United Partners in Kentucky

Infant, Toddler, & Preschool

FAQ's

•	What is a brain disorder or mental illness?
•	My child is always in trouble at school. How do I help the teachers understand his/her behavioral disability?
•	Who is eligible for services under the IDEA?
•	What is special education?
•	Where is special education instruction provided?
•	What happens during an IEP meeting?
•	Where can I get an assessment for my child?
•	What reading program can help my child learn to read?
•	Do you have information on attention deficit disorder?

What is a brain disorder or mental illness?
A brain disorder is a chemical imbalance in the brain. It is a physical illness like asthma or anemia. A person who has a brain disorder may occasionally have irregular thought patterns that interrupt their daily lives. Therapy, support, and medication often help alleviate the symptoms and allow the person to live a fairly normal life.
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My child is always in trouble at school. How do I help the teachers understand his/her behavioral disability?

Educate your child's teacher about his/her disability
Share creative, yet easy, strategies that help your child to succeed
Help the teacher to understand that your child's behaviors are not personally directed towards him/her; the behaviors are the symptoms of your child's disability
Explain to the teacher that if your child had a choice to "be normal and fit-in," he/she would choose that

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Who is eligible for services under the IDEA?
The regulations for IDEA define a "child with a disability" as including a child (a) who has been evaluated according to IDEA's evaluation requirements (specified at Sections 300.530 - 300.536); (b) who has been determined, through this evaluation, to have one or more of the disabilities listed below; and (c) who, because of the disability, needs special education and related services. The disabilities listed by IDEA are:

mental retardation
a hearing impairment, including deafness
a speech or language impairment
a visual impairment, including blindness
serious emotional disturbance
an orthopedic impairment
autism
traumatic brain injury
other health impairment
a specific learning disability
deaf-blindness
multiple disabilities. [Section 300.7 (a)(1)]

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What is special education?
Special education is defined as instruction that is specially designed, at no cost to you as parents, to meet your child's unique needs. Specially designed instruction means adapting the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction:

to address the unique needs of your child that result from his or her disability
to ensure your child's access to the general curriculum so that he or she can meet the educational standards that apply to all children within the jurisdiction of the public agency.

Special education can include instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings. It can include instruction in physical education as well. Speech-language pathology services or any other related service can be considered special education rather than a related service under State standards if the instruction is specially designed, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. Travel training and vocational education also can be considered special education if these standards are met. (Section 300.26)
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Where is special education intstruction provided?
Special education instruction can be provided in a number of settings, such as: in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings (Section 300.26). Public agencies must ensure that a continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities [Section 300.551(a)]. This continuum must include the placements just mentioned (instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions) and make provision for supplementary services (such as resource room or itinerant instruction) to be provided in conjunction with regular class placement. Unless a child's IEP requires some other arrangement, the child must be educated in the school he or she would attend if he or she did not have a disability [Section 300.552(c)].

Special education instruction must be provided to students with disabilities in what is known as the least restrictive environment, or LRE. Both the IDEA and its regulations have provisions that ensure that children with disabilities are educated with nondisabled children, to the maximum extent appropriate. The IDEA's LRE requirements apply to students in public or private institutions or other care facilities [Section 300.550(b)(1)]. Each State must further ensure that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily [Section 300.550(b)(2)].
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What happens during an IEP meeting?
The purpose of the IEP meeting is to develop a child's IEP. The meeting can serve as an excellent communication vehicle between parents and the public agency. It enables the parents and other members of the IEP team to decide what the child's educational needs are, what goals and objectives or benchmarks are appropriate, what services will be provided, and what results can be anticipated, and to specify these in the IEP.

Some public agencies conduct the IEP meeting separately from the meeting where the child's eligibility for services is determined. Other agencies combine the eligibility meeting and the IEP meeting, moving directly into developing the IEP once a child has been determined eligible for services. Should the meeting move directly from eligibility to developing the IEP for the child and then to making a placement decision, the public agency must ensure that:

(a) it has met the law's requirements regarding eligibility decisions (as specified at Sections 300.534-300.535);

(b) it has met all of the Part B requirements regarding meetings to develop IEPs, including providing appropriate notification to the parents and ensuring that all the required team members participate in the development of the IEP; and

(c) the placement decision is made by the required individuals, including the parent [as specified at Sections 300.552 and 300.501(c)].

Whichever approach your school system uses, once your child's eligibility for services has been determined, the focus of discussion should be on developing his or her IEP. You and the other members of the team will discuss the many issues associated with developing the specific IEP statements described above, including:

what annual goals and objectives or benchmarks are appropriate for your child
what special education and related services your child needs
which related services are necessary to ensure your child benefits from his or her special education
what assistive technology devices or services (if any) your child needs to benefit from special education and related services
what transition service needs your child has with respect to his or her courses of study (this applies to your child beginning at age 14, or younger, if determined appropriate by the IEP team)
what transition services are necessary to prepare your child for life after completing high school (this applies to your child beginning at age 16, or younger, if determined appropriate by the IEP team).

You, as the parent, may wish to provide information on your child's educational needs (and, when appropriate, transition needs) and offer suggestions for the services appropriate for meeting those needs. At any point during the IEP meeting, don't hesitate to ask questions until you are sure that you understand what is being said.

Following the team's discussion, decisions will be made about the educational program and related services that meet your child's needs. These decisions are then specified in the IEP. The public agency must give you a copy of the IEP at no cost to you [(Section 300.345(f)].
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Where can I get an assessment for my child?
The school system should be the initial contact. It is very important for parents and adults who are seeking assessment for themselves to be informed consumers. Contact the LDA office for information regarding assessments. 1-877-587-1256 (Toll Free)
provided by LDA
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What reading program can help my child learn to read?
For individuals with learning differences, the multi-sensory method of reading instruction has been found to be effective. More and more research is indicating that computer directed instruction is producing impressive measurable gains. Contact the LDA office for additional information about reading instruction. 1-877-587-1256 (Toll Free).
provided by LDA
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Do you have information on attention deficit disorder?
LDA distributes packets of current information to all that request them. Videos are available for rent and a lending library is maintained. Contact 1-877-587-1256 (Toll Free).
provided by LDA
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