The statutory foundation for providing quality education for students with cognitive disabilities is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA, passed in 1975.
IDEA says:
to the maximum extent appropriate, school districts must educate students with disabilities in the regular classroom with appropriate aids and supports… along with their non-disabled peers… unless a student’s Individual Education Program (IEP) requires some other arrangement.
This basic right is also stated in the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.
Despite IDEA and ADA, schools persistently use Down syndrome and attendant cognitive disability to dodge the law and deprive individuals of quality education.
So, an important key is political action – becoming active in state and local school board activities to assure students with disabilities are not discriminated against.
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