Parents can be silenced in special education settlements. A proposed bill would change that
Karla knew something was wrong. Her daughter still couldn’t read by the time she reached the fifth grade.
In early elementary school, Karla’s daughter was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder, among other conditions. Her daughter’s school district in northwest Indiana provided her with special education services under an individualized education program, or IEP, intended to help her progress.
But Karla said her daughter had failed to make significant academic gains during her fourth grade year. She was concerned the school was missing something.
Karla paid thousands of dollars to have her daughter evaluated by a neuropsychologist. She scored a 91 on a nonverbal intelligence test, which placed her in the average range. That was nearly 50 points higher than what the school reported from its own IQ testing, which placed her in the extremely low range.
The results validated Karla’s suspicion about her daughter’s potential.
