 |
| Seal of the United States Department of Education (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Today the United States Department of Education issued guidance to school officials on how they should respond to sexual violence and other sex discrimination. The guidance focuses primarily upon Title IX, but it impacts upon several other statutes.You can read the DOE guidance here.
Although this issue is much broader than just a special ed issue, the Q & A document does address students with disabilities in part. Question B-3 is particularly relevant and the question and answer are set forth below:
B-3. What issues may arise with respect to students with disabilities who experience sexual
violence?
Answer: When students with disabilities experience sexual violence, federal civil rights
laws other than Title IX may also be relevant to a school’s responsibility to investigate and
address such incidents. Certain students require additional assistance and support. For
example, students with intellectual disabilities may need additional help in learning about
sexual violence, including a school’s sexual violence education and prevention programs,
what constitutes sexual violence and how students can report incidents of sexual
violence. In addition, students with disabilities who experience sexual violence may
require additional services and supports, including psychological services and counseling
services. Postsecondary students who need these additional services and supports can
seek assistance from the institution’s disability resource office.
A student who has not been previously determined to have a disability may, as a result of
experiencing sexual violence, develop a mental health-related disability that could cause
the student to need special education and related services. At the elementary and
secondary education level, this may trigger a school’s child find obligations under IDEA
and the evaluation and placement requirements under Section 504, which together
require a school to evaluate a student suspected of having a disability to determine if he
or she has a disability that requires special education or related aids and services.
A school must also ensure that any school reporting forms, information, or training about
sexual violence be provided in a manner that is accessible to students and employees with
disabilities, for example, by providing electronically-accessible versions of paper forms to
individuals with print disabilities, or by providing a sign language interpreter to a deaf
individual attending a training. See question J-4 for more detailed information on student
training.
No comments:
Post a Comment