Barriers to Special Education: Special Education Legal Fund

<p>A key component to public education is that it should be FREE! This includes special education. But what if you can't get the special education your child is entitled to? What happens when your school says "no" to you? There are no special education police to force schools to comply or even just tell them they are wrong. Usually, the only way to enforce your rights is to hire back up - an private service provider, non-legal special education advocate, or special education attorney.</p> <p>Being able to hire a special education advocate or attorney, however, is as much a privilege as being able to "evacuate" on a moment's notice. It sounds easy, but it's not easy and it's not free. Especially post(ish)-pandemic, most families do not have the funds required to hire the professional help they need to access their child's "free" rights.</p> <p>Christine Lai is the parent of a child with special education needs who had to fight her school district to get what her child was entitled to. Christine has experienced first hand the strain this puts on already struggling families. That is why Christine founded the Special Education Legal Fund, or SELF.</p> <p>SELF provides grants to parents of children with disabilities to help fund the professional advocacy families need. The grants SELF provides can provide payment towards legal services, a year of non-legal advocacy, or a combination thereof. Today Christine meets with me to discuss why and how families seek out SELF grants, trends in family needs, and the successes they have seen with this program. Maybe you need a SELF organization near you!</p> <p>Want to seek out Christine? You can find her here: <a href= "https://spedlegalfund.org/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">https://spedlegalfund.org/</a></p> <p>You can always message me at Dana@SpecialEd.fm</p> <p>FLASHBACK: Christine has joined us before! You can check out our last episode together here</p> <p>Transcripts are added shortly after episode is published and can be found at SpecialEd.fm</p> <p>TRANSCRIPT (not p