The Internet is filled with useful information about special education law. Some of the information is also accurate. Parents should learn about the law from the Web, but should not rely on what they read. Before taking any action that might compromise your child's rights, you should consult an attorney. With that in mind, you might find the following links useful.

The Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE), Bureau of Special Education, administers the program. Its website is

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2678&Q=320730.

The Department places on-line most hearing officer decisions. Only about one-half of the cases I have brought over the past three years appear on this website, so it is quite incomplete. And, unfortunately, the State has failed to devote the resouorces to creating a useful index to these decisions, despite years of promises to do so. The website for the decisions is:

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2626&q=320712.

Another useful link in the SDE website is the publications, which includes the text of the Guidelines published by the State that govern eligibility and the provision of services. These Guidelines are heavily relied upon by school districts, so parents should study them as well.

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2678&Q=320730#publications.

The SDE website contains an address book that includes the key officials of all public schools as well as a list of the state approved special education placements.

http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/csde/publicmenu.asp?sdePNavCtr=|#45474.

Finally, the SDE website contains a wealth of information on the demographics and performance of each School district in the State. Most of the information is required to be published by No Child Left Behind Act.

http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/cedar/districts/index.htm?sdePNavCtr=|#45480.

There are many useful website that discuss aspects of the law. The most popular is Wrightslaw, a site written and managed by Pete and Pam Wright.

http://www.wrightslaw.com/.

Another good site is maintained by the Council of Parent Attorney and Advocates (COPAA), which is the leading organization advocating for parents in the special education process. Within the COPAA website are lists of advocates and lawyers by state. I am a proud member of COPAA.

http://www.copaa.org/.

Although the website is dated, my colleague Dorene J. Philpot in Texas maintains a website with a wealth of information.

http://www.dphilpotlaw.com/html/special-ed.html.

Chicago lawyer Charles Fox also has a useful and amusing blog at

http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/.

Condition specific interest group have information on their website:

ARC of Connecticut focuses on individuals with intellectual impairments

http://www.arcct.com/.

Groups focusing on autism include Autism Speaks

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Connecticut Autism Spectrum Resource Center (ASRC)

http://www.ct-asrc.org

and Connecticut Families for Effective Autism Treatment (CT-FEAT).

http://www.ctfeat.org/

Leaning disability groups include Connecticut Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities (CCALD).

http://www.cacld.org/

and the Learning Disabilities Association of Connecticut (LDA).

http://www.ldact.org/

Other disability specific groups include, for mental health, the Mental Health Association of Connecticut

www.mhact.org and the the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

at http://www.nami.org/

The Connecticut Council on Inclusive Education (CCIE) advances inclusion.

http://www.includeme.org/

The Connecticut Council of Developmental Disabilities (DD Council) is a Governor-appointed body that funds projects in the area of disabilities.

http://www.ct.gov/ctcdd/site/default.asp.

Another useful place for advocacy is the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center.

http://www.cpacinc.org/.