The related service professional may be invited by the school or parent to join the PPT team as a person “with knowledge or special expertise about the child.” A child may require any of the following related services in order to benefit from special education. Related services, as listed under IDEA, include, but are not limited to:
See State Department Publications Related to Special Education:
Guidelines for Occupational Therapy in Connecticut Schools;
Guidelines for Physical Therapy in Connecticut Schools;
Guidelines for Speech and Language Programs.
■ Participation with non-disabled
peers
The IEP must explain the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with non-disabled peers in the general education class and other school activities.
■ Participation in state- and
district-wide tests
Most states and districts give achievement tests to children in certain grades or age groups. The IEP must state what appropriate accommodations or modifications in the administration of these tests the student will need to measure his or her academic achievement or functional performance. If an assessment is not appropriate for the student, the IEP must state why it is not appropriate and the particular alternate assessment that is appropriate, i.e., how the student will be tested instead.
■ Assistive technology (AT) plan
One of the related services under IDEA, assistive technology includes any item, piece of equipment or system used to increase, maintain or improve the developmental capabilities of the child with special needs. An assistive technology evaluation by a trained professional may be needed to determine what equipment is appropriate.
Guidelines for Assistive Technology.
■ Extended school year
Extended school year (ESY) is for children who need continuous services in order to maintain the skills they have learned, which are identified in their IEPs. ESY commonly refers to programs that take place in the summer or during school vacation for eligible children receiving special education services.
Every year, at a PPT meeting, eligibility for ESY is determined by examining a number of regression and recoupment factors, as well as any non-regression factors, such as: the nature and severity of the disabling condition, the child’s progress in areas of learning critical to attaining the child’s goals of self-sufficiency and independence from caregivers, the child’s interfering behaviors that prevent him or her from receiving some educational benefit from the school-year program, the child’s emerging skills and other special circumstances. Parents should make sure their child’s ESY needs are addressed at a PPT meeting early enough in the year so that an appropriate ESY program will be in place when needed.
State Dept. ESY Topic Brief.