Checchi Law, LLC

Excited to be presenting next Tuesday, 7/29 for MylawCLE on the topic of Special Education and Autism for this national CLE provider. I have a dynamic team and can't wait to work with them! Norma Francullo, Esq., Marc Mucciolo, Esq, and Robert Meagher, Psy.D. Thanks to MylawCLE for having me and letting me pick my team! For information, please visit:

Autism and the Law: From Clinical Insight to Special Education Litigation Session I - Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder: From Early Signs to Psychological Support - Rebecca Martinez This session offers a concise yet thorough exploration of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emphasizing its early behavioral signs, formal diagnostic criteria, and the range of cognitive, c...

What stands in the way of IEP teams making recommendations that parent's feel are appropriate?

1) Disagreement between the IEP team and the Parent. The team feels that the services being implemented are appropriate or that the Parent does not see the situation objectively.

2) The IEP team would like to make the recommendation that the parent is requesting, i.e., specific methodology for reading, but the methodology is not available in the school. Although the law and internal policies state that a recommendation for each student must be appropriate, and not based on what is in existence in any given school, the reality is that teams are discouraged from making recommendations that they know cannot be readily implemented by the DOE.

3) The IEP team needs the approval of a supervisor to make the requested recommendation and were unable to obtain such approval. Although the practice of consulting with a supervisor to ensure fidelity to best practice and accountability in decision-making (particularly for change of program to more restrictive environments) is often proper, the reality is that this may - and often does - curtail a team from independent decision-making that is necessary and a legal requisite to conducting a proper IEP meeting. A proper IEP meeting is one that safeguards both the rights of the child and protects the school district agency from leaving itself open to costly law suits.

Evaluations are the cornerstone of how IEP Teams determine whether a student has a disability and what services, if any, are necessary. But evaluations, or the tests themselves, do not tell the whole story. It is important to families that the IEP team understand how a score is arrived at, not just look at a score and draw conclusions. A full and complete picture of a student may be arrived at through the use of dynamic assessment. A dynamic assessment looks beyond scores and seeks to understand how a child learns, using mult-modalities tailored to the individual needs of the student being assessed. My colleagues who are neuropsychologists have often discussed the concept of "process oriented" assessments. This approach entails observing and analyzing what types of items a student gets right, compared to what they answer incorrectly. The psychologist may conduct an item analysis to determine trends in how a student approaches a task, and thus, how they learn. This approach is not limited to neuropsychologists; the most comprehensive reports I have read review the strengths and weaknesses of a child through a process oriented approach. Many thanks to my school psychologist colleagues for making me more mindful of this invaluable approach to testing.

It's very concerning what is happening with students who are diagnosed with - or likely should be diagnosed with - dyslexia. Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed the Dyslexia Diagnosis Access Act into law which requires commercial health insurers to cover the cost of neuropsychological assessments that diagnose dyslexia. This does not mean that NYCPS is not required to evaluate a student who has a reading disabilities, nor address the concerns of a parent who would like to have a deeper understanding of their child's needs. I am confident that NYCPS would agree. In spite of the uptick in awareness that this Act has inspired, the proper diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities continues to present significant challenges to NYCPS. Most, if not all of these students, really do require consistently implemented scientifically based reading methodologies. A catch all or minimal, partial program is just not good enough. NYCPS needs to always remember to put the student first. When the priority is the student, and not the politics, more significant headway will be made.

NYS and federal law permit parents who disagree with their child's evaluations to request independent evaluations at public expense. The city has the right not to grant them, but Part 200.5 of the NYS regulations require that if a parent disagrees with an evaluation conducted by the NYCPS (New York City Public Schools, formerly NYC Department of Education), the city must, without unnecessary delay either grant the assessment, or file for a due process hearing against the family to defend their assessments. If the DOE has not agreed to grant your evaluation request, for an assessment they conducted, but do not file a hearing, they are in violation of this regulation.

Welcome to Checchi Law! I am delighted to announce my law firm is representing families of children with disabilities, or whose families suspect their children may have a disability, or those who require representation in administrative legal proceedings (impartial hearings). My practice is based in New York and New Jersey, and my office is located in Staten Island. I welcome you to visit my website at checchilaw.com and reach out to me to let me know how things are going.