Serving ALL Students: Disabilities and Legal

Issues with Exceptional Children

Dr. Betsy RosenbalmDr. Betsy Rosenbalm

Director of Exceptional Director of Exceptional Children and Communication Children and Communication ServicesServices

Newton-Conover City SchoolsNewton-Conover City Schools

Who are You?

What makes you tick? What ticks you

off?

Essential Questions1.) Who are we serving in the school/classroom?2.) How are we serving these students in the school/classroom?3.) What are the provisions, benefits and/or restrictions of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)?

Food for Thought…"The key to (EC) identification is being able to identify kids who are not making progress in a well-functioning educational system.” -Dr. Jack Fletcher

Is this a teaching system or a learning system?

Who are our kids?

What do all kids need?

• A problem-solving approach and progress monitoring when addressing academic, behavioral, and/or developmental concerns regarding students

• Teams must document the data collected, monitor the results of scientifically research-based interventions, and make data-based decisions.

Question #2: What has been your experience with referring students to receive supplemental or intensive support?

Question #1: What has been your experience with implementing Personalized Education Plans for students at risk?

What types of kids need a little more help?

There are 14 types of disabilities, defined by the state, in which students can be identified, in accordance with NC 1503-2 through NC 1503-3:•1.) Autism (AU)•2.) Deaf-Blindness•3.) Deafness•4.) Developmental Delay (ages 3-7 only) (DD)•5.) Hearing Impairment (HI)•6.) Intellectual Disability (ID) (Mild, Mod & Severe) •7.) Multiple Disabilities (MU)•8.) Orthopedic Impairment•9.) Other Health Impairment (OHI)•10.) Serious Emotional Disability (SED)•11.) Specific Learning Disability (SLD)•12.)Speech or Language Impairment•13.) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)•14.) Visual Impairment (Blindness) (VI)

Who serves our kids?

• EC Case Manager/Teacher• Speech Therapist/SLP• Occupational Therapist/OT• Physical Therapist/PT• Vision Teacher/Mobility Specialist• Translators (for ESL and Deaf students)• Psychologist/Diagnostician• Program Specialist• Behavioral Specialist• Adapted PE Teacher

How do we serve our kids?

You have been invited to an IEP meeting on September 12, 2014. In this meeting we will discuss how to meet the needs of Fred. Fred has ADHD and his eligibility area in EC is SED. We will conduct an FBA and develop a BIP. We will discuss his OT needs and his LRE will be OCS, with respect to his FAPE. The LEA will be Brad Smith and the meeting will be held at South Middle School.Think, Pair, Share: 1.) What words/acronyms can you identify and apply to meaning? 2.) How would you (and parents) feel, after reading this?3.) What questions do you have?

How do we serve our kids? • The goal of the State is to provide appropriate educational opportunities to all

children with disabilities who reside in North Carolina. In summation, the purpose of NC’s Exceptional Children’s Program is:• (a) To ensure that all children with disabilities, ages three through 21, have

available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepares them for further education, employment, and independent living;

• (b) To ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected;

• (c) To assist the local educational agencies, including state operated programs and charter schools, to provide for the education of children with disabilities; and

• (d) To assess and ensure the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with disabilities. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1400(d); 34 CFR 300.1)

Source: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction: Exceptional Children Division (n.d.). North Carolina special education reference. Retrieved from

http://policy.microscribepub.com/cgibin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=67153&infobase=ncser.nfo&record={1}&softpage=PL_frame

How do we serve our kids?

• Once a student has been assessed and proven to need services in the areas of eligibility, a group of school personnel, family members, therapists, etc. will form an IEP team to create goals for the student in their area of eligibility.

• An Individualized Education Program, or IEP, means a written statement for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with Sec. 300.320 through 300.324.

Source: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction: Exceptional Children Division (n.d.). North Carolina special education reference. Retrieved from

http://policy.microscribepub.com/cgibin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=67153&infobase=ncser.nfo&record={1}&softpage=PL_frame

How do we serve our kids?

• An Individualized Education Program team, or IEP Team, means a group of individuals described in Sec. 300.321 that is responsible for developing, reviewing, or revising an IEP for a child with a disability.

• The IEP Team decides what the students’ annual goals will be, what related services that student needs (OT, PT, Speech, etc.), how much time a student needs to work with an EC teacher/therapist(s), what setting is most appropriate for that student, and how that student will be assessed (type of testing, testing accommodations, equipment and assistive technology needed, etc.)

Source: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction: Exceptional Children Division (n.d.). North Carolina special education reference. Retrieved from http://policy.microscribepub.com/cgibin/om_isapi.dll?

clientID=67153&infobase=ncser.nfo&record={1}&softpage=PL_frame

How do we serve our kids?

Department of Public Instruction- http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/

State EC Forms- DEC 1-DEC 7: http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/policies/forms/statewide-forms

http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/policies/forms/statewide-forms/research-interventions.pdf

How do we serve our kids?

• Alternative/preferential seating/buddy• Sensory fidgets, cushions, grippers, chewelry…• Visual reminders, overlays, lighting adaptations,

close proximity prompts (i.e. number line on desk)

• Picture Symbols or objects in place of text• Voice Output Devices in place of voices• Switches to operate tools (head, mouth, hand)• Texturized literature for sensory input; Multi-

sensory approach

How do we serve our kids?

• Choices between 2 or 3, rather than generating choices; narrowing the choices

• Modified assignments, frequent breaks, and extended time

• Economy system and/or work for incentives• Functional tools, skills, and applications (CBI)• Job and First-Then charts; picture schedules• Jigs, manipulatives, real objects• “High interest, low level, age appropriate!”

How do we serve our kids?

• Adapted PE equipment/games• Adapted furniture/seating/positioning• Adapted utensils for eating and writing (weighted pencils, weighted spoons, jigs, mats)• Modified diets (puree, liquid, gluten-free, dairy-free, wheat free, etc.)• Therapies (speech, occupational, physical, vision)

Where do we serve our kids?

Where do we serve our kids?

How do we prepare our kids for the future?“We can teach our kids to flap their wings, but the

conditions have to be just right for them to fly…” -Annie Campbell

1.) How will you change or plan one or more of your instructional practices to create conditions that are conducive to learning for ALL students?

2.) What support do you need in order to accomplish this goal? 3.) What is one take-away from the presentation that you will share

with a colleague or parent?