6. SPECIAL EDUCATION AND PDDNOS
By law, schools must make special services
available to eligible children with disabilities. These
services are called special education and related services
(discussed more below). The law that requires this is the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. Under
the IDEA, school-aged children who are thought to have a
disability must be evaluated by the public schools at no
cost to parents. Based on the evaluation, a determination
is made as to their eligibility for services.
IDEA
defines categories of disability under which a child is
considered eligible for services. These categories are:
autism, deaf-blindness, hearing impairments including deafness,
mental retardation, other health impairments, orthopedic
impairments, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning
disabilities, speech or language impairments, traumatic
brain injury, visual impairments including blindness, or
multiple disabilities. If permitted by the state and the
local educational agency, a school may also provide services
to a student, from age 3 through age 9, under the separate
category of "developmental delay." Parents should
check with their state department of special education to
find out what guidelines their state uses.
It's
important to realize that a child may have a disability
and still not be eligible for special education and related
services. For a child to be determined to be eligible, the
child's disability must adversely affect his or her educational
performance.
Special
education is instruction that is specially designed to meet
a child's unique educational needs. Related services can
include a range of services that are provided to help the
student benefit from his or her special education. Related
services include (but are not limited to) such services
as occupational therapy, speech therapy, or physical therapy.
Both special education and related services must be provided
at no cost to the parents; both can be extremely beneficial
for children with PDDNOS.
Services
to very young children are also covered under the IDEA.
Through the Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities,
states make early intervention services available to eligible
infants and toddlers (birth through two years). Not all
services are free; some may be provided on a sliding-scale
basis (in other words, according to the parents' ability
to pay).
Early
intervention services are designed to meet the developmental
needs of the infant or toddler in areas such as their physical
development, cognitive development, communication development,
social or emotional development, or adaptive development.
Services include (but are not limited to) such services
as: family training and home visits, special instruction,
speech-language pathology, vision services, and occupational
therapy. To the maximum extent appropriate, early intervention
services are to be provided in natural environments, including
the home and community settings in which children without
disabilities participate.
The
IFSP and the IEP
The
majority of school-aged children with PDDNOS will need some
special education services, just as those who are younger
will need early intervention services. If a school-aged
child is found eligible for services, the parents and the
school will develop an Individualized Education Program
(IEP). This is a document that lists, among other things,
the child's strengths and weaknesses, and what special education
and related services the school will provide to address
those needs. If the child is less than 3 years old, he or
she will have an Individualized Family Service Plan, (IFSP).
Parents can contact their state parent training and information
center (PTI) or NICHCY for helpful information about IEP
or IFSP development and the special education process.
