Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

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FAPE and LRE Summary and Relationship
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) are parts of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a law that outlines the rules and regulations in promoting special education to students with disabilities. Both FAPE and LRE aim to create an inclusive environment that will promote learning for students with disabilities with consideration to each student’s individualized needs and capabilities so that the disability will not be a hindrance for them to receive an education that will be beneficial in building their futures. In this paper, FAPE and LRE will be discussed in detail with an evaluation of their effects on students, families, schools, and teachers.
FAPE is a principle under IDEA. The objective of this is to aid in preparing students with disabilities to have the proper education that will be beneficial to their futures. FAPE promotes quality education for these students. This is done by recognizing and providing the special needs and services for a student with a disability to have the same education received in comparison to a child without a handicap. FAPE is provided and paid by the government to provide the appropriate program for students with disabilities, catering to their unique needs in a public school. Some special services that are included in special education are counseling, speech therapy, and transportation (Colson & Smothers, 2018).
LRE is also a principle in the IDEA that promotes the inclusion of children with disabilities with their peers who do not have any handicap or disability. LRE influences where a child with a disability will be located to have their education and special services conducted, such as in a general education classroom or in a specialized institution. An important part of the LRE is to choose the least restrictive placement like a general education classroom, as long as the student can efficiently make progress alongside other supplementary services. If satisfactory learning cannot be seen in a general education classroom despite the supplementary materials and services, that is when the student is moved into a more restrictive environment, also with consideration to the student’s severity and nature of the disability. The possible placements are the following: general education classroom, special education classroom, special school, homebound, and hospital/residential facility, arranged from the least restrictive to the most restrictive (Matthies, 2019). Similar to FAPE, LRE is decided in an individualized manner, depending on the unique needs and capabilities of the student.
FAPE Case Evaluation
The court case involves Amy Rowley, a student with hearing impairment studying at Furnace Woods School in Peekskill, New York. Amy Rowley has partial deafness but is able to understand peers and other people by lip-reading. During the meeting to create an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for Amy Rowley, the members decided to provide Amy Rowley with an FM transmitter...