While there may be quite a few things you will encounter that in raising your child that are exclusive to your child and cerebral palsy, there are no laws that deal solely with cerebral palsy. The laws that govern the rights of a person with cerebral palsy can be found along with the same laws that pertain to all disabled persons. Because the laws that provide your child with the right to an education are so complex and numerable, and as they differ from state to state and locality to locality, this is only a brief discussion of the most important. For more information on the particular laws in your area, contact the United Cerebral Palsy Association (UCP), the national office of The Arc (formerly the Association for Retarded Citizens), or local governmental offices.

Your child’s rights to an education are among the most essential rights people with disabilities have been granted. Until the middle of this century, children with disabilities were generally excluded from public schools. Often, they were sent away to residential “schools”, “homes” and institutions, or their parents grouped together to form private part-time programs. In the 1960’s, federal, state and local governments began to provide educational opportunities to children with disabilities; these laws have continued to expand and improve to present day.

Perhaps one of the most influential laws to affect a disabled child’s right to an education is the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), first enacted in 1975 and extensively amended in 1997 and administered by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). IDEA has vastly improved educational opportunities for almost all children with disabilities. Under IDEA, the federal government provides funds for the education for disabled children for each state that has a special education program that meets the standards established by IDEA and the regulations issued by DOE. To qualify for federal funds, each state must demonstrate that it is providing all children with disabilities a “free appropriate public education” in the “least restrictive environment” that meets IDEA’s standards. At a minimum, states that receive federal funding under IDEA must provide approved special education services, opportunities for participation in the regular curriculum (called inclusion or mainstreaming), and a variety of procedural rights to children with disabilities and their parents. The allure of federal funds has been attractive enough to induce all states to provide special education for children with disabilities, including children with cerebral palsy.

IDEA, however, has its limits. The law only establishes that the minimum requirements in special education be met by every state that desires federal funding. It does not require states to adopt the most ideal educational programs for children with disabilities, and neither does it require uniformity throughout the programs in the U.S. The special education programs will always vary by state to state, including such variables as the student to teacher ratio and what teaching materials are available. State can create special education programs better that what is required by IDEA, and some have. Check with the placement or intake officer of the special education department of your school district to determine exactly what classes, programs and services are available to your child.

One of IDEA’s most fundamental aspects is the guarantee of “free appropriate public education”. “Free” means that no matter what your ability to pay for your child’s education is, your child is entitled to his or her education at public expense, including all special needs your child may have. If the state cannot provide an appropriate environment for your child to learn in, it will place that child in a private program at the state’s expense. If you decide to place your child in a program that the state has not approved for your child, however, you may have to bear the full cost of his or her special education.

While IDEA may not require states to establish educational programs that are the best money can buy, if they receive federal funding, there are still goals that must be met. IDEA requires that states receiving federal funding achieve “educational success”. They must establish measurable performance goals for children with disabilities that lead towards economic independence, community living, and employment as adults. IDEA holds each state responsible for the effectiveness of its special education program.

Only you know what your child is capable of, and only you can assure that your child receives the most appropriate placement and special services. Under IDEA, parents and teachers are required to work together to design an individualized education program (IEP) for each child.

Under IDEA, an appropriate education consists of “special education and related services. “Special education” means instruction specifically designed to meet the unique needs of the child with disabilities, provided in a range of settings, including regular education classrooms, separate classrooms, home instruction, or instruction in private schools, hospitals or institutions. Regular education teachers, special education teachers, therapists and other professionals, all provided by the school district at public expense, are responsible for delivering these educational services. In addition, supplementary aids and services can be provided to enable a student to participate in regular education classrooms. “Related services” are defined as transportation and other developmental, corrective, and supportive services necessary to enable the child to benefit from special education.

IDEA also specifies that the child must be educated in the least restricting environment possible. The least restrictive environment is the educational setting that permits your child to have the most contact possible at school with other children who do not have disabilities as well as involvement in the general curriculum. In this sense, IDEA is specifically intended, at least in part, to end the historical practice of isolating children with disabilities either in separate schools or out-of-the-way classrooms and is intended to open the doors of your neighborhood school to your child with cerebral palsy. Once the doors are open, IDEA requires your school to find ways to truly integrate your child into the typical educational life.

A child is covered by IDEA from the age of three until at least the age of 18, and in states that allow non-disabled people to attend school until 21; the same is true for your child with disabilities. Under IDEA, a state must provide more than the traditional 180-day school year when the needs of a child indicate that year-round instruction is a necessary part of a “free appropriate education.” In most states, the decision as to whether or not your child should receive year-round instruction is based greatly on whether or not your child will “regress”, or lose a substantial amount of the knowledge obtained in the school year. If so, summer instruction will be provided at the state’s expense. Some children with cerebral palsy can regress without year-round services, and if this is the case for your child do not hesitate to request year-round instruction.