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Parents from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Oklahoma used words like “brilliant,” “wonderful,” “hilarious” and “beautiful” to describe their kids.
It’s those traits the moms and dads will do anything to preserve, even as they worry about the future education of their children, who have diagnoses such as autism and Down syndrome.
The parents, and special education teachers who joined them on a call with the Innovation Ohio Education Fund, are advocating for their children amid threats by the Trump administration to severely cut or dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
Without the Department of Education’s oversight, parents and educators say the therapies their children so desperately need, along with the progress they’ve already made under individualized education plans (IEPs), the accommodations in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the 1973 federal Rehabilitation Act could be hindered or even stopped.
“Without IDEA’s legal shields, individual education programs, IEPs, could become mere suggestions rather than legally binding commitments,” said Jack Catalano, a special education teacher in New York City.
Before early intervention, Ohioan Madison Headley’s three-year-old daughter didn’t communicate or socialize, even hiding under a table at her babysitter’s house to avoid other children. Speech therapy wasn’t financially feasible for Headley, so she worried about her daughter’s development.
After receiving the help of early intervention specialists for autism and starting an IEP at her preschool, Headley’s daughter has found ways to communicate, and is now “open and social,” with a love for hugs and cuddles.
“Without programs like early intervention or preschool IEPs, she would have no access to the therapy services she needs,” Headley said. “We would have no idea about things like sensory needs and how to tend to them.”
Claudia Casas sits on both sides of the room when it comes to special education, as a special ed teacher and mom of an autistic daughter in Arizona. For her, watching the threat to funding means she might not be able to give her students programming and therapy, along with cutting the help her daughter needs to thrive.
“As a parent, I am able to advocate for my daughter and make sure that her IEP is being implemented as it should be,” Casas said. “That is her lifeline. (As a teacher) I’m afraid that my team will not be highly qualified and I will have to provide the minimum support for my students, and that’s the same support that my daughter would be receiving.”
For Pennsylvania resident Melissa Cypher, ensuring her two boys have what they need has meant years of advocacy, even with the current system. But with her oldest son now attending a school specializing in autism supports, she sees even more the power that comes with valuing all students and having the resources to help them.
“Moving responsibilities to other agencies … would reduce our access to the support that we so desperately need,” Cypher said.
The parents and educators of special education students expressed concern about comments made by Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education, in which she suggested that special education funding should be under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
That move would be detrimental not only because of the change in the way education is funded, the parents said, but also because the federal Department of Health and Human Services is now headed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has publicly spouted debunked claims about autism and vaccines, something scientific experts say have no connection.
Wisconsin mom Amanda Sherman fears a focus on inclusion and classroom success will shift to a focus on medical interventions if the HHS takes over special education oversight, and without proper federal oversight, special education could become a “patchwork of unreliable services” that would hinder her autistic son, who is thriving under an IEP.
“His IEP has been a game-changer, providing the structure and support he needs to survive in an environment that wasn’t necessarily built for him,” Sherman said.
She plans to be on the front lines for her son as long as she feels IEPs, the Department of Education, or the Individuals with Disabilities Act are under threat.
“The Department of Education exists to make sure that protections like IDEA aren’t just words on a page, that they are enforced, funded and followed,” Sherman said.
Watching other funding cuts proposed by the Trump administration in the name of efficiency would come at a cost Oklahoman Rhys Gay can’t accept as the dad of three children, including one with Down syndrome.
“From my experience as a father and a father of someone with special needs, supporting children, especially children with disabilities is anything but efficient,” Gay said. “It takes thoughtful investment, patience and a deep commitment for their well being.”
Cuts to the Department of Education or special education are not about “streamlining bureaucracy,” Gay added, “it is about real kids, real families, real consequences.”
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