special education Archives - WE Blog @ AABANY

July 22, 2024July 22, 2024

Thank You to the Volunteers at July 13th Pro Bono Clinic

Thank you to the CPC, the offices of Council Members Alexa Avilés and Justin Brannan, State Senator Iwen Chu, all of our Brooklyn community partners, and AABANY volunteers for joining us at the Brooklyn Pro Bono Legal Clinic held at CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Ave, on July 13, 2024.

During the clinic, we met 18 clients who had questions about housing, immigration, and special education law matters.

In addition to having law students shadowing us, we had Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) high school students from CPC who helped clients complete their client intake forms and client satisfaction surveys. For any who may want to participate or know of someone who would, SYEP connects New York City kids between the ages of 14 and 24 with career opportunities and paid work experiences each summer.

Pro bono clinics function to address a wide array of problems and questions. At this clinic we had parents asking about how to apply for special education needs for their children. Many NYC children are not receiving adequate and immediate special education services, and if the child is denied special education needs, there is a limited time period for the parents to appeal the Department of Education’s decision. For further help please visit Advocates for Children of NYC (https://advocatesforchildren.org/) who can provide know-your-rights brochures and legal representation.

The day’s work was praised by clients in attendance. For example, one client stated, “This is the best service for people who can’t afford legal services.”

Thank you again to everyone, including volunteer attorneys:

Anna Chen
Daobo Wang
Francis Chin
Gary Yeung
Kwok Kei Ng
May Wong
Willow Liu
Yan Sin
Yichun Liu

Thanks also to the non-attorney volunteers:

Athena Zhang
Lingjun Chen
Nandar Win Kerr
Ruo Yang
Wendy Zeng

Please join us at the next exciting events:

July 24th – AABANY Pro Bono Clinic Fundraiser – https://www.aabany.org/events/event_details.asp?legacy=1&id=1858155

Queens Pro Bono Clinic on August 7th, 2024 at AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355. Sign up here – https://forms.gle/5PjG8A73EE1XENyV9

To learn more about AABANY Pro Bono & Community Service Committee contact [email protected] or click here.

October 18, 2017

Special education in Asian American communities

AABANY’s efforts to recruit and train volunteer attorneys to help Asian American youth with disabilities protect their legal rights is the subject of a NYCLA blog post written by NYCLA Education Law Committee Co-Chair Amy Leipziger.

There are more than 12,000 Asian students receiving special education services in NYC schools, and yet Asian American youth with disabilities are often underrepresented in discussions about special education because they confront the ‘model minority’ myth that makes it more difficult for them to get the recognition and help they need, and as a result, their problems are more often ignored.

To read more, click the link above.

For further details on AABANY’s activity in this area, see the blog posts below:

http://blog.aabany.org/post/163370762837/on-july-11-over-twenty-five-lawyers-and-summer

http://blog.aabany.org/post/163639413887/chinese-american-planning-council-holds-conference

Thank you to Nelson Mar for leading AABANY’s efforts to protect the rights of Asian Americans students with special needs. To get involved with this project, email Nelson at [email protected].

July 31, 2017

Chinese-American Planning Council Holds Conference for Chinese Families with Developmental Needs

A few days before an AABANY co-sponsored kickoff training event where lawyers and associates were trained to better meet the needs of Chinese families with children with disabilities, the Chinese-American Planning Council held a support conference on special education services for the Chinese community on July 7th.

Children with special needs benefit enormously from special education programs, but many Chinese families turn away from special education out of shame or denial over their children’s developmental delays. At the support conference, a full audience of 150 people–with 200 more on the waiting list–was advised to accept a child’s special needs and to meet those needs through special education. Customized programming catered to students’ individual situations can provide a discrimination-free education that builds self-confidence and gives students the tools they need to thrive.

For more information about Legal Service NYC’s special pro bono project to combat this problem, please contact Nelson Mar, AABANY member and attorney at Legal Services NYC, at [email protected]