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For the Children

Advocating for Your Child with Learning Disabilities

By Kelly Burgess

When the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) was first implemented more than 25 years ago, the focus was on children with more obvious disabilities, such as mental retardation. It has since been refined to the point that it now includes a variety of learning and developmental disabilities. However, as Langston points out, because it is a federal program, there is "enough paperwork to choke a horse." Langston thinks that teachers should be more responsible for the success or failure of their students, and that every student should have an advocate whether it be a parent, a school aide or someone appointed by the child's county.

He is involved with several programs where parents work as mentors for other parents to help them through the often bewildering maze of special education requirements. What he would eventually like to see is a national parent-mentor program that will offer resources and act as a buffer between the parent and the school in this often emotional journey.

And it is a journey, one that Langston is still on.

"I'm still trying to learn to read and write English properly even today," Langston says. "The future of special education is to understand that no one is learning disabled they just learn differently, and we need to figure out how best to teach them."

* Last name withheld to protect privacy.