Special Education: A Parent's Guide for Children's Success is among the most practical, useful books for special education parents I have encountered.
I cyber-met the Author, Michael T. Bailey, on a listserv for people interested in Down syndrome. He describes himself, tough-in-cheek I think, as a recovering lawyer. He has a daughter who is now entering adulthood with Down syndrome and, as Michael approaches the end of his daughter's experience with public schools he is taking the opportunity to share his experiences with other parents. Michael has been involved in disability advocacy now for almost 20 year.
If you have a child with a disability, A Parent's Guide is easily worth the cover price. Michael succeeds mightily in bringing perspective and understanding to the nightmare of timetables, meetings and paperwork involved in the special education process in the U.S. and makes it easy (well, less difficult, at least) to understand your rights as a parent and the educational rights of your child. He brings the technical expertise of the legal professional, the passion of an advocate, and the empathy of a parent whose own child has a disability all to the table with him as he discusses things like the process of evaluating a child for special education placement and how to resolve conflict and disputes between parents and school systems.
Michael's 250-plus pages are well written and easy to ready. He manages to avoid technical jargon when it is unnecessary and explains it well when it just has to be used. More importantly, he shares personal bits and pieces of himself along the way that allow readers to take more than just information and philosophy away from his book: they get small doses of actual wisdom, as well.
Michael succeeds in preparing parents for the early years and their first meetings. He explains the benefits and details of things like the extended school year, assistive technology, transition services, and Medicaid eligibility.
Michael's chapter on Advocacy and Problem Solving is especially useful. It includes practical checklists for both families and professionals, a set of appropriate questions parents can ask as part of an IEP meeting, and some constructive guidelines for dress and behavior as such meetings. There is also a list of pitfalls such meetings can have and tips on how to avoid them.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Michael's book is that parents come away from it with an understanding that they, as parents, need to have goals and philosophies for the education of their disabled child. The book gives parents real insight into the kind of choices they have a responsibility (and a right) to make.
I would highly recommend Michael T. Bailey's book, Special Education: A Parent's Guide for Children's Success to any parent of a child with a disability.
Copyright © 2006, Greg Cruey and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
