Does your child need Extended School Year?

IEP season is fast approaching. Now is the time to start thinking on whether your child needs an Extended School Year or not.

Check out the Wrightlaw Blog for a detailed discussion on ESY.

Transition: High School to College: TRIO Support Services

A little known support that can be of use for transitioning from high school to college for young adults with disabilities is the TRIO Student Support Services.

Congress established a series of programs to help American low-income, first generation college students and students with disabilities enter college, graduate and move on to participate more fully in America's economic and social life. These Programs are funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and are referred to as the TRIO Programs.

Students who many not otherwise be accepted into universities through standard channels due to their academic records may be accepted through TRIO.

More than 1,000 U.S. colleges, universities and agencies now offer TRIO programs.

Students in the TRIO program are twice as likely to remain in college than those students with similar backgrounds who do not participate in the program.

To find out more about TRIO programs visit the TRIO homepage.

To find a list of participating schools check out the TRIO directory (a downloadable PDF file).

How Many Days Does the CST Have to Respond?

A question I've wondered many times, and I've heard other ask: how many days does the CST have to respond/take action once I've made a request? Here are a few of the questions I've had. If anyone has more questions on dates, feel free to post them, and I'll try to dig up the answers.


Request for a first time evaluation from the CST
Once you've sent in a written request for a first time evaluation for your child from the Child Study Team, they must schedule a meeting within 20 business days of receiving your letter. (Also note it's not a bad idea to save a copy of your letter and to send a copy to the principal of your child's school and to the superintendent. "Lost" letters are then no excuse for not responding to your request.)

Request for a reevaluation
Once you've sent in written request for a reevaluation, the CST must schedule a meeting within 20 business days.

Request for an independent evaluation
Once you've sent in a written request for an independent evaluation, the CST must "act with undue delay" or initiate a due process hearing within 20 days.

Request for the CST to implement an IEP service that is in the IEP
If your child is not receiving a support, accommodation or service that is already in his IEP, and you write a letter to request that it start being appropriately implemented, the CST must respond to the request within 20 days. If a meeting is required, it must be conducted, and a determination on the matter decided, within 20 days.

What are Supports and Services?

A Supplementory aid or service is any device, provision of help, or activity that adds to or completes a child's education by making up a deficit. They enhance a child's ability to access general curriculum, to learn and/or participate.

From the LDOnline.org: 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):

* Audiology services
* Counseling services
* Early identification and assessment of disabilities

*Interpreting services
* Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes

* School health services and school nurse services
* Occupational therapy
* Orientation and mobility services
* Parent counseling and training
* Physical therapy
* Psychological services
* Recreation, including therapeutic recreation
* Rehabilitation counseling services
* School health services
* Social work services in schools
* Speech-language pathology services
* Transportation

Children may also be eligible for specialized devices at home. IDEA 300.308(b) states: "On a case-by-case basis, the use of school purchased assistive technology devices in a child's home or in other settings is required if the child's IEP team determines that the child needs access to those devices in orderto receive FAPE."

Though these are the only services listed in the law, related services are not limited to this list. A state or district may list any service that they wish, if it is appropriate for the student.

IDEA does make one exception: surgically implanted devices. These include (but are not limited to): cochlear implants, insulin pump, baclofen pump, pacemaker, G-tube, and vagus nerve stimulator device. However, if the child has a surgically implanted device, the district does have a responsibility to provide supportive related services in relation to that device {§300.34(b)}.

The district is not responsible for optimizing these devices, maintaining them, or replacing them. It is responsible for “routine checking to determine if the external component of a surgically implanted device is turned on and working” (71 Fed. Reg. 46570) and for providing other types of services the child needs, as determined by the IEP team, including:

• assistive technology (e.g., FM system);
• proper classroom acoustical modifications;
• educational support services (e.g., educational interpreters); and
• receiving the related services (e.g., speech and language services) that are necessary for the child to benefit from special education services.