Special Education Resources

Special Education Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA was originally enacted by Congress in 1975 to make sure that children with disabilities had the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education, just like all children. The law has been revised many times over the years. The most recent amendments were passed by Congress in December 2004, with final regulations published in August 2006. IDEA guides how states and school districts provide special education services to children with disabilities.

If you believe that your child is a child with a disability and in need of special education services, you must request an evaluation from the school district to determine if your child is a child with a disability and in need of specialized designed instruction.

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Special education links:

• Pennsylvania Department of Education:
  http://www.pde.state.pa.us
• Pennsylvania Department of Education Special Education:
  http://www.pde.state.pa.us/special_edu/site/default.asp?g=3D0&special_eduNa= v=3D|978|&k12Nav=3D|1141|
• Basic Education Ciriculars (BECs):
  http://www.pde.state.pa.us/k12/cwp/browse.asp?a=3D11&g=3D202&K12_Nav=3D|320= 8|3209|&pde_internetNav=3D|
• IDEA:
  http://www.pde.state.pa.us/special_edu/cwp/view.asp?a=3D177&q=3D111436
• Assessment Anchors:
  http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/cwp/view.asp?a=3D108&q=3D103127&a_and_tN= av=3D|6309|&a_and_tNav=3D|National=20
• Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY):
  http://www.nichcy.org/index.html
• PaTTAN:
  http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/
• PaTTan- Office of Dispute Resolution (ODR):
  http://odr.pattan.net/
• Resolution Meetings: A Guide for Parents and Educators:
  http://www.pattan.net/resolution
• PaTTan- Special Education Forms, Non- Annotated
  http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/regsforms/school-ageformsandformats.aspx
• PaTTan- IDEA 2004
  http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/regsforms/IDEA2004.aspx
• PaTTan- Parent Information
  http://parent.pattan.net/
• PaTTAN-Annotated documents:
  
• PaTTan- Special Education Forms:
  http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/regsforms
• PaTTAN-Complaint Form:
  http://www.pattan.net/files/Formspdf/ComplaintForm.pdf
• Education Law Center:
  http://www.elc-pa.org
• The Right to Special Education In Pennsylvania: A Guide for Parents
  http://www.elc-pa.org/pubs/downloads/english/dis-Right.pdf
  
• Publications: Children With Disabilities
  http://www.elc-pa.org/disabilities/publications.html
  
• Special education site with Sample Letters:
  http://aboutautismlaw.com/sample.html
  
• Disability Rights Network of Pa:
  http://www.drnpa.org
• Parent Education Network:
  http://www.parentednet.org
• Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPPA)
  http://www.copaa.org/index.html
• U.S. Department of Education
  http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
U.S. Department of Education:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/2006-3/081406a.pdf
• Office Of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html
• Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/index.html
• Parents Involved Network of PA (PIN of PA)
  http://www.pinofpa.org
• Wrightslaw
  http://www.wrightslaw.com

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