The Six Requirements Inside IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act gets talked about as one requirement. It is six: a free appropriate public education, an evaluation covering every area of suspected disability, a written IEP with measurable goals, placement in the least restrictive environment, real parent participation with written notice, and procedural safeguards including due process.

Enacted 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, renamed IDEA in 1990, last reauthorized 2004.

Most disputes trace to exactly one of the six, not all of them at once. Knowing which one narrows what to bring to a meeting.

IDEA sits inside a broader body of right-to-education law. A wider legislative overview is at American SPCC: https://americanspcc.org/the-right-to-education-laws-that-promote-and-protect-access-to-education/

Special Needs Care Network operates a directory of special needs schools and therapy providers in the United States at specialneedsusa.com.