Under the IDEA or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a free and appropriate public education (or FAPE) is granted to eligible students with disabilities.

In schools, a lot of the funding for special education and additional resources is provided under funds from the IDEA.

Recently, the Department of Education published a Q & A document specifying rights for children with disabilities placed by their parents into private schools.

To read the document directly, click HERE.

The document may be valuable for students who have been placed into private schools in order to obtain a free and appropriate education. For instance, if a student with significant challenges due to dyslexia was enrolled in a private school by their public school district in order to provide them with an appropriate education, that student would still be eligible for some services; but this document also clarifies that they may not be eligible for the full range of services that could be offered if they had remained full time in public school.

Page 34 of the document discusses homeschooled children with disabilities.

Excerpt:

“Whether home-schooled children with disabilities are considered parentally-placed private school children with disabilities is determined under State law. If the State recognizes home schools as private elementary schools and secondary schools, children with disabilities in those home schools must be treated in the same way as other parentally-placed private school children with disabilities…”

The document also discusses funded school choice vouchers or scholarships. What this may mean is that some families may be eligible for free special education or therapy supports for the public school system – but how easy or hard this is to obtain may depend on individual schools and waitlists.

 

 

 

Dyslexia | Dyslexic Advantage