By Littman Krooks In the past few years, there has been a lot of confusion as to when students with disabilities age out of public education with their school district.  Students with disabilities have been among the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they have missed crucial opportunities to fulfill  academic or vocational requirements.  When…

By Littman Krooks Littman Krooks is proud to sponsor NAMIWalks Westchester. Team LK will walk with NAMIWalks Your Way on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. I am honored to lead our walk team – Team LK: Lights in the Tunnel.  Our work at Littman Krooks is aligned to NAMI’s work in helping individuals with mental…

By Amy C. O’Hara, CELA Starting July 16, 2022, a new crisis hotline will be rolled out for individuals to call that is being touted as the “911 for mental health.” 988 will be the new three-digit phone number that callers can call or text and they will be routed to the National Suicide Prevention…

By Littman Krooks After two years of living in a pandemic, many parents may wonder if their child has a learning or emotional disability or special needs.  For some children, parents know about the challenges at birth or in early childhood.   For other parents, they may not suspect a disability until a child is an…

By Sandi Rosenbaum, Special Education/Special Needs Advocate Some students who receive special education services are indistinguishable from their typical peers once the school day is over. Others have physical, medical, or neurodevelopmental differences that affect their lives, and those of their families, every day. They require far more supervision and support than their same-aged peers,…

By Amy C. O’Hara, Partner From recent experience in New York guardianship courts on applications where individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities may have some higher functioning capabilities, I find judges are often frustrated with the current 17-A guardianship law as it cannot be tailored to an individual’s needs and supports to enable them to retain certain…

by Arshi Pal, Esq. The pandemic has been a real eye-opener for many parents. As we transitioned to remote learning, many parents became part-time instructors to ensure that their children engaged in instruction and completed assignments. Many parents witnessed firsthand the struggles their children were having with paying attention, completing assignments, understanding concepts and communicating…

By Littman Krooks In 1990, Congress officially established the first full week of October as Mental Illness Awareness Week.  The week runs through Sunday, October 10, which is World Mental Health Day. Mental Illness Awareness Week assumes more relevance today than ever, due to challenges raised by the pandemic and increased isolation and mental health…

By Sandi Rosenbaum, Special Education / Special Needs Advocate As schools reopen in the coming weeks, all have worries about the COVID-19 virus and its highly transmissible Delta variant. School administrators continue to plan for the safety of students and school personnel and develop new policies and protocols amid continuing concerns about the COVID-19 virus…

 Reprinted with permission of the Special Needs Alliance (www.specialneedsalliance.org) This post was authored by attorney Amy C. O’Hara, CELA of Littman Krooks, LLP, New York. Amy focuses her practice on special needs planning, elder law, trusts and estates, and personal injury settlement consulting. She serves on SNA’s Board of Directors. If the pandemic has been…