IEP San Diego supports families in San Diego County throughout the special education process to ensure their child with behavioral, emotional or learning disabilities is provided with an appropriate education and can achieve meaningful progress.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is a federal law meant to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to children with disabilities, requires schools to provide special education and related services (like speech therapy) to meet the unique needs of special needs children.
A child must have a disability covered by IDEA, which are as follows:
Autism
Deafness
Emotional disturbance
Hearing impairment
Intellectual disability
Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairment (including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD)
Specific learning disability (includes dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and other learning differences)
Speech or language impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment (including blindness)
However, having one of these disabilities doesn’t automatically qualify a child under IDEA. To be eligible, a student must have a disability and, as a result of that disability, need special education services to make progress in school.
It is important to know that a child’s disability must impact the child’s educational performance in order to qualify for special education services. The educational impact includes any of the following areas: academics, behavioral and or social emotional development.
An evaluation starts the process under IDEA. The evaluation helps determine if a student has a disability and what services and support that student might need. After the evaluation, the school holds an eligibility meeting to decide if your child qualifies for special education. A special education advocate can help figure out what evaluations are needed, whether independent educational evaluations (IEEs) in addition to the ones performed by school representatives are warranted, in order to determine whether your child qualifies for special education.
Once your child has been found to qualify, a special education advocate can work with you and the school officials as part of the “IEP team” to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP is the legal document that determines a child’s educational goals and the services and support the school will provide.
A trained and experienced special education advocate can make a huge difference in getting an IEP that includes the special education services and supports that your child needs and making sure that the IEP is implemented as intended so that your child makes meaningful progress in school.
Our special education advocates can help you navigate the complex special education process. This may include:
Navigating the assessment and Eligibility process
Educational Document Review
Understanding Educational Evaluations
In-school Observations
Independent Educational Evaluation Referrals
Attending IEP and 504 meetings
Consulting with the School District
IEP San Diego was founded in January 2020 by Karla Maldonado after she had worked for several years at a well-respected Special Education Advocacy firm based in San Diego, California. IEP San Diego is conveniently located in the heart of Liberty Station, in Point Loma at 2305 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 100, San Diego, California 92106.
IEP San Diego’s Special Education advocate is Karla Maldonado.
About Karla Maldonado
Karla has specialized training in many areas related to her client’s Special Education diagnoses including Social Emotional Learning, Social Thinking, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dyslexia, Early Intervention, Behavioral Therapy, Mental Health Services and ADHD, among others.
Karla obtained a certificate of completion for the Special Education Advocates Training (SEAT) program by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) and from the Special Education Law and Advocacy Series (SELAS) program of the University of San Diego’s School of Law.
