IDEA Legislation: Pros And Cons

The IDEA legislation was adopted in 1975 and amended in 2004. It can be a complicated piece of legislation for those who are not educated, luckily there are several websites that can simplify what rights a child has, these are all the pros. The first right is free appropriate public education (FAPE) under this legislation every child with a medical disability is entitled to FAPE with an emphasis on services meeting a child’s “unique needs”. The second right is appropriate evaluation, if a school professional is concerned that a student between the ages of 3 and 21 maybe have a disability impacting their learning, IDEA requires evaluation to be performed by a team of professional that are trained and knowledgeable. This allows for children to receive services if they qualify in a timely manner. The third pro is the individualized education plan (IEP) and individualized family service plan (IFSP) which ensures that each child’s unique needs are met. Specifically, IEPs are a great way for a team to work together to benefit a child towards the same goals. It is particularly important that parents are a part of this team effort. The fourth pro is students are guaranteed placements in lease resistive environments under IDEA. This is consistent with occupational therapy concepts of inclusion, social

This means there is a population of students not receiving services especially for mental health problems such as anxiety. Occupational therapy practitioners can promote mental health in students. This is through the prevention model where OTs can offer whole-class room strategies, small support groups or work with individuals at risk (individual with problems that could interfere with learning). The link attached has a table of examples of occupational therapy under a prevention