate educational resources for low-income children critical. As the primary legal advocate for this population, Legal Services programs are tasked to "do more with less" in our present economy. These challenges create opportunities for non-traditional advocacy in the special education arena. This session will focus three types of "collaboration" being used to assist low-income individuals in the St. Louis area: collaboration in the IEP process, collaboration among community service providers to create coalitions and collaboration across disciplines (medical-legal).

Compensatory Education: What have Courts Awarded?
Debra J. Wysong, Esq., Karen Borre, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
A detailed review of the case law covering compensatory education. What have courts required schools to provide? What were the factors the courts looked at? When was compensatory education denied? Why? If time allows the remainder of the session will include a discussion about types of compensatory education and routes to securing it.

Complex Multi-System Medical Illness: Educational Needs and Advocacy Strategies
Judith G. Leventhal, PhD, Patricia Exman, BS, Sandy Berenbaum, LCSW, BCD
Audience:  All
The cognitive limitations associated with complex multi-system illnesses can have a profound adverse impact on school performance and learning. Children with these cognitive limitations may not receive adequate academic accommodations. Using Lyme disease as a model, this presentation will delineate the educational needs of students who have disabilities as a result of multi-system illness and explore effective advocacy strategies.

Progress Monitoring: What Parents and Advocates Should Know
Pam Cook, M.Ed., Carol Utay, Ed.D.
Audience: Advocate/Parents
Progress monitoring ensures that a student’s underachievement is not due to lack of appropriate instruction. Using free research-based online Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) probes in reading and/or math, parents or private tutors can administer assessments to verify student progress or lack of progress. This data can provide the basis for compensatory education when students fail to make progress.

Individual Advocacy and Systems Reform to Change School Culture and Behavioral Approaches to Students with Disabilities
Ruth Cusick, Esq., Judith Arriaza, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
Nationally, School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) is becoming a recognized and championed research based system to positively transform school culture and school disciplinary practices. Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Discipline Foundation Policy will be used as a model; including a description of coalition of attorneys, advocates and organizers in the Los Angeles Chapter of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, dedicated to reframing discipline from a human rights approach and combating school pushout. The goal of our presentation is two-fold: 1) give participants concrete advocacy strategies for individual cases, and 2) review model district-level reform.

Obtaining Behavioral Supports
Mark S. Kamleiter, Esq.
Audience: All
This breakout session focuses upon the importance of being proactive to obtain appropriate behavioral supports and services before a child with disabilities develops significant behavioral issues or is in danger of potentially damaging punitive discipline action by the school. The session reviews functional behavior assessments, positive behavior support plans, the function of certified behavior analysts, obtaining behavioral accommodations, reinforcement schedules, well-defined behavioral goals and objectives, effective paraprofessional support, and how to obtain the services the child requires.

Finding Your Way Through RtI to an IEP: Your Child's Legal Rights
Allison Hertog, Esq.
Audience: Advocate/Parent
As Response to Intervention (RtI) proliferates, struggling learners are increasingly stuck in the seemingly endless morass of the RtI process never to immerge with the legal rights of an IEP. If RtI isn't working for your child, this presentation will give you a blueprint of their legal rights and a way to an IEP.

Neuropsychology and the Special Needs Assessment
Michael Cohen, PhD, ABPP
Audience: All
This workshop presents an overview of common neuropsychological tests to assess students with special needs, the talk will focus on examiner qualifications, test selection, the role of a neuropsychological report, how to interpret results, generate recommendations, and professional ethics.

Service Dogs: Lessons Learned From Recent and Pending Cases
Lana Traynor
Audience: Attorney
This session is for experienced attorneys interested in exploring legal issues surrounding service dogs. Participants will discuss "lessons learned" - gleaned from recent and pending cases involving service dog issues. The session presumes basic knowledge of key statutory provisions, including Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA).

Students with Disabilities and the Juvenile Justice System
Karen Dalglish Seal, Kassandra Levay
Audience: All
This presentation focuses on the students whose disability places the youth in jeopardy of entering the juvenile justice system or who is already part of that system. Parents, Advocates and Attorneys often find themselves facing the dilemma of having to enter a system that is neither "disability friendly" nor understanding. Prevention and methods of advocacy are stressed along with how the juvenile justice system functions.

What to do when Resource Class feels Like Study Hall: Optimizing Academic Support for Students with Learning Disabilities in Middle School and High School
Beth Samuelson
Audience: All
In middle school resource classes may become little more than glorified study halls. Too frequently, remediation offered is either non-existent or inadequate. This session addresses understanding of typical in- class and at -home academic challenges faced by adolescents with disabilities; an overview of the typical resource scenario for this age level; how to learn what’s really going on; and tools to uncover what is really happening rather than what’s represented by the teacher; how to work with the resource teacher and IEP/504 team to ensure the best possible learning center support; and, how to improve the specificity and practicality of IEP goals and 504 accommodations.

Alternate Ways to Due Process
Sonja Kerr, Esq.
Audience: All
This session focuses on alternative means to obtain appropriate educational services for children without completing a due process hearing. Recognizing that parents often wish or need to avoid the stress and expense of due process, this session discusses: 1) informal means of settlement; 2) use of Independent Educational Evaluations to solve disputes; 3) settlement at the IEP table; 4) use of resolution sessions; 5) meaningful mediation; 6) insisting on Rule 68 offers; 7) other offers of judgment; and 8) hearing officer assistance to reach settlement. Ms. Kerr is an experienced attorney who attempts to utilize settlement to obtain appropriate educational services for the children she represents.

Understanding the Nuts and Bolts of Transition Planning and Relevant Laws
Sheri Bianchin,Esq., James Boyd, Jean Kulczyk
Audience: All
Transition planning is a key element in special education for teens and young adults and the scope of transition planning was broadened under the IDEA amendments. However, little time is spent on transition planning in a typical IEP meeting. Also, many parents, and students do not know how to navigate this complicated system, who to talk to, what services are available, and how essential it is for the future. Important laws in the transition process, best practices of transition planning including the 4 critical goals, and the nuts and bolts of transition planning including obtaining a comprehensive vocational evaluation and preparing a meaningful transition plan which takes into account the student's interests and preferences are explored.

Some Assembly Required: Using Personal Advocacy Tools to Help Others
Missy Alexander, Siobhan Ponder, Diane Willcutts
Audience: Adv/Parent
“I want to take what I’ve learned from advocating for my child and help other parents/families.” Sound familiar? How have other parents accomplished this? This roundtable discussion of parents and advocates explores the paths participants have taken on this journey.

Life Planning For Families of Children With Special Needs
Adrienne Arkontaky, Esq.
Audience: All
This presentation discusses how families of children with special needs can plan for their child's future through the use of special needs trusts, estate planning and guardianship. Discussion of public benefits and what steps a family should take to plan for the best quality of life possible for their child with special needs is included.

Powerful Program Observation Tools - Session Cancelled
Judith Cohen, Esq.
Audience: All
This is a ‘how to’ workshop on collecting data in classroom observations for powerful evidentiary impact. Such observation can be performed by professionals, paraprofessionals, or parents. The discussion with participants will include when and where to observe and relevance of the data collected.

Introduction to System Policy Advocacy from School Boards to the Capital
Dustin Rynders, Esq., Jeff Miller, Esq.
Audience: All
Systemic policy advocacy can impact all students in a school, district, or state. Many effective special education advocates and attorneys miss opportunities to affect systemic policies. This session focuses on identifying opportunities, strategies, and techniques to impact policies within school districts, state agencies, and legislatures.

Successful Advocacy and Negotiation Strategies for Your Next IEP
Charles Fox, Esq.
Audience: All
Successful advocacy at IEPs depends upon developing a strategic plan for the meeting. This presentation will focus on how to develop such a plan and the key skills to increase the likelihood of reaching a successful outcome for your client without exhausting parents' limited resources.

Suspension & Expulsion Hearings: Strategies & Potential Pitfalls
Piper Paul, Esq., Mark Martin, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
The world of expulsion and suspension hearings is rapidly increasing, as schools are utilizing this disciplinary approach at an alarming rate. Learn strategies and potential pitfalls, to enable you to better protect your client and his/her educational rights.

Transition: Is there a Higher FAPE Standard?
Janet M. Cartwright, Esq., Olga Pribyl, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
This seminar is designed to make attorneys aware of the statutory requirements regarding high-school age transition planning and transition services, to present recent case law developments in high school-age transition issues, to present real-life examples for preparing IEP transition goals and strategies for preparing a transition case under the IDEA 2004 standard, and how to argue that standard must provide FAPE at a higher standard than was provided under the Rowley standard, and to present a set of hypothetical cases involving transition issues. The focus of this presentation is how to maximize high school transition services and to provide examples of reported decisions that describe due process hearing and court decisions when transition services are at stake.

Turning You Passion Into a Successful Business
Regina Skyer, Esq., Andrew Feinstein, Esq.
Audience: Attorney
Two experienced private practitioners discuss how to set up and make money from a special education law practice while not losing your fundamental values. The workshop contains two parts. Part 1 outlines the recommended actions to take prior to opening a private special education law practice. Part 2 discusses a variety of operational and ethical issues once the law firm is established.