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To initiate a guardianship proceeding in Washington, generally a parent needs to file a petition with the county court. The petition must include a number of facts related to the proposed protected person and why they are not legally capable of making their own decisions. After the petition is filed, there is an investigation and a hearing to determine if a guardian is needed and if the proposed guardian is appropriate. This process can be navigated without an attorney, but it is extremely...
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Generally, if a student has a disability, a school can be required under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (§ 504) to provide a reasonable accommodation for that disability if the school is aware of it and receives federal funding. A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including eating and the function of the digestive system, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. If...
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Generally, districts have an obligation to provide students with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The duty to provide a FAPE typically includes the duty to provide transportation to get the student to and from school. If the transportation plan that is in place does not have accommodations or contingencies to address the student’s occasional aggressive behavior, the district needs to update the plan to ensure the student can be transported to school even on days that he...
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Generally, assessments about a student’s educational needs should be done by educators, therapists, doctors, or other professionals with training related to diagnosis, treatment, and/or education. A lawyer is not typically trained in those things and so cannot directly assess a student’s educational needs. For a lawyer to evaluate a student’s educational situation, they usually need all available information about the student and his or her education including IEPs, any evaluation reports from...
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In general, the state bar association can help you get started searching for a lawyer. The Washington State Bar Association’s web page for finding legal assistance is at: http://www.wsba.org/atj/contact/legasst.htm. The type of lawyer you want is usually dependent on the kind of discrimination you believe you are facing. For example, there are attorneys who specialize in advocating for individuals with disabilities, pursuing race discrimination issues, pursuing age discrimination issues or...
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Generally, a K-12 school has an affirmative duty under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (§ 504) to identify children with disabilities and provide them with services related to their educations. A disability under § 504 is defined as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual, a record of such impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment.” Major...
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Generally, a student’s educational rights and needs can be protected without resorting to a guardianship. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the corresponding State special education laws allow an adult student to request an educational surrogate to handle educational decisions if the student cannot make those decisions independently. The surrogate is often the student’s parent, but can be any qualified adult that is not employed by the district. An educational surrogate...
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Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the rights of the parent(s) to give or revoke consent for special education services and participate in the IEP process transfer to the student when a student turns 18. So, the answer to your question is most likely yes. There are typically two ways that a parent can legally continue to help the student with her IEP or retain the parental rights under the IDEA. First, the parent can be appointed as an educational surrogate for the...
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Generally, only one person needs to file the petition for the appointment of a guardian. The petitioner can request that anyone be appointed as guardian, and that can include appointing two people to act as co-guardians of the individual. If you are seriously considering a guardianship, you should contact a guardianship attorney licensed in Maryland. The Maryland State Bar Association provides a listing of lawyer referral services to get you started at http://www.msba.org/public/referral.asp.
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Adults are generally entitled to see their own or their child’s education records. Education records are any information recorded in any way directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. There are a number of documents that are expressly not included in education records under Oregon law. For a list of those, please see OAR 581-021-0220 (6) (link below). Education records can include emails sent by...