Where do you think the school is?

你認為學校在哪裡？

Every single child is unique.

每個孩子都是獨一無二的。

They have different abilities and talents, face different challenges and will need varying degrees of help and support to reach their full potential.

他們有不同的能力和天賦，面臨不同的挑戰，需要不同程度的幫助和支持，才能充分發揮自己的潛能。

But when a child is denied that support, it can be heartbreaking.

但如果孩子得不到這種支持，就會令人心碎。

Amy was in junior school.

艾米還在上國中。

She had sustained huge amounts of physical and emotional bullying.

她遭受了巨大的身體和精神欺凌。

She was hit, she was punched, she had hands round her throat.

她被打，她被拳打，她的喉嚨被人掐住。

She piled all of her toys up at the top of the stairs and called me and said, Mummy, if I jump now, will this be enough to send me to heaven?

她把所有的玩具都堆在樓梯口，然後給我打電話說：媽媽，如果我現在跳下去，這些東西夠不夠把我送上天堂？

And that's when I started thinking, enough is enough.

就在那時，我開始想，夠了，夠了。

This is a huge cry for help and I have to listen and I have to make everybody else listen.

這是一個巨大的求救信號，我必須傾聽，也必須讓其他人傾聽。

Securing the right education for your child will not only impact on their achievements at school, but will determine their success and happiness for the rest of their lives.

為孩子提供正確的教育不僅會影響到他們在學校的成績，還將決定他們一生的成功和幸福。

But local authorities can often put you under a lot of pressure to accept the provision that suits them, to suit their own resources, to suit their own budgets.

但是，地方當局往往會給你施加很大的壓力，讓你接受適合他們、適合他們自己的資源、適合他們自己的預算的規定。

And really trying to work out what next to do can be very daunting.

要想知道下一步該怎麼做，真的會讓人望而生畏。

It seems like there are lots of challenges and lots of obstacles at every turn.

似乎挑戰重重，處處碰壁。

My team at St Clair's Law specialises in helping parents overcome problems thrown up by the education system.

我在聖克萊爾法律事務所的團隊專門幫助家長解決教育系統帶來的問題。

And in this short film, our experts are here to guide you through the process.

在這部短片中，我們的專家將為您提供全程指導。

Our aim is to give you a better understanding of your rights, of how to negotiate the system, and more importantly, we want to help you meet your child's unique and special needs.

我們的目標是讓您更好地瞭解自己的權利，瞭解如何與系統進行協商，更重要的是，我們希望幫助您滿足孩子獨特而特殊的需求。

The first step along this journey is to identify and define the issues affecting your child's progress.

在這一過程中，第一步是找出並確定影響孩子進步的問題。

He was two years old at his two year check-up and it was a group session with other children the same age and we noticed that his speech wasn't at the same level as those children.

他兩歲時進行了兩歲體檢，那是一次與其他同齡孩子的集體體檢，我們注意到他的語言表達能力與那些孩子不在一個水平線上。

It was just basic, you know, mummy, daddy, pointing at things, no full structured sentences.

這只是最基本的，你知道，媽媽、爸爸，指著東西，沒有完整的句子。

A lot of the children seemed to be speaking in full sentences and that's where the concern was raised for us.

很多孩子似乎都能用完整的句子說話，這引起了我們的關注。

So what are the signs to look out for?

那麼有哪些跡象值得注意呢？

Vida has some expert advice.

Vida 有一些專家建議。

A child has a learning disability or difficulty if they find it harder to learn than other children.

如果一個孩子比其他孩子更難學習，那麼他就有學習障礙或困難。

So what should you and your child's teachers be looking for?

那麼，您和孩子的老師應該注意些什麼呢？

Progress that is slower than other children of the same age.

比其他同齡兒童進步慢。

Progress that fails to match the child's own individual previous performance and improvement.

孩子的進步與個人以往的表現和進步不相符。

A rate of progress that fails to close the gap in attainment between your child and others of the same age.

未能縮小您的孩子與其他同齡人在學習成績上的差距。

Or a rate of progress that means the attainment gap between your child and others is widening.

或者您的孩子與其他人的成績差距正在擴大。

In these circumstances your child may well be in need of special educational provision, either within a mainstream school or within a specialist school.

在這種情況下，您的孩子很可能需要在主流學校或特殊學校接受特殊教育。

So you have identified that your child has special educational needs.

您已經確定您的孩子有特殊教育需求。

What then?

然後呢？

Chris is here to guide us through the next stage.

克里斯將指導我們完成下一階段的工作。

The next step along the way is the statutory assessment process.

下一步是法定評估程序。

If the local education authority decide to proceed with an assessment they must seek immediate advice from the child, their parents, as well as the local authority's educational, medical and social services as well as any other agency that it considers relevant.

如果地方教育當局決定繼續進行評估，他們必須立即向兒童、其父母、地方當局的教育、醫療和社會服務機構以及其認為相關的任何其他機構徵求意見。

Experts will be brought in to assess your child and give a comprehensive overview of their needs.

我們將邀請專家對您的孩子進行評估，全面瞭解他們的需求。

These may include educational psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.

這些人員可能包括教育心理學家、言語和語言治療師以及職業治療師。

The process of obtaining this information should take about six weeks from the date the local authority decide to proceed with the assessment.

從地方當局決定進行評估之日起，獲取這些資訊的過程大約需要六週時間。

The local authority should tell you within four weeks of receiving this information whether or not they will proceed to make a statement.

地方當局應在收到此資訊後四周內告訴你他們是否會繼續作出陳述。

But in many instances getting that assessment done at all can be a battle.

但在很多情況下，要完成評估可能是一場戰鬥。

It took Liz many years to persuade her local authority to assess her daughter Amy.

麗茲花了很多年才說服地方當局對她的女兒艾米進行評估。

She was born at 26 weeks and she was born weighing 800 grams and shortly after she was born she had a big bleed into her brain.

她在 26 周時出生，出生時體重 800 克，出生後不久腦部大出血。

She was sent home originally to die and then it came to mainstream school and I'm saying she needs extra help.

她本來是被送回家等死的，後來到了主流學校，我說她需要額外的幫助。

You're not going to be able to handle her just on what you've got.

僅憑你的力量是對付不了她的。

It was evident that she was widening in her gap, educationally speaking, and so I asked them to complete a statutory assessment for her and they said no because Amy didn't meet any of the criteria.

很明顯，她在教育方面的差距越來越大，是以我要求他們為她完成法定評估，但他們拒絕了，因為艾米不符合任何標準。

They felt strongly that they could manage her needs within the school.

他們堅信，他們可以在學校內滿足她的需求。

Where there is a disagreement between the parents and the local authority about what is in your child's best interests, getting independent expert advice can be crucial.

如果父母和地方當局對什麼是孩子的最大利益存在分歧，那麼獲得獨立的專家建議可能至關重要。

It may come down to building a case which challenges the local authority's stance and independent experts can speak to the heart of this and really help your case.

這可能需要對地方當局的立場提出質疑，而獨立專家可以直指核心，真正幫助你解決問題。

Juanita Hurley is an independent expert in speech and language therapy.

胡安妮塔-赫爾利（Juanita Hurley）是言語和語言治療方面的獨立專家。

The absolute key thing is that when you ask or instruct an independent expert, the advice you are going to get is totally objective.

最關鍵的是，當你向獨立專家諮詢或請教時，你將得到完全客觀的建議。

We are there purely to assess, diagnose where appropriate, but specify and quantify the needs of that child and that's incredibly important for the process that they are going through.

我們在那裡純粹是為了評估，在適當的時候進行診斷，但也要具體說明和量化孩子的需求，這對他們正在經歷的過程非常重要。

So let's assume that a statutory assessment has been made by experts.

是以，讓我們假設專家已經進行了法定評估。

Surely it's for the local authority now to draw up a plan that reflects those recommendations?

當然，現在應該由地方當局來制定一項反映這些建議的計劃？

In Wales, the report from the local education authority is called a statement.

在威爾士，地方教育當局的報告稱為聲明。

In England, its new name is an Education and Healthcare Plan, or EHCP.

在英格蘭，它的新名稱是 "教育和醫療保健計劃"（Education and Healthcare Plan），簡稱 "EHCP"。

This is the report which officially records the special needs of your child and the extra help they need.

這份報告正式記錄了您孩子的特殊需求以及他們需要的額外幫助。

But as Zach explains, the statement or plan may not provide all the answers you are looking for.

但是，正如扎克所解釋的那樣，聲明或計劃可能無法提供您所尋找的所有答案。

To make sure a child receives the right support, a plan has to be drafted in a very specific way.

為了確保孩子得到正確的支持，必須以非常具體的方式起草計劃。

There are three critical areas of the plan, so let's look at each of them.

該計劃有三個關鍵領域，讓我們逐一瞭解。

Section B of a plan, or Part 2 of a statement, must describe all of a young person's needs and how those needs impact on that young person's ability to learn.

計劃的 B 部分或陳述的第 2 部分必須描述青少年的所有需求，以及這些需求對青少年學習能力的影響。

The way this section is drafted is very important because if all a young person's needs aren't recorded exactly, then the plan may not provide what is really needed.

起草這一部分的方式非常重要，因為如果沒有準確記錄年輕人的所有需求，那麼計劃可能無法提供真正需要的東西。

Section F, or Part 3, must specify the provision to meet the special educational needs.

F 部分，即第 3 部分，必須具體說明為滿足特殊教育需求而提供的服務。

The way this part is drafted is absolutely critical.

這一部分的起草方式絕對至關重要。

The wording must be crystal clear and must spell out the provision needed in unequivocal terms.

措辭必須清晰明瞭，必須以明確的措辭闡明所需的規定。

Section I, or Part 4, is another very important part of the plan.

第一部分，即第 4 部分，是計劃中另一個非常重要的部分。

It records the school that the child or young person should attend.

它記錄了兒童或青少年應就讀的學校。

In conclusion, where your plan or statement is concerned, exact wording is everything.

總之，就計劃或聲明而言，準確的措辭就是一切。

When we first got Sam's statement, we thought it was okay to do with his particular needs and speech and language needs.

當我們第一次拿到薩姆的陳述時，我們認為這與他的特殊需求以及言語和語言需求有關。

It was only later on that we realised that the statement wasn't worth the paper it was written on, because it wasn't specific as to setting, quantity and who delivered that support to him.

後來我們才意識到，這份聲明根本不值一哂，因為它沒有具體說明為他提供支持的地點、數量和人員。

And at the end of the day, it wasn't being delivered.

到頭來，還是沒有兌現。

So what if there's a problem with your child's statement or the plan?

如果您孩子的陳述或計劃有問題怎麼辦？

What if it's too vague, doesn't give you the legal entitlement that you want?

如果太含糊不清，不能給你想要的法律權利怎麼辦？

What do you do then?

那你會怎麼做？

When a disagreement arises over the expert report, in other words, what you believe needs to be put in place to support your child, and what the local education authority is prepared to provide, the case will be taken to a special educational needs tribunal.

如果對專家報告（換句話說，您認為需要為孩子提供哪些支持，而地方教育當局準備提供哪些支持）出現分歧，案件將提交特殊教育需求法庭審理。

Here's Adam to explain.

下面請亞當來解釋一下。

At the end of the tribunal process, a case will be considered by an independent panel.

法庭程序結束後，案件將由一個獨立小組進行審議。

Whilst the panel tries to be parent-friendly, it can still feel like an uneven contest.

雖然評審團努力做到對家長友好，但仍會讓人覺得這是一場不公平的比賽。

The mother and father may feel they know their child's needs better than anyone, but they are not educational or medical professionals, and their views only go so far.

父親和母親可能覺得他們比任何人都更瞭解自己孩子的需要，但他們並不是教育或醫療方面的專業人士，他們的觀點也只能到此為止。

That's because the tribunal can only make decisions based on the law and the evidence placed in front of it.

這是因為仲裁庭只能根據法律和麵前的證據做出裁決。

Therefore, parents need to present independent expert evidence to support their case.

是以，家長需要提供獨立的專家證據來支持他們的觀點。

I thought that I could do it myself, and I was very wrong.

我以為我可以自己做，但我大錯特錯了。

I didn't realise what I was taking on.

我沒有意識到自己承擔了什麼。

I would say, yes, get an independent expert.

我會說，是的，找一位獨立專家。

Because we had such a thorough report, and it really delved deeply into what Sam's needs were, what he was going to need, the setting that he needed to be in, the amount of children in a group that it needed to be small and condensed, that's what we needed.

因為我們有一份如此詳盡的報告，它深入探討了薩姆的需求、他將需要什麼、他需要在什麼樣的環境中、一個小組中需要多少孩子、它需要小而精，這就是我們所需要的。

It was very detailed.

它非常詳細。

Our advice is, don't be afraid to challenge the system.

我們的建議是，不要害怕挑戰制度。

In total, it took about 10 years to get Amy the right help, the right placement, and the right paperwork to match her.

為了讓艾米得到合適的幫助、合適的安置和合適的文書工作，總共花了大約 10 年的時間。

Proper educational psychology report, visual impairment reports, auditory processing reports, and collating all that information.

適當的教育心理學報告、視覺障礙報告、聽覺處理報告，以及整理所有這些資訊。

She eventually got a statement, an appropriate statement, at the age of 14.

最終，她在 14 歲時得到了一份適當的聲明。

We have seen the school provision and life chances of hundreds of pupils transformed by their parents who have insisted on their child receiving the right help and the right support.

我們見證了數以百計的學生因家長堅持讓孩子接受正確的幫助和正確的支持而改變了學校的教育和生活機會。

If you're seeing things running through your head, who are you going to call?

如果你看到一些事情在腦海中閃過，你會給誰打電話？

Ghostbusters.

捉鬼敢死隊

Network with other parents who have been through the process.

與其他經歷過這一過程的家長建立聯繫。

Get their help and support.

獲得他們的幫助和支持。

They are an invaluable resource.

他們是寶貴的資源。

Understand the process.

瞭解流程。

Understand your child's needs.

瞭解孩子的需求

Understand the resources that are available.

瞭解可用的資源。

With your determination and resilience, your child can have the education they deserve.

只要您有決心和毅力，您的孩子就能獲得應有的教育。

For more information, visit www.fema.gov

欲瞭解更多資訊，請訪問 www.fema.gov