SPECIAL EDUCATION

1. SPECIAL EDUCATION Dawn Sessa-White DawnW1224@aol.com HFU EDU 509 August 4, 2003

2. What do you need to know about special education in Hamilton Township? Video Welcome to Hamilton Township • Federal and State Laws • How to refer a child • Classification Process and Terms • Specific Learning Disability • IEP • Strategies for the classroom • Resources

3. History of IDEA • The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act was originally enacted in 1975 as PL 94-142 • Established the right of all eligible school aged children and youth with disabilities to receive a free, appropriate, public education

4. Purpose of IDEA • To ensure that the rights of children and youth with disabilities and their parents are protected • To ensure that children with disabilities have a free, appropriate, public education available to them, one which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and independent living

5. Who is Eligible? • Must be a “child with a disability” • Evaluated according to IDEA requirements • Determined to fall into a specific disability category as defined by IDEA/State • Requires special education and related services

6. When to refer a child • after pre-referral intervention has been unsuccessful • difficulties must impact educational performance • must not be result of lack of exposure or experience • with primary school aged children must be certain not due to developmental issues • when a student does not speak English, must have been exposed to English instruction for a reasonable amount of time

7. Referral Process • Child may be referred by parent, counselor, teacher, principal • An evaluation plan meeting is scheduled to determine if evaluation is warranted and scope of evaluation

8. Classification Process • If the evaluation is warranted it must include at least 2 of the first 4 assessments • Psychological Assessment • Educational Assessment • Social History • Speech and Language Assessment • Psychiatric Evaluation • Neurological Evaluation • Medical Evaluation • Audiological Evaluation

9. Classification • Evaluations completed within 90 calendar days • Eligibility meeting includes one member of child study team, parent, regular education teacher, special education teacher and student • Program and IEP developed at this meeting

10. Auditorily Impaired Autistic Cognitively Impaired Emotionally Disturbed Socially Maladjusted Other Health Impaired Specific Learning Disability Preschool Disabled Orthepedically Impaired Traumatic Brain Injury Visually Impaired Multiply Disabled Classification Terms

11. What is … • Meeting each child’s unique needs • Giving each child access to the general curriculum • Using classroom modifications and/or accomodations to reach the curricular goals • Modifying the curriculum

12. What is a specific learning disability? • Testing reveals a severe discrepancy between intelligence level and performance level • Discrepancy must be at least 2 standard deviations • Learning Disability vs Slow Learner

13. Example of SLD in the Classroom • Visual Motor Integration • When the image you see is transmitted through your brain to your hand for you to reproduce the same image Visual Motor Integration Introduction Beginning of Demonstration Demonstration Part 2

14. Individualized Education Plan (IEP) • Includes measurable annual goals and short term objectives • Special education/related services and supplementary aids the child will receive • Read the IEP’s and know what each child needs

15. Multisensory Strategies in the Classroom • Use ACE (Action, Color, Exaggeration) to enhance lessons • Simulation and role play add a kinesthetic dimension to learning • Rhyme, Rhythm and Music add an auditory dimension to learning • BE OPEN TO ACCOMODATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS TO HELP YOUR SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS REACH THEIR GOALS

16. Resouceswithin Hamilton