Two Chicago families, two experiences: Stories spotlight challenges ahead for special education

This article was published on August 10, 2020, in Chalkbeat by Samatha Smylie.

As part of a summer program for children with disabilities, Nicole Abreu’s daughter, a rising third-grader at Jahn Elementary on Chicago’s North Side, has been able to receive speech-language therapy, services for the visually impaired, and help with her assignments from both a teacher and a paraprofessional.

“The teacher is making the best of a very difficult situation because she has my daughter, who is a rising third-grader, and also like some middle school boys. She has been working super hard to try and accommodate all of us along with the paraprofessional,” said Abreu.