"Disabilities don't hold students back. Schools do." Sharon Draper
~Quote by character Dr. Catherine Ray, Out Of My Mind, 2024
Although various federal laws aim to protect neurodivergent students' rights, local schools bear the financial burden.
"You Can't":
The Rights and Responsibilities of Neurodivergent Children
Problem
Patricia McCormack. "A New Era For Handicapped Children." Courtesy of Nashau Telegraph July 7, 1978
NEGATIVE IMPACT
The financial strain of adding programs and staff to provide this education was not budgeted for by federal or state agencies.
POSITIVE IMPACT
Estimated 8 million students would be served by the 1975 enactment of PL 94-142.
Charles A. Bowsher, Comptroller General L. Courtesy of Report To The Congress of the United States Unanswered Questions On Educating Handicapped Children in Local Public Schools, 1981.
This 1981 report by the U.S. Comptroller indicated that in ten states, the number of students identified for special education was lower than the estimates at the time PL 94-142 was enacted, raising concerns about federal funding responsibility .
Courtesy of National Center for Education Statistics, 2023
Courtesy of Network for Public Health Law.
The impact of legislation to secure the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities is evidenced in Table 204.30. The total number of students served more than doubled between 1977 and 2023.
Living With Disabilities
“Independent living is not always an option. If a person lived away from family, it was primarily an institutional placement until group homes began to be established in the late 60s, early 70s…Since 2019, TVS has partnered with high schools…to provide a set of services defined in the 2014 Workforce Innovations and Opportunity Act… The services… expose students with disabilities.. to activities designed to prepare them for pathways to employment once they graduate or leave school…. (including) self-advocacy, post-secondary training, workplace readiness skills, and options.”
Carla Hill, TVS Program Director, Brevard, NC, 2025
Not all disabilities allow students to enter society without continued help. Organizations like Transylvania Vocational Services assume responsibility for the next steps in education for life.
Transylvania Vocational Services
The 1975 federal passage of PL 94-142 set in motion actions that defined both the rights and the responsibilities of students and schools to provide a free appropriate public education without discrimination by disability as they secure their right to a full life. The continuing challenges of accepting financial responsibility are a concern for all stakeholders in education.
“The Department of Education exists largely to support the needs of students who wouldn't otherwise receive any. Children with disabilities, children in poverty, children that are the wrong color. As a former public school educator in low-income institutions and other roles I had in education, I saw firsthand that school systems will put these children's needs dead last when there's no accountability pushing them to do better. Despite political divides, laws protecting the educational rights of these children need to be upheld.”
Sarah Krowka, Ph.D. Instructional Research Group, 2025
Courtesy of America Magazine
Throughout U.S. history, evidence points to the right of all students to receive an appropriate education. It is everyone’s responsibility that no student should ever hear “You can’t.”
“My brother is the best thing that ever happened to me. But not at his expense. I developed a language and relationship that was all our own. I don't think I would have the patience or compassion I have now without him…I was very protective simply because I knew he couldn't protect himself. People are cruel, so sometimes I had to adjust their attitudes, even if I was much smaller. My brother's disability didn't pose any obvious strain on the family. He was truly a helpful, moving part in what we considered a normal family. Normal for us. We all gave each other true love and respect… I feel very lucky.”
Michael Boltz remembering his special needs brother in the 1970s “JB” 2025