Individualized Education Program and Least Restrictive Environment, Placement in

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a groundbreaking federal statute that authorizes federal aid for the education of more than six million children with disabilities nationally. Passed by Congress as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) in 1975 and reauthorized in 1990 as IDEA, the legislation recognizes the right of all children, regardless of ability, to be educated in a free and appropriate manner within the public education system. Prior to the inception of IDEA, the majority of children with disabilities, including deaf children, lacked sufficient educational support and were poorly supported within the regular school system or were educated in segregated settings with little access to their nondisabled peers. IDEA established what are considered to be two main provisions used to guide placement and establish education plans for children with disabilities within the public education setting: the necessity of developing and revising individualized education programs (IEPs) and the mandate that the IEP evaluate and place children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The concept of LRE is used to guide the design and implementation of initial placement and established the precedence for continual placement within a specific education setting for all children with disabilities. The LRE clause is integral to the nature and tone of the IDEA statute and is defined as the most appropriate environment for the child, given the nature of his or her disability. The LRE has generally been interpreted as the placement of children with disabilities and deaf children with their nondisabled peers in local schools, a practice referred to as mainstreaming. The LRE and IEP are integral and co-influencing components of a child’s education: IEPs are required for all children participating in special education and must be updated or reviewed on a yearly basis. These plans typically include the initial placement option and support services the child will require to be successful in that placement, taking into account the child’s perceived LRE. Subsequently, they outline the child’s progress in school, including goals and setbacks, and allow for a results-oriented individualized action plan for the following year.

IDEA specifies that children with disabilities be educated, to the maximum extent possible, with children who are nondisabled. Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in the regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. This language is used to define the standard education setting considered the LRE for most children with disabilities. The LRE clause, as interpreted by professionals in special education, has enormous impact on deaf children during the placement phase of their education. The LRE for most students with disabilities is one that allows them the greatest access to regular education settings with their nondisabled peers. For deaf children the situation is more complex.

Prior to IDEA and the generalization of LRE as a local public school, most deaf children were educated in residential or segregated day schools and other settings with their deaf peers. Specialized [Page 482]schools for deaf children had been established as a means to educate deaf children and also served as a means to teach many deaf children American Sign Language (ASL), which deaf children frequently were unable to learn in their homes. By its very nature, being deaf warrants different methods of communication and teaching. While inclusion in education is considered a human right for all people regardless of ability, specific populations require greater consideration in school placement. The overriding rule in regard to placement is that placement decisions be made on an individual basis, meaning no generalizations regarding the LRE should be made for any child, regardless of the child’s disability category.

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