My child just turned 3 and no longer qualifies for services, now what?
If you are receiving services through the state for early intervention, your team should automatically make a referral to your local public school. Public schools are required by law to evaluate children who receive early intervention services prior to them turning 3 to determine if they qualify for specialized services in preschool. For example, your child has been receiving services from Help Me Grow and their 3rd birthday is coming up. Your coordinator and team provides information to the school about your child. The school then calls and sets up a suspicion meeting, screen and possible evaluation.
If the school team determines to evaluate your child they will write an Evaluation Team Report or ETR which is a summary of their findings. It will also determine if your child qualifies for services and under what category before writing an Individualized Education Plan or IEP. This process should be completed prior to your child turning 3 so that if you chose to do so, you could enroll your child in the public school’s preschool right after their 3rd birthday (which is when early intervention services end).
Typically, students who receive an IEP and who qualify for services can attend preschool at a discounted rate or for free with their tuition being waved. However, there may still be some extra costs like buying classroom supplies.
For children who do not already receive early intervention from the state, families and community members can still make a referral to the school. Any parent or outside preschool can make a referral to the school to request a screen or evaluation to be completed. There isn’t an age cut off for these types of referrals so even if your child is 4 and has no diagnosis yet, but you want them to be screened, all you need to do is reach out to the school and ask. Once your child is kindergarten age, the process looks slightly different.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If your child has been evaluated by a private or outpatient therapist within a year of the school’s evaluation, obtain the evaluation report and provide it to the school. It helps the therapists in determining what test to use in order to avoid reliability and validity issues from test-retesting with the same test. Basically it helps them get a more accurate depiction of your child’s skills.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When qualifying for an IEP, the team must decide what category of disability your child falls into. This is NOT a medical diagnosis. For example, if they want to use the Autism category, they can, that doesn’t mean your child has an Autism diagnosis, you will need to go to an Autism Clinic for that. It is simply a category meant to help identify what your child’s needs are at the point in time the ETR is completed. It can change if your child receives a medical diagnosis. It can be changed whenever a re-evaluation is completed (at least every 3 years).
What do services look like in preschool for my 3 year old?
Each preschool is different as they have different setups for the amount of time students attend. For example, your preschool may operate on half days versus whole days, 4 days a week or 5 days a week.
If your child qualifies for services in preschool they will have an intervention specialist who is a teacher with specialized training for working in special education. They may also receive therapy from a speech, physical or occupational therapist. If your student has significant vision or hearing issues, the school should have resources to vision specialists or teachers for hearing impaired students who help provide accommodations for your child while at school.
Can my child still receive private or outpatient therapy if they get it in school?
Yes! Outside and in-school therapists typically work on different goals as they use different approaches or lenses to therapy but there may be some overlap. Private and outpatient utilize a medical model and can generally work on anything, while school therapists can only address skills needed that may impact the student’s education.
Have a specific question? Reach out to me or leave a comment!