Do Students/Parents have the right to refuse Special Ed

Post Reply New Topic

It depends on where you live. In California, for example, children are legally "wards of the state," and if the state decides they know better than you do what is best for your child, you will have an awful time fighting the system. The state has almost unlimited money they get from the taxpayers, while you have only what you can honestly make. The federal laws trump state laws, of course, but many educators, social workers, legislators, etc. have a different idea.

In California, the people in power believe they can take a child away from their parents for no reason whatsoever, and place them in whatever program or setting they see fit. Back in the days when states used to get funding based on how many children they placed in foster homes and adoption settings, the mere suggestion of child abuse or neglect would result in your child being taken from you without your knowledge or consent and without due process, and the child would be either lost in the system or legally adopted by someone else before you could legally do anything about it. These practices have become few and far between, thank goodness, but they have not stopped completely.

Unfortunately for parents, they must take a proactive stance with their children and fight for their rights when it comes to their upbringing. This is contrary to the Constitution and many early court rulings to the contrary, where the parents have a sovereign right to their children until they become of age or are emancipated. - LJS

O_O now I know to stay out of california

In my state parents have to give consent for everything; any kind of evaluation and any kid of service. When the child is older, they have the right to accept or deny services. However, it is not an easy task to get services for your child. It takes a huge amount of advocating to get the help that some kids really need.

I can see where many of you are coming from. I was put into Special ED services and moved from school to school. I had no stability and no stimulation. They said I was "emotionally disturbed". This was before Asperger’s was a diagnosis, plus I'm female. They would state over and over in my IEP meetings that I was too smart to go to an alternative high school (for troubled kids with behavior issues), and that they wanted to try to give me some inclusive classes, but no school knew what to do with me. I couldn't handle any mainstream classes. My only positive experience was my last Special ED placement where I had the most amazing teachers (4 teachers/2 classrooms/ very low ratio class), that really made me feel save and loved and introduced me to philosophy. I hate thinking about how much the system failed me, but I somehow made it through college with honors and I start grad school in a few weeks! I had to re-teach myself EVERYTHING once I started college though, because I was lacking a good foundation.

Schools often fails those who are not made for fitting into the wishes and desires of the general society despite the fact that some of them graduate and that sentiment can be easily be backed up by a lot of adults who resent society and schools. In the end, forced state schooling is only harming a lot of people and it will harms other people as well.

Arminius is right. Where I was growing up, school was interested that one does not fail the grade and dose not make incidents. Now I am confused, it seems that school wants to interfere if the kid is not making friends in the class, or does not look at the teacher or is not engaged (excited) when the teacher speaks. It seems that they want to handle everything but the actual learning.

Yes they do. Mine could have said no to mine when I was five when the teachers consulted my parents I should go to this other school and they have special ed classrooms for kids and my parents went along with it. All they did was they placed in me a class with a bunch on kids with all sort of problems and some of them were low functioning and we all had different rules and it was a mess then. That's what they did in those days, stuck kids of all disabilities in one class and there was no inclusion then.

Then I have an aspie friend who was also in special ed and his mother got him out of there when he was about nine years old. Then other parents did the same with their kids and the teacher held a grudge against my friend ever since because he lost half his students.

I was in special ed all the way till I finished high school but I mainstreamed it. I didn't go to it when I was 11 and 12 though and then I was put back in it when I was 13 because I was struggling in school and getting bad grades and having a hard time with other students.

I believe the ultimate decision lies with the parents in any scenario. Such kind of cases should never be overlooked and it is critical that no kid should be labeled as having a disability when they don't even have a faint trace of it.