LEGAL QUESTIONS ABOUT ADD
        
             The following are some questions commonly asked by parents
        when investigating the possiblity of retaining an attorney when
        it appears that a child is not receiving appropriate special
        education services.  Parents who are considering this step are
        encouraged to download and read Pete Wright's analysis of the
        Supreme Court decision in Carter.
        
        1.   Do you need access/copies to my child's files with
        psychologists and/or psychiatrists that have treated him?
        
        ANSWER:  I need their evalulations and test scores.  
        
        2.  Do you want/need signed consents to speak with them?
        
        ANSWER:  Not yet.  After I review info I will know who I may need
        to talk to and then I have a generic release form that covers all
        states which I can either fax to you or put on-line so that you
        and others can use it.
        
        3.  We have requested complete copies of cumulative and
        confidential records from the school.  Still waiting to hear from
        them if they will do it.
            
        ANSWER:  By Federal law, you are *absolutely entitled* to ALL of
        your child's records! Period.
        
        4.  Do you need anything signed to request it from them if they
        won't give it to us?
            
        ANSWER:  Yes, I will have you sign and deliver, in person, my
        standard form directing that they mail the info direct to me to
        avoid polarization of this issue, even tho you personally are
        entitled to them w/o having to go thru an atty! When a school
        system refuses to release records to a parent, that refusal is
        illegal.  However, rather than setting the battleline on that 
        issue, I insert myself as the lightening rod, and force the
        issue, thus removing the parent from the front line of the
        battle.  I can step in and step out. You, as a parent, will
        always be in--so it is important to use your lawyer as the
        lightening rod/SOB, as indicated ("I am only doing what 
        my lawyer said" with an innocent, ignorant smile).
        
        5.  Do you want/need consents to talk with anyone in the
        district?
        
        ANSWER:  Probably, but not yet, need to evaluate data and see who
        are critical players.  Normally I do not have live conversations
        w/ the school officials in the beginning or middle stages of a
        case, but do after their anxiety has gone up.
        
        6.  I am not sure how in-depth your review will be or who you
        might wish to speak to and would like to ensure you have
        everything necessary from the start.
        
        ANSWER: I am not sure yet either, test data will be my primary
        key to future steps!  That is why it is so important to me that I
        have all data, beginning from before child was perhaps born and
        at a minimum, from first piece of diagnostic data available.
        
             As you saw from my Carter analysis, these cases MUST be
        prepared for trial before entering into negotiation, and, from
        there, the cases have a high probability of being settled
        favorably for the parent/child or litigated with a successful
        outcome.
        
             Is your attorney mentally preparing you and himself for
        trial or for accepting settlement at any cost?  Smell it out. I
        would like your perceptions of him before I talk with him.  I
        have trained him on a number of occasions, only his name was
        different but his good intentions were the same.  However, as the
        trial date neared, anxieties surfaced.  If that's the case, I
        probaby can walk him thru that normal developmental stage!
        
             One more thought: Ginsu, some of the thoughts expressed here
        may well be valuable to other parents in the forum.  I would
        appreciate your editing and doing whatever you think appropriate
        to enable  this response to be something that could be uploaded
        as a regular forum message and/or library file.
        
             Your questions are very typical of the many questions I
        normally receive from parents. Perhaps our dialogue could be
        helpful to other parents in similar situations. Their names are
        legion.