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Did
you know that if your child is eligible for preschool special education,
s/he is potentially eligible to receive these services in ‘the least
restrictive environment’, or, in other words, a
typical
early childhood setting such as your neighborhood preschool, a child care
center, or an Abbott contracted center, as long as the program is
licensed or approved by a governmental agency and is non-sectarian?
[N.J.A.C.
6A: 14-4.3 (c)]
According to the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), every child who is eligible for special
education services is entitled to a free
appropriate public education
in the least restrictive environment
to the maximum extent appropriate. The New Jersey Administrative Code
(6A:14-4.3 (a)] states that “A full continuum of alternative placements
shall be available to meet the needs of students with disabilities (3-21)
for special education and related services.” This means that every child,
regardless of his/her disability, is entitled to an opportunity to be
educated with children who are not disabled and to be provided with the
supports and services necessary to implement the IEP to the maximum extent
appropriate. [N.J.A.C. 6A:14-4.3 (c)3] “Special classes, separate
schooling, or other removal of a student with a disability from the
student’s regular class occurs only when the nature or severity of the
educational disability is such that education in the student’s regular
class with the use of appropriate supplementary aids and services cannot be
achieved satisfactorily.”[N.J.A.C. 6A:14-4.2 (a) 2]
So, when you sit down with the
Child Study Team to discuss your child’s educational needs, you should
begin by discussing what services
your child needs, and then where
those services would best be provided, looking at a continuum of options
from least restrictive to more restrictive, depending on your child’s
needs.
If my child is receiving
preschool special education in a typical early childhood program, who is
responsible for paying the tuition?
If your child is eligible for
preschool special education and you and the district agree that a typical
early childhood program is the most appropriate placement for your child to
receive his special education services, the district is responsible for
paying the tuition
for
the time that special services are being provided.
This means that if your child is receiving the
minimum
10 hours of preschool special education required by New Jersey State law, [N.J.A.C.
6A 14-4.1 (d)] the district is responsible for paying for 10 hours of
tuition. For example, if your child attends a program for 40 hours per week
and receives 10 hours of special education services at the program, the
district is responsible for paying 25% of your tuition.
The district is also responsible for paying for any special education
services that are written in your child’s IEP such as supplementary
supports and services, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy,
physical therapy, and/or a special educator.
Remember that when a child with a disability is served in a typical
early childhood program, it is optimum for the child care provider to be a
partner in the IEP implementation.
Research
has shown that most intervention occurs
in
between therapy sessions.
Of course, it is ultimately the district’s responsibility to ensure
that the IEP is being properly implemented; however, collaboration is
essential.
What
if my child needs a shadow/aide in order to be successful in a typical early
childhood setting?
Who is responsible for providing that support?
If you and the Child Study Team
agree that your child needs a shadow/aide in order to implement his/her IEP
in a typical early childhood setting, these supplementary aids and services
must be written into the IEP. [N.J.A.C. 6A:14-4.3(a)1] The district is
responsible for anything written into the IEP. Remember that inclusion is
most successful when the proper
supports are provided. These
supports may also include in-service training and ongoing collaboration
between child study team members/related service providers and child care
staff. These supports should be
written into the IEP.
What if I want my child to
attend the preschool disabilities program offered by my district, but I
would like my child to attend a program with typical peers the other half of
the day; is there any district support available to the typical program or
have I exhausted all of my district resources by sending her to the
preschool disabilities program?
The questions you need to ask
are:
·
What goals and objectives in her
IEP reflect her need for socialization with typical peers? And,
·
Does she have an opportunity to
interact with non-disabled peers over the course of her day in the preschool
disabilities program in order to achieve these goals?
If the answer to the second
question is that she does not
have an opportunity to interact with non-disabled peers, then this would be
an area for discussion with the Child Study Team. You might suggest that
these goals be addressed at the typical program she attends in the afternoon
for an agreed upon amount of time each week in order to achieve her IEP
goals. Once again, if you and
the child study team agree with this arrangement, it would be beneficial to
include a component in the IEP that addresses collaboration between child
study team members and the typical child care staff so that the
social-emotional goals can be adequately addressed in the typical setting.
I
agree with my district about the related services they are offering my
child, but I am in disagreement with them about placement.
Can my child still receive related services while we resolve the
placement issue?
Yes. According to the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act [Sect. 300.505 (d)], a parent may accept a
portion of the IEP while rejecting other parts.
It is suggested that you specify your acceptance of
‘related services only’ on the signature page of the IEP.
I would like to have my child
receive his special education services in a typical setting.
How do I go about finding a typical preschool that will accommodate
my child?
N.J.A.C. 6A:14-4.2 (a) states:
“Students with disabilities shall be educated in the least restrictive
environment. Each district
board of education shall ensure that: 1. To the maximum extent appropriate,
a student with a disability is educated with children who are not
disabled.” This means that it is the
district’s
responsibility to find a program in the least restrictive environment.
However, you can be a partner in this process.
If your child is already attending a typical early childhood program
that you feel is successfully including your child, you can suggest that the
district visit the program and make it part of the evaluation. N.J.A.C.
6A:14-3.4 3(d) (2)i & ii
states:
“Each evaluation of the student shall include functional assessment
of academic performance and where appropriate, behavior.
Each of the following components shall be completed by at least one
evaluator: I. A minimum of one
structured observation by one evaluator in other than a testing session; (1)
In the case of a student who is suspected of having a specific learning
disability, one evaluator shall observe the student’s academic performance
in the regular classroom.” If the district is in agreement that this would
be an appropriate placement for your child, the district could establish a
relationship with that program. However,
the district is not obligated to select the center you have chosen
as
long as they can provide an acceptable alternative.
If the center you have selected is outside your home district, it
is the district’s choice whether or not to use it.
There are districts in New Jersey that have relationships with early
childhood programs outside their district, but it is up to each district to
make that decision. However, if
the district is unable to find an adequate program within their district,
they may need to look outside their district for an appropriate inclusive
placement.
Remember
that regardless of whether your child receives special education services in
a typical setting, child care providers are required by law (ADA) to make
reasonable accommodations to include children with disabilities in their
programs unless doing so would:
·
pose
a direct threat to the health or safety of others,
·
result
in an undue burden, or
·
fundamentally
alter their program
What if a center is willing to
accept my child, but says that my tuition will be higher than the other
parents because the center will require additional staff in order to
accommodate my child?
If your child is receiving his
special education services at this center, your district is responsible for
providing any supplemental aids and services necessary to successfully
include your child in the program during the time that the IEP is being
implemented.
If
the child care provider is incurring additional costs in order to
accommodate your child beyond the
minimum 10 hours of special education, they
may
not charge you additional fees. According to the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), a child care provider
must
spread any additional costs incurred across the entire parent body.
This means that, for example, if it costs the center $100 more
per week to include your child and there are 100 children in the center,
every parent should be asked to pay $1 more per week.
It is the child care provider’s responsibility, according to the
ADA, to make reasonable
accommodations
that won’t cause an undue burden
to them. While the ADA is vague
in its definition of ‘undue burden’, the U.S. Department of Justice
would look at the overall resources of the organization in determining what
is an ‘undue burden’. This
means that while a family child care provider would probably not be expected
to make costly accommodations such as installing an elevator, a university
affiliated center or national child care chain or YMCA
may
be required to do so, depending upon their resources.
The Justice Department would look at the resources of the umbrella
organization in making their determination. Furthermore, according to the
ADA, even if a child care provider does not currently serve children with
disabilities, they should be in the process of
preparing
their facilities for children with disabilities by removing any existing
barriers that are easily removed, such as installing offset hinges to doors
or grab bars in bathrooms.
My child is not yet toilet
trained and the provider I am interested in only accepts children who are
toilet trained. Is it
legitimate for them to exclude my child because of this?
The need for toileting is
not
a valid reason for rejecting children with disabilities, even if the
provider has a general rule about excluding children over a certain age
unless they are toilet trained. Under
state regulations, the child care provider must have an approved toileting
area if toileting services are provided for any child, regardless of age.
A few statistics to keep in
mind…
There are approximately 3,700
licensed child care centers currently serving roughly 195,000 children in
New Jersey. There are approximately 8,000 preschool children who are
eligible for preschool special education in New Jersey.
If every center were to enroll
two
children with a disability in their program,
every
preschool aged child eligible for special education could be served with
his/her typically developing peers.
This
means that children with special needs would have typical role models for
all areas of development. But
more importantly, they would be part of their communities from an early age.
Research has shown that children who are properly supported in
typical early childhood settings develop socially, behaviorally and
developmentally as well, if not better than, their counterparts in
segregated settings. Research
has also demonstrated that the more children spend time being educated in
segregated settings, the greater the likelihood that they will be in
segregated settings throughout their lives into adulthood.
Now
is the time to make a difference….
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