Ability Law Blog
Author: Randy Chapman, Esq.
Randy Chapman has been the director of legal services at Disability Law Colorado since 1980. He played a pivotal role in the development of disability law and helped break ground in implementing special education law.
He has authored multiple publications about special education law, and overseen legal representation to more than 25,000 people with disabilities in Colorado.
Illinois School District Should Have Addressed Student...
Jan 4 2012
In City of Chicago School District 299, 57 IDELR 29, (SEA Il 2011) an 8th Grade boy with specific learning disabilities exhibited problems with reading, writing, listening, and integrating sensory... Senator Harkin Introduces Keeping All Students Safe Act
Dec 19 2011
Last Friday December 16 2011, Senator Tom Harkin (D. Iowa) introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act . Similar legislation was introduced last year and passed the House of Representatives,... OCR Rules School District Violated 504 by Isolating Special...
Nov 3 2011
The Office for Civil Rights found that a Tennessee school district violated Section 504 when it placed 14 middle schoolers with severe disabilities in a self-contained classroom that was housed in... OSEP Spanish Glossary Now Available
Sep 26 2011
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has published a Spanish Glossary with over 250 IDEA related terms in Spanish. The OSEP Spanish Glossary was developed to ensure that educational terms... U.S. Department of Education Issues Part C Regulations
Sep 7 2011
Today, the Department of Education (the Department) issued the final regulations for the early intervention program under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). U.S. District Court Affirms Validity of IDEA Regulations...
Aug 24 2011
In Phillip and Angie C. v. Jefferson County Board of Education , 111 LRP 55718 (N.D. Ala. Aug 17, 2011), the U.S. District Court in Alabama overturned a magistrate judge's opinion (56 IDELR 225) ... President Obama issues a Proclamation Celebrating the...
Jul 26 2011
Today is the twenty first annivesary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. President Obama issued the following proclamation celebrating that momentous event.
ANNIVERSARY OF THE... Review of The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law in...
Jul 22 2011
The Everyday Guide to Special Education Law Second Edition
by Randy Chapman, Esq. The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People reviewed by Judee L. Spargur High School Student's Lack of Effort/Negative Attitude...
Jun 30 2011
In Ms. H v. Montgomery County Board of Education, 56 IDELR 268 (May 12,2011) a U.S. District Court in Alabama ruled that the mother of a high school girl with ADHD had stated a claim that her... Father's Girlfriend Did Not Have Authority to Cancel...
Jun 7 2011
Some cases have more interesting facts than others. In Chicago (IL) Public Schools, 56 IDELR 54 (OCR July 2, 2010), the school district violated Section 504 when it discontinued a sixth-grader's... 