Special Education
Children with disabilities have a guaranteed right to receive an education that meets their unique needs.
Parents of children with disabilities need help navigating the legal complexities of the special education system. We work to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. All children with disabilities must be in an educational setting that allows them to make meaningful progress based on their particular circumstances.
$3.4M
in ongoing yearly education benefits secured last year
Services
Our lawyers collaborate with parents to ensure students receive the educational services to which they are entitled through consultation and representation at impartial hearings, appeals, and court actions. We address the following issues:
- Assessing the adequacy of a child’s Individual Education Program (IEP), appropriateness of school placement, and need for paraprofessionals, tutoring, or related services, including occupation therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language therapy
- Obtaining assistive technology
- Enabling children who would otherwise regress to be in a 12-month program (as opposed to the usual 10-month school year)
- Obtaining placement in private schools, when necessary
- Obtaining independent educational evaluations, thereby allowing parents to have their child evaluated by a professional who is not affiliated with the Department of Education
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Help us provide free legal help to children and their parents.
NYLAG protects and advances the rights of New Yorkers.
Gothamist: Civil rights investigations of NYC schools in limbo after federal education cuts
Courtney Yadoo, an attorney with NYLAG’s Special Education Unit, spoke with Gothamist about what federal education cuts could mean for stalled discrimination cases, and what that means for students with disabilities and their families.
Legal Advocates: Education Dept. Cuts Compound Disability Discrimination Harm to NYC Students
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced massive layoffs, effectively gutting its Office for Civil Rights, as well as eliminating 7 of its 12 regional civil rights offices across the country, including the location in New York. According to the department’s remaining civil rights investigators, these drastic cuts will make it “virtually impossible” to resolve discrimination complaints.
When a Right is Out of Reach: My fight to secure special education support for my son
Read Elizabeth’s and Evan’s triumphant story about the barriers they overcame in navigating New York City’s special education system, and the invaluable legal advocacy they received from NYLAG’s Special Education Unit.
