Discriminating against kids every day

Every day some parent of a kid with special needs is being told that their child can’t participate in XYZ activity either in school or out. Check out this link to a video and you’ll see what I mean.

bit.ly/U4AxPf

The schools tell parents they are not required to provide assistance for these activities since they occur after school, take place off the school grounds, or do not involve academics. I know this is true because I’ve been told that on a few occasions. You may not be aware, but your child’s IEP can include supplementary aids and services for extracurricular activities and after-school programs. Who says? The law says.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruling in Independent School Dist. v. Minn. Dep’t of Education  (Oct. 7, 2010)  held that IDEA requires school districts to take steps to provide extracurricular and nonacademic activities to afford the student an equal opportunity to participate. The IEP team must determine which activities are appropriate and include them in the IEP. These activities are not limited to activities that “educate the child.”
 

So the next time someone on the IEP team wants to exclude your kid from an activity because they don’t have the resources, you might want to reference the ruling above and ask the team what they think that LAW means.