Understanding the legal basis of IEP's and assistive technology highlights the importance of ensuring that every need for assistive technology and related services is fully considered by the IEP team.
Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children to ensure access to the general curriculum, so that they can meet the educational standards that apply to all children.
IDEA (sec. 300.101) states that "A free appropriate public education must be available to all children residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school."
In addition, "Each State must ensure that FAPE is available to any individual child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the child has not failed or been retained in a course or grade, and is advancing from grade to grade." The primary vehicle for providing FAPE for students with disabilities is through an appropriately developed IEP that is aligned with the grade-level standards.
An individualized education program or IEP is a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in accordance with §§300.320 through 300.324, and that must include:
A statement of the child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance.
A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals that are aligned with the grade-level standards for the grade in which the child is enrolled.
A description of how the child's progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured.
A statement of the special education and related services, supplementary aids and services, and program modifications or supports that enable the child to participate and make progress in the general education curriculum.
An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with non-disabled children in the regular class setting.
Assistive technology is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.” (IDEA 2004)
In the context of FAPE, anything can be assistive technology if an IEP team decides that it is what a student needs to ensure they receive FAPE. Once that decision is made, the provision of that assistive technology becomes a legal protection for that student.
Assistive technology service means any service that directly assists a student with a disability in the selection, acquisition or use of an assistive technology device. When a student needs an assistive technology device or service, the IEP team needs to consider what instruction the student might require to use the assistive technology device, as well as any supports and services the student, teachers, parents, peers, or other involved individuals may need related to the effective use of the device.