Transcript special factors - PikesPeakBOCESSpecialEducationDepartment

SPECIAL FACTORS
PIKES PEAK BOCES LEADERSHIP
DECEMBER 2015
WELCOME
Activity:
• Find a partner & Read CDE Document
• Share: Something Reinforced & Something New
• Summary of Special Factors
Limited English Proficiency
• Don’t ignore student language needs because parents opt out
of ELL programs
• Problem solve ways to deliver dual services to students
• Consider language related needs in IEP’s
• Encourage teachers to consult special education staff
Health Care Plan
• Identify student needs to be as specific as possible when
identifying accommodations
• Notify teachers and relevant staff about plan provisions
• Be open to modifying plan when necessary
• Document students receipt of accommodations
Special Transportation
• Describe: extent of services, personnel needed to assist, LRE
considerations
• Includes travel to and from school as well as between schools
• Includes specialized equipment; buses, ramps, lifts
• Can include additional adult assistance due to medical or
safety needs beyond what driver can accommodate
Special Factors:
Unique Communication Needs
Purpose:
• Consider the special or individual communication needs of the
student
• Brief summary
• Captures special situations which impact students ability to
communicate
• May point to another Special Factor such as a Behavior Intervention
Plan or Communication Plan
Special Factors:
Unique Communication Needs
• Mark NO: If there are no communication needs identified in
Present Levels & Student Needs & Impact of Disability
• Mark Yes: If communication needs prevent the student from
accessing general education
Special Factors:
Unique Communication Needs
• Examples:
• Mark’s emotional regulation affects his ability to communicate
appropriately. See BIP
• Mary has a hearing impairment, including deafness and uses sign
language, see communication plan for further details
• Laura is nonverbal & uses low tech picture symbols to communicate
• Lisa has muscular dystrophy and speech intelligibility decreases when
she is fatigued
Special Factor:
Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology:
Improving student access to
the curriculum & the
classroom
Julie Drago, Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing & AT
Pikes Peak BOCES Exceptional Student Services Leadership Team
According to the Assistive
Technology Act of 1998, AT is any:
• Item, piece of equipment or product system, whether
acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized
that is…..
• Used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional
capabilities of individuals with disabilities.
For many children with disabilities, assistive technology is the
lifeline that provides them access to and control over their
environment including the home, school and community.
AT: Providing the Right Tools
• Every child can learn. But learning is much easier when you
have the right tools.
• Ultimately, AT helps to “level the playing field” so that
students with disabilities can do things that would be
extremely difficult or potentially impossible for them to do
otherwise.
• The key element of any successful AT tool is that it is the right
match for the needs of the person using it.
AT Equipment can range from:
• Low-Tech adaptive devices, such as pencil grips and slant
boards
TO
• High-Tech devices such as speech generating communication
devices or specialized computers.
For every student with an IEP, AT
must be considered
• Colorado supports the education of all children with
disabilities in settings with their nondisabled peers to the
maximum extent appropriate. As part of the special education
process, AT must be considered for all children with
disabilities.
• The legal definition of assistive technology, as defined in IDEA
2004, includes both devices & services
AT Services
• any service that directly assists a student with a disability in
the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology
device, including:
• Evaluation
• Purchase or lease
• Select, design, fit
• Coordination of programming
• Training needed to use an AT device
AT is Most commonly used for
students with:
• Communication disorders (augmentative alternative
communication devices, AAC)
• Visual impairments (magnifier, braille, long cane)
• Hearing loss (FM system)
• Learning/cognitive impairments (software speech to text)
• Positioning /mobility impairments (foot rests, wheelchair)
• Ergonomic issues (positioning, access)
• Impairments in activities of daily living (adapted eating or hygiene
devices)
• Impairments in recreation and leisure (adapted sports or art
equipment)
• Impairments in environmental control (extended handles to turn
on/off lights, automatic door openers)
Determining if AT is
appropriate in the IEP
• Although AT needs to be a consideration for every student with a
disability, an AT device or service is only part of the IEP if it is
something above and beyond what all students have access to in the
classroom. The critical question for the IEP Team is this, “ Is assistive
technology necessary to increase access to the home, school &
community?”
• The IEP team determines if AT is needed through the development
of the IEP
• The IEP team considers what barriers are limiting access to the
environment &/or educational curriculum.
• The IEP team considers what specific tasks need to be accomplished
that an AT device or service will support
• If AT is determined a necessary part of a students IEP, it is evaluated
& monitored in an ongoing rather than one time process
• Team documents findings in the IEP
Documenting AT in the IEP
Present Levels: describe the AT being utilized
Goals: Does any goal require AT to accomplish? If so, include it
Accommodations/Modifications: list all AT being utilized
Special Factors: to check or not to check……
Checking the AT Special Factor
Box:
If the student’s needs for assistive technology go beyond what all
students within the classroom have access to & if the IEP team
has determined AT is necessary to access the general education
environment &/or curriculum, then the AT box within Special
Factors should be checked.
If the AT Box is checked……
• Include a simple summary statement to address:
The Environment AT will be used in
The Task AT will support
The Barrier(s) currently identified to accomplishing the task
The Specific AT being utilized
The Method used to monitor progress
 When & How Outcome/Results will be shared through the IEP
progress notes
AT Resources & Guidance
• The Colorado School for the Deaf & Blind has a technology
loan bank for students with visual & hearing impairments
www.csdb.org”
• Additional guidance can be found at the Colorado Department
of Education:
http://www.cde.state.co.us/sites/default/files/documents/cdesp
ed/download/pdf/guidelines_coloradoassistivetechnology.pdf
Looking Ahead…….
For the 15/16 school year the PPBOCES AT contact is Julie
Drago [email protected]
 We will be adding “tech talk” to second semester corridor
trainings to share updates & ideas from the world of AT
 If an AT evaluation is requested by a parent, PPBOCES will
contract to complete
 If an AT evaluation is requested by a building based team,
PPBOCES will complete
For the 16/17 school year an AT Team will be formed & will
create & implement a process for considering the AT needs of
students