Both the New York State and Federal governments offer good programs and systems to support children with disabilities, including Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), district-wide assessments, speech disorder and impairment therapy, and other special services and education. But most Korean parents with children who need such services and programs are unaware that such programs exist and therefore fail to take advantage of them.

Children with delayed skills or other disabilities might be eligible for special services free of charge to families. Each county in the state of New York is in charge of a regional early intervention center for 0- to three-year-old children; also New York public schools offer special education programs for five- to 21-year-old children. These services are free under state law; however, many Korean parents don't know how to access them effectively when their children are very young.

According to educational experts, many parents, including Koreans, have never heard of the Welfare programs for children with disabilities. Parents are unfamiliar with the procedures to get welfare programs, how to fill out the application forms, or what organizations provide support. The greatest misunderstanding in the New York Korean community is the belief that the services are offered automatically to children in the public school system. This is not true. Because of this misconception, many parents fail to apply for these services.

Furthermore, some parents fail to recognize their children's disabilities early enough.

"As far as I know, many Korean children only receive special education when they enter public school and are judged as learning disabled. It seems that Korean parents do not know about early intervention programs or do not consider special education for young children because they don't know about it. Many children need – and would receive –special education at the level of their development if their parents knew about such services," says Mr. Ja-song Kim, the director of NY Milal ("Growing Seeds").

Special educators say that if children with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotional disorders, mental retardation, autism, hearing impairment, visual impairment, speech or language impairment, developmental delay, etc., fail to enter special programs early enough, there is a great probability that they will lag far behind those who were enrolled at an early age. That's why Korean parents must be made aware of their children's status and quickly deal with the situation.

"Public education programs for kids with disabilities are very good in New York, but there is no better person to know the status of a child than a parent.  No matter how wonderful the welfare system is, the parents must first act to ensure their children get access to appropriate education appropriate to their conditions," comments Ms. Mi-young Choi, a social worker at the Korean-American Special Education Resource Center. She adds, especially if the parents have little English, they can and should seek help from local Korean community centers to research and apply for programs and support.

The Milal center can be reached at 718-445-4442 in New York, and at 201-530-0355 in New Jersey. The Korean-American Special Education Resource Center can be reached at 917-535-8434.