By Attorney Franklin J. Hickman 

This is the third in a series of articles on access funding for Applied Behavior Analysis - ABA.  The Federal law governing school-aged children with disabilities is a valuable tool in obtaining such services.

The Basics

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the Federal law requiring states that receive certain types of Federal funding to provide a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to children aged 3 through 21 until graduation or GED.  The Federal law can be found at 20 USC ��1401 et seq. and 34 CFR Part 300.

The educational program must meet the unique needs of the child and be offered at no cost to parents.  A program is appropriate if it enables the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum.  In Deal v. Hamilton County Board of Education,392 F. 3d 840 (2004), the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals defined the scope of IDEA's requirements as follows:

Topics trending in the reception area of our Cleveland office. 

Where did the summer go?!  August has come and gone in a blink of an eye.   Most of my conversations with our clients and visitors have been centered on the fact that Old Man Winter is looming around the corner - a thought that many of us find disconcerting.  Didn't we just put away our boots and shovels?  Well, until it's time to dig them out again, I think we need to enjoy what we have left of the summer.  We still have plenty of nice, warm days ahead, so here are my suggestions for making the most of them:

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