Customized disability law training at your place!

In addition to offering three two-day conferences through CESD each year in Austin, attorneys Dave Richards & Jose Martín can also create an inservice designed to meet your unique needs. Whether your audience is new to Section 504, IDEA & NCLB or is fairly sophisticated, they can provide a training program to improve your knowledge and skills. Virtually any topic covered in the conferences (as well as many other other topics) can be modified to fit your audience and setting.

The Attorneys

Jose Martín and David Richards represent school districts and special education cooperatives in Texas on issues involving the education of students with disabilities. Through working with regular and special educators for over 15 years, Dave & Jose have developed an appreciation for the need of public educators to develop a working knowledge of disability law issues. To meet that need, Dave & Jose created the Council of Educators for Students with Disabilities (CESD), offering high -quality disability law conferences in Austin, Texas. They participate in all CESD conferences, providing the legal perspective on Section 504 and IDEA issues at those conferences. They likewise provide presentations on Section 504, IDEA and NCLB at schools, districts, and service centers, and at regional, state and national conferences across the country.

The Philosophy

You can’t comply with a law you don’t understand. Unfortunately, IDEA and Section 504 are not without vagaries and difficult concepts. Dave & Jose explain the law in simple, common-sense language, illustrated with frequent examples from real-world experiences. Rather than expanding on the law and its requirements from an academic perspective, they focus on the everyday implications of the legal framework, emphasizing compliance through awareness and planning. They supplement their presentations with detailed written materials that provide legal authority and additional explanation long after the presentation is over.

Different folks have different concerns and training needs.

There is no one-size-fits-all perfect IDEA or 504 training that meets the needs of every campus, region or state in the country. Just like services under the IDEA and 504, presentations (to be appropriate) must focus on unique needs and provide understanding in areas that matter to the presentation audience. Consequently, Dave and Jose will work closely with you to develop a training that covers the issues that matter to you and your audience. Further, when the size of the audience permits, Dave and Jose prefer to take questions from participants throughout presentations to establish an interactive format within which participants feel free to add their comments and thoughts to the presentation agenda. The result is a truly individualized learning experience.

So what can Jose & Dave talk about?

Virtually any area of interest in Section 504, IDEA and NCLB. For example, they have provided presentations in the following areas:

IDEA Topics: RTI and the New LD model, discipline and manifestation determination, providing related services, defending against unilateral private school placements, establishing appropriate identification and evaluation processes, assistive technology, medical services for medically fragile students, educating behavior-disordered students, inclusion and least restrictive environment, assessment issues, preventing & handling litigation, procedural compliance, developing legally sound IEPs for autistic students, residential placements, demands for specific educational methodologies, and the list goes on...

Section 504 Topics: The Section 504 process, discipline of the 504 student, FAQ on Doctors & Medication, What is a Major Life Activity?, 504’s Nondiscrimination duty, transportation issues, Physical disability issues: allergies, asthma and diabetes, What is a Substantial Limitation?, 10 OCR Decisions that Everyone Should Know, Section 504 Updates, Extracurricular Activities, and many others.

Hybrid Topics: The Intersection of NCLB, IDEA and Early Intervention, Special Education & 504 for Regular Educators, FERPA, Creating an IDEA -Compliant Campus, Campus Administrator’s Role in the IEP Process, The Intersection of 504, IDEA and The Texas Dyslexia Law, The Philosophy of Early Intervention, The Legal Framework for Early Intervention...

Don’t worry if your desired topic is not listed, this is just a sampling of topics covered to date. Dave & Jose are researching and adding new topics throughout the year.

Customized training is surprisingly affordable.

Once you’ve calculated the travel costs of sending staff to a conference (including registrations, lost travel time to and from the event, etc.) consider the option of bringing the training to you. For example, Jose & Dave have already has great success putting on statewide events in Hawaii, New Mexico and in Arkansas in conjunction with their respective State Departments of Education. As a result, hundreds of educators from these three states were able to attend a comprehensive training event (tailored to local needs) without having to get approval for out-of-state travel.

Texas presentations. Jose & Dave’s legal practice and clients are in Texas. Their Austin office allows them to reach clients all over the state with relatively easy travel time demands. As these presentations are for clients (or potential clients), a speaking fee of $1,000 is charged for a a Half -Day presentation, and a Whole Day speaking fee is $1,500, plus the actual costs of modest travel (flight, rental car, hotel, meals, parking, etc). Following the completion of the presentation, you will be invoiced by mail for both the speaking fee and the expenses, and provided detailed accounting of the expenses together with copies of receipts as needed.

Out-of-Texas presentations. When Jose and Dave leave the state, the presentation fee is $3,000 plus the actual costs of modest travel (flight, rental car, hotel, meals, parking, etc.). Special arrangements can be made individually (when, for example, multiple days of presentation are requested, Dave & Jose are to present at the same event, etc.). Following the completion of the presentation, you will be invoiced by mail for both the speaking fee and the expenses, and provided detailed accounting of the expenses together with copies of receipts as needed.

What else can you tell me?

In the pages that follow, you can learn more about Dave Richards and Jose Martín, see the types of workshops and presentations they have created for audiences of all sizes, look at feedback from participants, and request a quote to build a training that meets your needs, on a campus, district, regional, state or national level.

We’d be happy to talk with you about designing an inservice program to meet your disability law training needs, featuring attorneys and practitioners knowledgeable about compliance issues and the realities of day-to-day life in the public schools. If you need to train large groups and can’t afford to send them to Austin, email or call 1-512-219-5043 to bring CESD to you!