Special Education Advocacy for Your Child and Your Family
According to federal and state laws, your child with a disability is entitled to an appropriate education. But sometimes the school district may make decisions you, as a parent, don’t agree with – decisions that don’t benefit your child. When that happens, you need a special education attorney to advocate for your family.
If you’re a parent of a student with disabilities, you know how difficult it is to deal with the complicated special education process including referrals for services, evaluations, development of the Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and implementation of services. Once your child is referred for special education services, you can get lost in a maze of regulations. Our team of special education legal professionals can assist you in getting out of this maze. We want to help you avoid costly legal battles by resolving problems before they turn into a crisis.
Sometimes the Committee on Special Education (CSE) makes decisions that may not address your child’s needs. When this happens, you have the right to challenge those decisions. One way to challenge is through a due process hearing. At the Cuddy Law Firm, our special education attorneys have a great deal of experience in representing parents in due process hearings under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Before your child’s hearing our legal team will:
- Evaluate your child’s records,
- Draft the complaint,
- Attempt to resolve the matter through settlement and
- In those cases that don’t settle, represent you throughout the process so that an impartial hearing officer (IHO) can decide what is appropriate to address your child’s needs.
These hearings are very similar to trials, although less formal, with an impartial hearing officer acting as the judge. The hearings require detailed preparation, knowledgeable presentation of the facts and comprehensive legal briefing. When you need help with a hearing, contact us. We have successfully represented thousands of parents in due process hearings.
On occasion, the decisions of hearing officers may be appealed. Our special education attorneys may be able to assist in these cases.
If we don’t agree with the decision of the Office of State Review, we can file an appeal to state or federal court. At the Cuddy Law Firm, our special education attorneys have extensive experience representing New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Ohio parents in these court appeals.
If you need help with special education law, call 1.800.418.5904.