Introduction to Special Education Services and Inclusion

As we have reviewed in other Boys Town Texting Lessons, your child can receive special education services if they complete a school-provided evaluation process and are determined to have one of the 13 federally established disability classifications and are having difficulties making educational progress. There are other options available to your child if they do not qualify for special education. If your child does qualify, you will meet with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team annually to develop a plan to provide the services and supports to help your child succeed in school.

There are a variety of ways that these services may be provided:

• Your child might receive the services of a special education teacher individually.
• Your child may be assigned to a classroom that is co-taught by a general and special education teacher.
• Your child might spend some of their day in a general education classroom and the rest in a special education classroom.
• Your child might be in a general education classroom and have the option of going to the special education teacher for support, as needed.

An overriding goal of special education is inclusivity to ensure that your child has access to the general education curriculum at their school. It also means that your child can participate in other school activities, like school athletic teams and performing arts groups.

How your child is included in the general education curriculum will be an important question that you will want to ask your special education teacher. Many schools today recognize the importance of all their students being included in the general education curriculum and experiences. Since many schools provide classes co-taught by special education and general education teachers to provide customized support to all students. It is important that, as a parent, you not assume that your child will be receiving instruction in an exclusively special education classroom.

Also, be sure to ask questions of your child’s school administration to better understand the options available to your child regularly. Ask your child about the services that they are receiving and whether they feel included in the classroom and at school.

In addition to special education services, your child may be eligible for related services. These are specialized services that go beyond regular classroom instruction.

Some examples of this are having your child be seen by:

• a speech-language therapist to help with their articulation
• a counselor or social worker for emotional or behavioral concerns
• a sign language interpreter

The basic idea here is that another expert is coming to your child’s classroom to provide services to your child during the school day. The frequency, duration, goals, and progress for these related services are all detailed in your child’s IEP.

Your involvement with your child’s special education services is essential. You can talk with your child’s related service provider(s) to check in on progress and goals shared by the school throughout the year. For example, you can ask questions about how many minutes of specific services your child is receiving, which is included in your child’s IEP. You might also ask if there is anything that you can do at home to help with the related services. For example, if your child is receiving speech/language services, the therapist might give you and your child a word list to practice at home.

You also are encouraged to talk with your child’s special education teacher frequently to see how your child is responding to the services and keep an open line of communication beyond the early IEP meeting. There are additional types of services that your child might receive through special education. We call them modifications and accommodations and we will be discussing these in our next lesson.

Helpful Handouts

Additional Resources