Students With Disabilities and Cultural/Linguistic Differences: Case Law Review

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: Education Policy and Politics

Abstract

Despite the fact that disability has been recognized as “a natural part of the human experience” and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) should have served as an unbiased manifesto to address students’ disabilities, a further reality is that students with disabilities who also have cultural and linguistic differences remain poorly served in today’s schools. In fact, while years of litigation and legislation have created improvement for some students with disabilities, it appears that a historic segregation may remain for culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities. This paper will examine case law and law review journals regarding students with cultural and linguistic disabilities and their contact with the evaluation and placement phases of the special education process.

Authors

• Ann Stafford Maydosz, Old Dominion University

• Diane Stafford Maydosz, Marshall-Wythe School of Law