isabilities. A more current movement seeks to provide children with moderate to severe disabilities with similar opportunities. Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was enacted and marked the beginning of a new era for learners of special needs. In 1990 this was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and included the disabled between the ages of 3 and 21 (Gollinick, 178-179). This law offers states financial support to make a free and appropriate public education available to every child with disabilities at no cost to the parent. The professionals role is not to tell the families what decisions to make, but to advise them on how best to make it-to give counsel, information, and support where they are needed (Meisel, 8).
             The local education authority (LEA) do the best they can to meet the special education needs (SENs) of children within the limits of their understanding of those needs and the budget available. Politicians make the SEN policy, however, the LEA can not make recommendations that will ultimately cost money they can not afford (Hall, 227). The law is clear that the LEA must serve a copy of the proposed statement within two weeks of the date on which the assessment of the SEN student was accomplished. This should be understandable and clear to the parent. An example of how the LEA gets around this as to cost is as follows (Hall, 247):
             Actual need Tammy has the need for constant one-to-one
             support for all activities throughout the
             school day because without this nothing can
             Stated provision: Flexible staffing levels to meet her needs at any
             In reality, Tammy spent between 50-60 per cent of her day waiting for somebody
             to do something for or with her because she had no means of communication and no voluntary movement and was totally blind. Without a dedicated support worker, much of her day was wasted just waiting. It is, therefore,...