School District services for disabled children

School districts have educational services available for disabled children - whether the child is autistic or has another disability. The districts seek out the children who qualify for these services. If you have a disabled child, it is a good idea to contact the director for special education for the school district or the principal at your child's school to ask for an "IEP meeting." That request should be made in writing. The school district is then required to hold a meeting within thirty days from your request for a meeting.

At the first IEP meeting for a child, the school district has to assess your child to see where he or she needs educational help. Then, the district will then report back to you with it's offer of services for the next year.

The IEP meeting will probably be recorded. You may even hear what sounds like an offer in the meeting. The verbal "offer" is not the offer of services being given to your child. Only a written offer binds the school district to the services offered.

The IEP has to include your child's present level of performance with regard to his or her educational challenges. This will be determined based on testing assessments as well as observations from your child's teachers, other school staff - and you as your child's parent. This will set up a starting point to develop your child's goals for the upcoming year.

The IEP must, then, set out how the goals are going to be achieved and what services will be provided and how frequently these services will be provided. Some of the services that can be a part of a child's IEP are:

speech and language pathology services
occupational therapy services
deaf and hard of hearing services
mobility services
emotional counseling services
reading and language services
audiological services
visual services
adapted physical education
individualized behavior interventions services and
other services as needed.