Lesson 5: Special Education Programs

Federal and State regulations require that schools provide a variety of types of special education programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The intent is to provide programs which meet the individual needs of students with disabilities rather than to place children based on the existence of available programs. A second factor is the concept of least restrictive environment, previously discussed in Lesson One. It requires that a child should be educated in an environment as much like the regular educational program as possible. When separate programs are necessary, the need should be determined on an individual basis and the placement chosen to meet the individual needs of the child. The use of a singular special education classroom would make this impossible to achieve. In order to meet the individual needs of children with disabilities a continuum of services which range from support for the student as they participate in regular education programs, to residential or home treatment programs may be necessary. The interest of the child is best met by finding a level of service which meets the student's needs, but is not too restrictive.

Continuum of Alternative Placements

The term continuum of alternative placements is often used to refer to this array of services. A continuum of alternative placements includes: instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions. In addition schools provide supplementary services through resource room or itinerant instruction in conjunction with regular class placement.

In Nebraska the type and amount of special education a child receives is further classified as Level I, Level II or Level III. Level I Services mean that less than 3 hours of special education is provided per week outside of the regular classroom. If a child receives more than three hours of special education per week outside of the regular classroom it is classified as Level II Special Education Classroom Services. If special education services are provided for more than 3 hours per week and are provided by an agency outside of the school the service is identified as Level III Special Education Contractual Services. Administration, diagnosis and consultation are not included in the computation of special education hours.

Resource Programs

Resource programs are designed to provide students with the support that will allow them to participate for all or part of the day in the regular school program. Services are usually limited to a few hours per week. Resource programs may provide direct instruction to students through tutoring which supplements instruction in the regular classroom. Resource rooms may also provide remedial or alternative subject matter to help offset a student's disability.

A primary focus of the resource program is usually on consultation between the resource teacher and the regular classroom teacher. The resource teacher and the classroom teacher employ problem solving strategies to adapt the child's educational program.

The majority of students served in special education programs are provided services through resource programs.

Self-Contained Programs

Self-contained special education programs are intact classroom which are made up of students with a similar disability. Because of the severity of the disability, participation in the regular classroom is not an effective alternative. Reduced class size and specialized curriculum and materials characterize self-contained classrooms. Often times, students who are in a self-contained classroom for most of the day may be integrated in school-wide activities such as the lunchroom, recess, and extracurricular activities.

Residential Programs

Students who need extensive treatment or care may be served in residential programs.

Home programs

Students who are of preschool age or who are temporarily unable to attend school may be provided educational services in their home.

Related Services

Students with disabilities may require a variety of support services to benefit fully from school programs. These support services can include counseling, psychological services, school health services, medical care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, speech pathology, vocational rehabilitation, social work services, recreation, and parent counseling.

When these services are necessary they become the responsibility of the school. Table 5.1 provides a short description of the types of services explicitly identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) as examples of related services. The list is not exhaustive and may include other programs or services if they are required to help a child benefit from a special education program.

Audiology

• Identification of children with hearing loss
• Determination of the range, nature, and degree of hearing loss, including referral for medical or other professional attention for the habilitation of hearing
• Provisions of habilitative activities, such as language habilitation, auditory training, speech reading (lip-reading), hearing evaluation, and speech conservation
• Creation and administration of programs for prevention of hearing loss
• Counseling and guidance of pupils parents, and teachers regarding hearing loss
• Determination of the child's need for group and individual amplification, selecting and fitting an appropriate aid, and evaluating the effectiveness of amplification

Counseling Services

• Services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, or other qualified personnel
• Early Identification
• Early identification means the implementation of a formal plan for identifying a disability as early as possible in a child's life

Medical Services

• Services provided by a licensed physician to determine a child's medically related disability which results in the child's need for special education and related services

Occupational Therapy

• Improving, developing or restoring functions impaired or lost through illness, injury, or deprivation
• Improving ability to perform tasks for independent functioning when functions are impaired or lost
• Preventing, through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of function

Parent Counseling and Training

• Assisting parents in understanding the special needs of their child and providing parents with information about child development

Physical Therapy

• Services provided by a qualified physical therapist

Psychological Services

• Administering psychological and educational tests, and other assessment procedures
• Interpreting assessment results
• Obtaining, integrating and interpreting information about child behavior and conditions relating to learning
• Consulting with other staff members in planning school programs to meet the special needs of children as indicated by psychological tests, interviews, and behavioral evaluations
• Planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for children and parents

Recreation

• Assessment of leisure function
• Therapeutic recreation services
• Recreation programs in schools and community agencies; and leisure education

Rehabilitation Counseling

School Health Services

• Services provided by a qualified school nurse or other qualified person

Social Work Services in Schools

• Preparing a social or developmental history on a child with a disability
• Group and individual counseling with the child and family
• Working with those problems in a child's living situation (home, school, and community) that affect the child's adjustment in school
• Mobilizing school and community resource to enable the child to receive maximum benefit from his or her educational program

Speech Pathology

• Identification of children with speech or language disorders
• Diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language disorders
• Referral for medical or other professional attention necessary for the habilitation of speech or language disorders
• Provision of speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of communicative disorders
• Counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language disorders

Transportation

• Travel to and from school and between schools
• Travel in and around school buildings
• Specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a child with a disability

Transition Services

Transition from School to Work and Adult Living

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) both defines transition and adds provisions for transition planning to the individualized education program. Transition is defined as:

a coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities shall be based upon the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's preferences and interests, and shall include instruction, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and when appropriate acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation

For each student who is age 16 or older, the individual education program (IEP) must include a statement of the needed transition services. In some students the statement may be included when they are 14 or younger. This component must be updated annually. When appropriate, it must also include a statement which describes responsibilities or linkages with agencies outside of the school, such as vocational rehabilitation. This statement describes the responsibilities or linkages of the agencies while the student is in school.

The transition component of the IEP may include services which are to be provided through public or private agencies outside of the school. Because the IEP is a commitment by the school to provide services, the school remains responsible to see that the transition services are provided. If, for some reason, the outside agency does or cannot provide the services, the IEP team must meet and determine appropriate alternatives. In the case where a participating agency, other than the educational agency, fails to provide agreed upon services, the educational agency shall reconvene the IEP team to identify alternative strategies to meet the transition objectives.

Transition Services for Early Childhood

In early childhood special eeducatin, transition is the process of change experienced by children and families as they move between services. Families, together with present and future service providers, share responsibility for planning to make the transition successful. In Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), typical transitions are from home to center-based programs, from ECSE to kindergarten, from hospital to home, from center-based to community, and from community to community.

A transition team is formed and consists of parents, sending agencies (programs), teachers, therapists, etc. This team plans for the transition several months ahead of time and includes the plan in the Individual Education Program (IEP) or the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). The different members of the team collaboraate with one another to determine how to mmake the transition as smooth as possible. For instance, the sending and receiving teacher and paraeducators may share ideas, methods and challeges regarding the student with the receiving program members.

Please see Rule 51, sections 007.11A - 007.12A3.