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7987 ADVOCACY ALONG THE SPECTRUM: VITAL LEGAL TOOLS FOR PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS


Friday, July 10, 2015: 4:00 PM-5:15 PM
Room Number: 106 (Colorado Convention Center)
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This interactive session will highlight the laws that frame the lives and life changes of children and young adults with ASD. Using real case examples, it will enable parents and professionals to become effective advocates by applying those laws and developing legal strategies. This interactive session will be led by an attorney with forty years of experience concerning the rights of people with disabilities.  She is also the parent of a young adult with ASD who has earned a regular high school diploma and is college bound.  This session will begin with an overview of the federal laws including the ADA, the IDEA , Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and U.S. Supreme Court cases related to children and young adults on the spectrum.  It will highlight the holdings of these cases so that parents and professionals can use these "legal buzz words" when advocating for children and young adults on the spectrum.

After reviewing the relevant cases and laws, the session will present common problems confronted by children and young adults with ASD.  These problems arise in areas including evaluations, early intervention, special education, transition, insurance, family law and the juvenile justice system.  Each of these areas present unique problems for those on the spectrum and effective advocacy requires knowledge of the law and the ability to apply the law to the problem at hand.  This session will present problems for the participants to analyze and resolve.

Participants will learn how to present their resolutions after applying the relevant law to officials charged with carrying out the law whether they be special education administrators, judges or police.  By developing these strategies based on the learned legal tools, parents and professionals will be able to advance the rights of children and young adults with ASD.  This can ensure that those young people gain the rights to which they are entitled( such as early intervention, special education and transition) and are treated with knowledge by systems such as first responders and the courts that are only recently confronting those with ASD.(This is an emerging field and far too many young adults on the spectrum are being ill treated by first responders or subject to adjudication by the courts).  It is hoped that a new generation of parents and professionals will emerge from this session-- effective advocates!

Learning Objectives:

  • Apply the law to common problems confronting children and young adults with ASD to obtain needed services and placements
  • Name the federal laws that guarantee the rights of children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
  • Develop strategies using the law to advance the rights of children and young adults with ASD and secure rights to which they are entitled

Content Area: Family and Sibling Support

Presenter:

Sheryl Dicker, J.D.
Adjunct Professor of Disability Studies
City University of New York School of Professional Studies Department of Disability Studies

Sheryl Dicker has worked as an attorney for 40 years on behalf of persons challenged by disability and poverty. She also is the parent of a young adult with ASD. She has been a government official, project director, founder of a disability law project and medical and graduate school faculty member.