Finding Help for Children with Special Needs

by Betsy Kocsis

 In Spring 2003, a mother reported that the county was discontinuing her child’s special education services. The county had evaluated the child -- an annual practice for children receiving county-funded special services -- and the evaluator determined that the child no longer qualified for special services. The parent disagreed, as did the therapist who was working with the child. After consulting several agencies, among them WV Advocates, a legal service, and WV Parent Training and Information Center (WVPTIC), the mother found private services for her child, which are covered by the family’s insurance policy — for now. She said that fighting with the county for funding was too stressful but believes she may have to do it if the insurance money fails to cover the expense at some future time.

To learn more about the special education services issue, I spoke with Pat Haberbosch of the WVPTIC (www.iser.com/WVPTI.html, 800-281-1436). WVPTIC is federally funded, and has 8 regional trainers/consultants located throughout the state. All the consultants have one or more children with special needs, are experienced in working the system, and in being advocates for their children. They help people understand the law, obtain services in their counties, and they provide training and advocacy. One consultant (in the Monroe, Greenbrier, Mercer, and Summers counties area) has homeschooled her own special needs children.

Ms. Haberbosch says that in her 13 years with the center (that's how long it's been in existence) she has never known a homeschooling family to be denied services. She says sometimes you have to get creative and find the right people to talk to in your county, and that's one way the center can help — the consultants know who to talk to.

When there is a disagreement between the county and the family about a child's qualification for special services, Ms. Haberbosch says the parent should request an independent evaluation for the child. The county has two choices: it can pay for the independent evaluation or go to court. Because the independent evaluation is cheaper, the county usually opts for that.

When WVHEA’s legislative committee talked with WVDE’s Karen Larry in April, we discussed what services were available for homeschooled children with special needs. Ms. Larry said that when the child leaves the public school system, the Individual Education Plan (IEP) “goes away,” or is no longer in effect for that child. (For a public-schooled child to receive special services, he must be evaluated and have an IEP drawn up.) A county may provide services to a homeschooled child through its discretionary budget if the needed service is available at the schools, but the county is not obligated to do so. In her June memo to the county superintendents and homeschool contacts, Ms. Larry mentioned that she and Dr. Dee Braley are working on the directive in the law that requires the state board to “develop guidelines for the home schooling of special education students including alternative assessment measures….” (WV Code § 18-8-1(c ) (1)). Such guidelines will apply to those children who homeschool under the approval option.

If you want to learn what, if any, publicly funded services are available for your special needs child, I recommend calling the WVPTIC. You may also want to investigate Debi Lewis’s site, Parents Supporting IDEA, www.PSIDEA.org. IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is the federal law governing special education services, currently being considered for reauthorization by Congress. Debi says, “The discussions that resulted in the group's creation revolved around full inclusion of students with disabilities -- so that will undoubtedly be our main focus. It's still my desire not to feel as if I ‘have’ to homeschool Tucker. I want him with his community peers -- in his natural environment -- not ‘clustered’ with other students with disabilities. He stands to learn nothing in that environment. At least with  homeschooling, I can get out into the community with him.”

WVHEA has two special needs advisors who can help with questions about special education, Kim Michaud (MICHAUD941@aol.com) and Scott Miller (scottsam@citynet.net). Also, be sure to check NHEN’s Special Needs site www.nhen.org/specneed/default.asp?id=271.  

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WVPTIC Director Pat Haberbosch mentioned a particular situation in which a child in school has "multiple needs" and has developed discipline problems, so the parents decide to homeschool. She recommends that these families consider having an IEP written for "an alternative setting, which is in the home." This means that the child remains on the public school roster, follows the county curriculum, and is able to receive special services. She distinguished this program from homeschooling and also from homebound instruction (she called homebound a "medical model"). Such a program might be preferable for the family who doesn’t want to take on the responsibility of homeschooling and all that that entails.