Special Ed Advocacy: Nine Rules of Thumb
In this article, you will find:
Rule seven
Rule Seven: Understand Least Restrictive Environment
Special education law requires that services be delivered in the least restrictive appropriate environment, meaning generally the setting which is closest to the regular education program in which your child can progress effectively with or without added supports and resources. Most often this means that you have to exhaust the reasonable possibilities for programs and services within the local community before you have a reasonable chance to argue for any other alternative. However, if you have very strong advice based on an expert's personal knowledge of the school system's program that it would be ineffective or worse, you can sometimes risk not trying the program before proceeding to litigation.