Meeting the AT Needs of Preschool Students Under The IDEA

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Meeting the AT Needs of Preschool Students
UnderThe IDEA
Ronald M. Hager, Esq., Senior Staff Attorney,
National Disability Rights Network, Washington,
D.C.
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This Session Will Focus On

• The IDEA Part C Program for infants and toddlers
• Selected Issues for Preschool students under Part
  B of the IDEA

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Additional Materials for This Session Can be
Found at

• AT Advocate Winter 2009-2010 available at
  http//www.nls.org/av/Winter2009-10.pdf

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IDEA Part C Early Intervention Program

• strong emphasis on prevention
• services are designed to meet
• developmental needs of each child
• the needs of the family related to enhancing
  childs development
• due to young age of child, services may be much
  less educational

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Introduction

• States required to develop a
• statewide, comprehensive, coordinated,
  multidisciplinary, interagency system
• that provides early intervention services for
  infants and toddlers with disabilities and their
  families
• Designate a lead agency that is responsible for
  overall implementation

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Eligibility for Part C

• Child must
• be between birth and age two
• have developmental delay in one or more of the
  following
• cognitive development
• physical development including vision and hearing

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Eligibility, continued

• communication development
• social or emotional development
• adaptive development, or
• diagnosed physical or mental condition high
  probability of resulting in developmental delay,
  and
• at states discretion, at-risk infants and
  toddlers

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Part C is Payor of Last Resort

• Part C is payor of last resort
• Child need not be eligible for Medicaid
• But if available, Medicaid or private insurance
  must be used to pay for early intervention
• Use cannot result in reduction of coverage

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Process Begins with Referral

• Comprehensive child find system
• State must develop and publicize procedures for
  referring children
• Parents may refer directly

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Service Coordinator

• Must be appointed by implementing agency
• Responsible for overall implementation and
  coordination of services
• Must be from profession most relevant to child
  or family needs or otherwise qualified

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Comprehensive, Multidisciplinary Evaluation

• Designed to identify
• childs unique strengths and needs
• appropriate services to meet needs
• family resources, priorities and concerns
• the supports and services necessary to enhance
  familys capacity to meet needs
• Must include review of health and medical records

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Evaluation, continued

• Must assess functioning level and unique
• needs of child in following areas
• Cognitive
• Physical
• Communication
• Social and emotional, and
• Adaptive behavior

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Developing the Individualized Family Service Plan
(IFSP)

• IFSP must be based on professionally acceptable
• objective criteria
• IFSP must be written and include
• current level of physical (including vision,
  health, hearing), cognitive, communication,
  social or emotional, adaptive development

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IFSP, continued

• Family resources, priorities, concerns (if family
  agrees)
• Expected outcomes and how progress will be
  evaluated
• Services necessary to meet unique needs
  including
• Frequency, intensity, method of delivering
  services
• Natural environments
• Location of services
• Payment arrangements, if any

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IFSP, continued

• any services child needs that are not required
  under Part C
• funding sources to pay for those services
• name of service coordinator
• projected dates for initiation of services
• anticipated duration of services
• transition plan

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Services Available are Very Broad, Include

• family training, counseling, home visits
• special instruction
• speech-language pathology and audiology services
• physical therapy
• psychological services

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Available Services, continued

• service coordination services
• medical services for diagnostic or evaluation
  purposes
• early identification, screening and assessment
  services
• health services necessary to benefit from other
  early intervention services

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Available Services, continued

• social work services
• vision services
• AT devices and AT services
• transportation and related costs necessary to
  receive other services
• List is not exhaustive

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Assistive Technology is Covered Service

• AT device
• any item or piece of equipment
• used to increase, maintain, or improve
  functional capabilities
• does not include surgically implanted devices
• personally prescribed devices may be covered

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AT Service

• Directly assists in
• Selection
• Acquisition
• Use of AT device
• Includes training or technical assistance for
  professionals, individual or family

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Examples of AT Used by Infants/Toddlers

• Manual or power wheelchairs
• Specialized strollers or car seats
• Specially adapted toys and recreational equipment

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Examples of AT, continued

• Assistive listening devices including hearing
  aids, personal FM units, CCTV
• Assistive feeding devices including electric
  feeders
• Augmentative communication devices

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Right to Appeal

• Right to impartial hearing
• Right to confidentiality of records
• Stay put
• All services not in dispute continue to be
  provided
• All services currently being provided continue to
  be provided
• Systemic complaints

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Services to preschool students under Part B

• All general rights available to school age
  students apply
• States may elect to allow parents to have
  continue to receive services under Part C until
  they reach kindergarten age
• Services must include an educational component
  that promotes school readiness
• Including pre-literacy, language and numbers

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Transition to Part B

• Transition plan must be included in IFSP
• Planning meeting must be held at least 90 days
  before student ages out of Part C
• Must ensure uninterrupted provision of services
• No stay put for Part C services

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FAPE and LRE Apply

• School district must meet LRE even if it does not
  operate a public preschool
• In such cases, if the district determines that
  placement in a private preschool program is
  necessary as a means to provide services to a
  student in the LRE, the program must be at no
  cost to the family. 71 Fed. Reg. 46589.

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Transition to School Age Services

• Must be a seamless process
• Due Process rights apply
• Stay put rights apply