Services for Children with Disabilities
You are your child’s most important advocate. To best support your child, you may need information about your child’s specific diagnosis, early intervention services (for a baby or toddler), special education services (for a preschool or school-age child), social security benefits, and much more. Here are some resources to help you be their best advocate and support your child’s growth, development, and well-being.
These resources can help you learn about the laws that ensure your child has access to the supports and services they need to thrive as well as programs and services that help children with disabilities.
Understand the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- IDEA Overview: “IDEA—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” Center for Parent Information and Resources.
This resource provides an overview of IDEA, a law that makes sure that all eligible children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.
- IDEA Resources for Families: “Parents and Families,” U.S Department of Education’s IDEA Website
This resource provides information on the different aspects of IDEA and helps you learn about resources that may be available to you and your child.
Learn about Services Available to Help
- Tracking Your Child’s Development: “Learn the Signs: Act Early,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
This resource helps you learn about developmental screening services and what to do if you have a concern about your child’s development.
- “What Is ‘Early Intervention’?” CDC
Learn about early intervention services required by IDEA, Part C. These services help eligible infants and toddlers (younger than age 3 years) with developmental delays and disabilities and their families to support children’s development. Early intervention focuses on helping infants and toddlers learn the skills that children typically develop during the first 3 years of life. See the Center for Parent Information and Resources’ “Overview of Early Intervention to learn more about eligibility and available services.
- What Is Special Education? “Key Definitions in Part B of IDEA: Defining and Understanding Special Education,Center for Parent Information and Resources
IDEA defines special education as “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.”1 To be eligible for special education services, a student (between the ages of 3 and 21 years) must have an identified special need that impacts their ability to learn and requires that they receive services so that they may participate in school. The Center for Parent Information and Resources’ “10 Basic Steps in Special Education” provides an overview of the special education process.
Learn About Financial Supports for Children with Disabilities
- “Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for Children,” Social Security Administration
Learn about how SSI provides monthly cash payments to help meet the basic needs of children who have a physical or mental disability or who are blind. If you care for a child or teenager with a disability and have limited income and savings or other resources, your child may be eligible for SSI.
Find Parent Education and Support
Parent education and support services are available to help you care and advocate for your child with disabilities.
- Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers: There are nearly 100 Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) across the states and territories. These centers work with families of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities (from birth to 26 years of age) and help them participate effectively in their children’s education and development. Visit the Center for Parent Information and Resources to see contact information for PTIs and CPRCs in your state.
- Additional Parent Support Services: To find additional parent support services available in your area, select your state or territory on the “See Your State’s Resources” page and click on the “Child Development and Early Learning” tab.
Find Services in Your State or Territory
ChildCare.gov provides you with direct links to services that support children with disabilities and their families available where you live.
- To find developmental screening services, select your state or territory on the “See Your State’s Resources” web page and select the “Child Development and Early Learning” tab.
- To learn about special education and early intervention services that are available to you and your child with disabilities, select your state or territory on the “See Your State’s Resources” page and click on the “Health and Social Services” tab.
Find Support for Military Families of Children with Disabilities
If you are a military family, there are specific resources available to help you support your child with a disability.
Military OneSource The Department of Defense (DOD) funds Military OneSource, a 24/7 gateway to trusted information, resources, and confidential help.
- Military OneSource provides resources to help you navigate special education, child care, and much more. Visit Military OneSource for information about benefits, resources, and support, or speak directly to a special needs consultant.
- Military OneSource also offers many resources to help military families understand the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), which is a mandatory DOD program that helps military dependents with disabilities. The EFMP & Me Tool helps military families navigate through the DOD’s network of services and support for families with children with disabilities.
Note: To access these services, you must be an eligible DOD service member, an immediate family member of an eligible DOD service member, a Gold Star family, or a military academy cadet. To find out if you are eligible, see “Military OneSource Confidential Help Eligibility.”
The Branch Military Parent Technical Assistance Center also provides additional resources for military families with children with disabilities.
1 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1401 (2004).
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) (for Parents)
What’s an IEP?
Students who need extra help and support in school may be eligible for special education services in the form of an individualized education program (IEP). This program is offered free of charge to families of kids in public schools and outlines the goals and any support services that may be needed for a child to succeed in school.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says that parents and guardians of students with disabilities or special health care needs are important members of their child’s education team. They should work with educators to develop a plan that helps kids succeed in school.
Understanding how to get and use these services will help your child be as successful as possible in school.
Who Needs an IEP?
Students who are eligible for special education services need an IEP. While there are many reasons that students could be eligible, some common conditions include:
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- autism
- cognitive challenges
- developmental delays
- emotional disorders
- hearing problems
- learning problems
- physical disabilities
- speech or language impairment
- vision problems
How Are Services Offered?
In most cases, the services and goals outlined in an IEP can be offered in a general school environment. This can be done in the regular classroom (for example, a reading teacher helps a small group of children who need extra help while the other kids in the class work with the regular teacher.) The small group serves students with similar needs who are brought together for help.
Every effort is made to help kids learn alongside their peers who do not have disabilities. But sometimes the level of support needed can’t be met in a general classroom, so students are educated in a specialized learning classroom that is more appropriate for their needs. These classes have fewer students per teacher and allow for more one-on-one instruction. The teacher usually has training in helping kids with special educational needs. Students spend most of their day in a small group classroom and join the regular classes whenever possible — for example lunch, gym, or the arts.
What’s the Referral and Evaluation Process?
The referral process begins when a teacher, parent, or doctor is concerned that a child may be having trouble in the classroom, and the teacher notifies the school counselor or psychologist.
The first step is to gather specific information about the student’s progress or academic problems. This may be done through:
- a conference with parents
- a conference with the student
- watching the student in class to assess performance (attention, behavior, work completion, tests, classwork, homework, etc.)
This information helps school officials decide the best next step. Sometimes new classroom strategies are all that’s needed to help a child become more successful. If this doesn’t work, the child will get an educational assessment, which can find a specific learning disability or other health impairment.
Note: The presence of a disability doesn’t automatically guarantee a child will get services. To be eligible, the disability must affect how the child does at school. To decide on a child’s eligibility, a team of professionals will consider their observations, as well as how the child does on standardized tests and daily work such as tests, quizzes, classwork, and homework.
Who’s On the Team?
As a guardian, you can decide whether to have your child assessed. If you choose to do so, you’ll be asked to sign a permission form that will detail who is involved in the process and the types of tests they use. These tests might include measures of specific school skills, such as reading and math or developmental skills, like speech and language.
The professionals on the evaluation team can include:
- classroom teachers
- a psychologist
- a physical therapist
- an occupational therapist
- a speech therapist
- a special needs educator
- a vision or hearing specialist
- others, depending on the child’s specific needs
When the team finishes the assessment, a comprehensive evaluation report is developed. This report includes an educational classification and outlines the skills and support the child will need.
You can review this report before an IEP is developed. If there is something that you don’t agree with, work together with the team to come up with a plan that best meets your child’s needs.
How Is an IEP Developed?
The next step is an IEP meeting with you and the team to decide what will go into the IEP. A regular teacher should also attend this meeting to offer suggestions for how the plan can help your child progress through the standard education curriculum.
At the meeting, the team will discuss your child’s educational needs — as described in the evaluation report — and develop specific, measurable short-term and yearly goals for each of those needs. You can take an active role in developing the goals and determining which skills or areas will receive the most attention.
The cover page of the IEP outlines the support services your child will get and how often they will be provided (for example, occupational therapy twice a week). Support services might include:
- special education
- speech therapy
- occupational or physical therapy
- counseling
- medical services like nursing or vision and hearing therapy
Services might also include transportation, test help or modifications, participation in special programs, and the inclusion of transition planning beginning at age 14.
If the team recommends several services, the amount of time they take in the child’s school schedule can seem overwhelming. To ease that load, a professional may talk with your child’s teacher to come up with strategies that help but won’t offer hands-on instruction. For example, an occupational therapist may suggest accommodations for a child with fine-motor problems that affect handwriting, and the classroom teacher would incorporate these suggestions into the handwriting lessons taught to the entire class.
Other services can be delivered right in the classroom, so the child’s day isn’t interrupted by therapy. The child who has trouble with handwriting might work one-on-one with an occupational therapist while everyone else practices their handwriting skills. When deciding how and where services are offered, the child’s comfort and dignity should be a top priority.
Your child’s IEP should be reviewed annually to update goals and make sure your child is getting the support that’s needed. However, IEPs can be changed at any time on an as-needed basis. If you think your child needs more, fewer, or different services, you can request a meeting and bring the team together to discuss your concerns.
What Are My Legal Rights?
Guidelines (sometimes called procedural safeguards) outline your rights as a parent to control what happens to your child throughout the IEP process. For example, timelines ensure that the development of an IEP moves from referral to providing services as quickly as possible. When your child is referred, ask about this timeline and get a copy of your parents’ rights.
The parents’ rights also describe how you can proceed if you disagree with any part of the evaluation report or the IEP — mediation and hearings are some options. You can get information about low-cost or free legal representation from the school district or through early intervention programs.
Attorneys and paid advocates familiar with the IEP process will provide representation if you need it. You also may invite anyone who knows or works with your child whose input you feel would be helpful to join the IEP team. Federally supported programs in each state support parent-to-parent information and training activities for parents of children with special needs. The Parent Training and Information Projects conduct workshops, publish newsletters, and answer questions by phone or by mail about parent-to-parent activities.
What Else Should I Know?
Parents have the right to choose where their kids will be educated. This choice includes public or private elementary schools and secondary schools, including religious schools. It also includes charter schools and home schools.
But parents should know that the rights of children with disabilities who are placed in private elementary schools and secondary schools are not the same as children with disabilities who are enrolled in public schools.
Two major differences that parents, teachers, school staff, private school representatives, and kids need to know about are:
- Children with disabilities who are placed by their parents in private schools may not get the same services they would get in a public school.
- Not all kids with disabilities placed by their parents in private schools will get services.
The IEP process is complex, but it’s also an effective way to address how your child learns. If you have concerns, be sure to ask about the evaluation findings or the goals recommended by your child’s IEP team. You know your child best and should play a central role in creating a learning plan tailored to their specific needs.
FRC HVD – ICP
Projects of federal work programs on academic subjects of the federal adapted educational program of primary general education for students with disabilities
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Projects of federal work programs on subjects of the federal adapted educational program of basic general education for students with visual impairments
November 24, 2022 Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation No. 1022 approved the federal adapted educational program of preschool education for students with disabilities
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November 24, 2022 Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation No. 1023 approved the federal adapted educational program of primary general education for students with disabilities
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November 24, 2022 Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation No. 1025 approved the federal adapted educational program of basic general education for students with disabilities
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November 24, 2022 Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation No.
1026 approved the federal adapted basic general education program for students with mental retardation (intellectual disabilities)
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On September 29, 2022, the decision of the Federal Methodological Association for General Education No. 7/22 approved Exemplary work programs on adaptive physical education for students with disabilities at the level of preschool, primary general, basic general and secondary general education. Programs for students with hearing, vision, musculoskeletal disorders, severe speech disorders, mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders and mental retardation (intellectual disabilities) are posted on the website of the state information system
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On September 15, 2022, by decision of the Federal Methodological Association for General Education No. 6/22, Approximate work programs of subjects for students with disabilities at the level of basic general education were approved. Programs for students with hearing, vision, musculoskeletal disorders, severe speech disorders, mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders are posted on the website of the state information system
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On March 18, 2022, the Federal Methodological Association for General Education approved Approximate adapted basic educational programs for basic general education for students with disabilities, developed by the Institute of Correctional Pedagogy. Programs for students with hearing, vision, musculoskeletal disorders, severe speech disorders, mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders are posted on the website of the state information system “REGISTER OF EXAMPLE BASIC GENERAL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS”.
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for students with hearing impairments
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for blind students
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for visually impaired students
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for students with severe speech impairments
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for students with disorders of the musculoskeletal system
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for students with mental retardation
- Adapted basic educational program of basic general education for students with autism spectrum disorders
Dear colleagues, we draw your attention to the letter of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation AB-1362_07 dated 08. 27.2021, which regulates the organization of basic general education for students with disabilities
Approbation of materials: regional experience and opinions
This section contains materials related to the development, testing and implementation of adapted basic educational programs for students with disabilities, prepared and provided by researchers and practitioners from the subjects of the Russian Federation . The materials reflect the regional experience and the author’s position of specialists from educational organizations implementing adapted basic educational programs for students with disabilities.
Guidelines for the formation of curricula 5-9 cells. (GBU DPO “St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education”)
Feedback
Adapted educational program.
Speech therapist A.A. Bykova
Adapted educational program.
The new Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” introduces the concept of a student with disabilities. The law states that the content of education and the conditions for organizing the training and education of students with disabilities are determined by an adapted educational program. Is it required to develop a separate document in addition to the main educational program of an educational institution? How should children with disabilities be educated?
More than 4.5 thousand children with established disabilities and more than 6.5 thousand with disabilities live in the Kursk region. These children can receive education in special organizations, in integrated groups (classes) and inclusively. Thus, more than 1.5 thousand children study in 14 organizations for children with disabilities. More than 150 pre-school groups and about 300 special classes have been created in 25 municipal districts and urban districts of the Kursk Region, attended by about 4,000 children.
Children with disabilities (HIA) – children whose health condition prevents the development of educational programs of general education outside the special conditions of training and education, i. e. these are children with disabilities, or children with temporary or permanent deviations in physical and ( or) mental development.
The entry into force of the new law “On Education in the Russian Federation” requires the introduction of a new direction in the activities of a general education institution that works with students with disabilities (HIA) – the development of an adapted educational program (hereinafter – the Program). This situation necessitated the creation of methodological support, organizational documents that determine the structure and content of the Program. This “Procedure” is designed to help specialists in developing an adapted educational program for different categories of students with disabilities in educational institutions of all levels.
The adapted educational program of a general education institution is a regulatory and managerial document that characterizes the existing achievements and problems, the main trends, the main goals, objectives and directions of training, education, development of students, pupils with disabilities, features of the organization, personnel and methodological support of pedagogical process and innovative transformations of the educational system, criteria, main planned final results.
An adapted educational program is developed by specialists of educational organizations, must be approved by the head of the educational organization, designed, implemented for a child in need with the consent of parents (legal representatives), which is also enshrined in regulatory documents in the field of education.
An adaptive educational program is being developed for the following categories of students:
1) children with disabilities who receive education in the form of individual education at home, including children with disabilities;
2) children with disabilities receiving education in the form of distance learning, including children with disabilities;
3) children with disabilities who have chosen a professional profile of education;
4) children with disabilities studying in the form of full-time education as part of the implementation of inclusive practice.
In the process of implementing the program, within the framework of the school, the development of an adaptive school model is carried out, in which the education, upbringing, development and correction of the health of each child with disabilities in a general education school is carried out on the basis of a student-centered approach through the modernization of the priorities of the teaching staff. The content of special (correctional) education at school is aimed at developing vital competencies among students, pupils, preparing children with disabilities for an active life in the family and society.
An adapted educational program for a child with disabilities is developed by specialists of the Psychological, Medical and Pedagogical Council (PMPC) (teacher, teacher-psychologist, speech therapist, teacher-defectologist, etc.) using the main educational program of an educational organization adapted by the educational main programs of an educational organization, taking into account the psychophysical characteristics of the child.
The adapted educational program is changed by the psychological-medical-pedagogical council (PMPC) depending on the individual achievements of the student.
The main goal of the adapted educational program is to create conditions for the education of all the above categories of children, including children with disabilities.
1. Promoting students with disabilities to receive a quality education necessary for the implementation of educational needs and further professional self-determination;
2. Providing comprehensive psychological, social and pedagogical assistance and support to students with disabilities and their parents (legal representatives in mastering the basic educational program of basic and secondary general education;
3. Social adaptation of children with disabilities through individualization and differentiation of the educational process.
4. Formation of social competence of students with disabilities, development of adaptive abilities of the individual for self-realization in society.
The main objectives of the adapted educational program are:
– early detection of learning difficulties.
– drawing up an individual plan for students with disabilities
– monitoring the dynamics of individual development of students to constant growth, which has objective reasons.
Basic principles of program construction: basic principles of didactics; humanization and cultural conformity; integrity and variability; individualization and differentiation; continuity; consistency; openness; creative activity of the individual. It should be noted here that the development and implementation of AOP for the last category of students can currently be attributed to innovative technologies for the professional activities of teachers implementing inclusive practice, i.e. teaching children with various developmental disabilities in the classroom together with conditionally normative children.
According to Part 1 of Art. 79 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 2012 No. 273 establishes that the content of education and the conditions for organizing the training and education of students with disabilities are determined by an adapted educational program. Thus, in order to receive general education for children with disabilities in general education institutions, appropriate adapted basic general education programs (in separate documents) should be developed, taking into account the peculiarities of their psychophysical development and individual capabilities.