The Rewards of Working with Students with Disabilities and Their Families by Kim Sherman In 2013, I implemented my mid-life-crisis-action-plan and enrolled in Willamette University School of Law at the ripe age of 53. I was running away from a nearly 30 year career in special education, with a plan to become an environmental lawyer. My plan: do good and hike a lot. I commuted by Amtrak from Eugene to Salem for law school, using the dining car as my study carrel. One month into my daily commute, a lovely person asked to share my table. We became good friends; at some point, she shared that she was having trouble with her daughter’s school district and disability related services. So, I said, “I can coach you on that.” And with that, I was hooked back into the world of K-12 schools, education law and particularly special education law. Roughly 98% of my clients in my six years of practice have been education cases. Schools are complex environments filled with activity, expectations, chaos and calm. I have been a public-school educator and fully understand the challenges (and deep rewards) of working with children. Disability education law is likewise complex. Three federal statutes support students with disabilities in public schools, two of which potentially support students with disabilities in private schools. The three statutes are the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA),1, 2 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,3 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).4 The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA)5 was “passed in part to supersede Supreme Court decisions that had too narrowly interpreted the ADA’s definition of disability.”6 My commuting partner Mary Beth Williams is a brilliant woman with a law degree from Cornell. She has many years of experience working with school districts as she has advocated for the needs of her children with disabilities. Before we met, no school district had clearly explained what these three statutes could do for her child. She reviewed the booklets provided by the school districts provide at each special education meeting and spent hours speaking with her children’s teachers and administrators. Williams came to believe that there was nothing a district could do to help her child. So, we talked about those three federal statutes and what adequate implementation might look like for her child. Three Federal Statutes protect children with disabilities in public schools The Americans with Disabilities Act: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides that “no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits, or the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity.” 42 U.S.C. § 12132. Public schools are “public entities.” Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act provides that “[n]o otherwise qualified individual with a disability … shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 29 U.S.C. § 794(a). The Individuals with Disabilities Act defines the specific procedures in identifying, evaluating, finding eligible, developing an education program, and implementing specially designed instruction for students in public schools who are (1) students with disabilities (2) who require specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of the child.7 Part B of the statute describes education for all children with disabilities; Part C addresses the needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities. KIM SHERMAN specializes in civil rights and disability / education law, primarily for children with related work in guardianship and conservatorship for persons with disabilities, and in writing conservation easements to preserve the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Sherman founded Education, Environmental, & Estate Law, LLC, PO Box 728, Eugene OR 97440. She can be reached at 360-503-0334 or kim.sherman@e3-law.com. 32 Trial Lawyer | Summer 2024
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