TN Pulse IEP, Section by Section:
Current Information and Consideration of Special Factors for IEP Development
In the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), there are 5 important factors that must be considered and addressed annually within the framework of the Individualized Education Program (IEP). These factors are:
- Limited English Proficiency
- Vision Impairment
- Communication Needs
- Assistive Technology
- Behavior
Once your child qualifies for special education following the identification and evaluation procedures, their IEP team is responsible for the annual development, review, and revision of the IEP. The IEP serves as a means to actively involve the child in the general education environment, facilitate progress, and fulfill all educational needs arising from their disability. Part of this yearly IEP development process includes the “considering special factors.” This assessment and deliberation can result in the provision of additional services or accommodations to better support your child’s education.
IDEA’s regulations for considering these special factors appear at §300.324(a)(2)(i)-(v) and read as follows:
(2) Consideration of special factors. The IEP Team must—
(i) In the case of a child whose behavior impedes the child’s learning or that of others, consider the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to address that behavior.
(ii) In the case of a child with limited English proficiency, consider the language needs of the child as those needs relate to the child’s IEP;
(iii) In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unless the IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child’s reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media (including an evaluation of the child’s future needs for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille), that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate for the child;
(iv) Consider the communication needs of the child, and in the case of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, consider the child’s language and communication needs, opportunities for direct communications with peers and professional personnel in the child’s language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs, including opportunities for direct instruction in the child’s language and communication mode; and
(v) Consider whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services. [§300.324(a)(2)]
The IEP team must determine if any of these factors are relevant for your child and, if so, address the factor in their IEP.
Overview of the Student’s Current Performance:
This section serves as a communication tool for IEP members and provides a brief overview of your child’s current abilities, identifying both strengths and weaknesses. The tone should be positive, acknowledging their strengths while addressing areas of need and include academic and functional performance, behavioral aspects, and student interests to provide a comprehensive understanding of your child, shaping the foundation of their IEP.
Parent Input and Concerns:
The parent input statement offers an opportunity for caregivers to share their expertise. To ensure that your input receives proper attention, it is important to have a dedicated parent input statement that can be copied and pasted into the appropriate section, or include a note directing the team to meeting notes where your input and concerns can be found.
The parent input statement should consist of fact-based statements. It can be concise, just a few sentences or bullet points, but it is in best practice to keep it around no more than a page in length. The aim is to highlight the most important aspects rather than writing a lengthy document.
The following items should be considered when creating your Parent Input Statement:
- Include your goals (both long-term and short-term), as well as your concerns.
- What are your child’s strengths and motivators?
- How does your child learn best?
- What kind of support do they need when struggling?
If you have concerns that have been frequently overlooked, including them in the parent input statement can support your case in the event of mediation or due process. To ensure your concerns are included on the statement, sent them via email to the IEP team prior to the meeting. These concerns will need to be discussed during the meeting.
Description of the adverse impacts of the disability on the student:
This section provides a comprehensive understand of how your child’s disability affects their ability to access and participate in educational activities. It serves as a foundational component for creating appropriate and targeted support services within their IEP. This description should be written in a clear and detailed manner, outlining the limitations your child faces due to their disability.
An effective Adverse Impact Statement should:
- Clearly articulate the ways in which the disability impacts your child’s academic and non-academic performance.
- Describe how the disability affects their ability to function in all educational settings, interact with peers, engage in classroom activity, and access the general education curriculum.
- While emphasizing the adverse impacts, also acknowledges your child’s strengths to provide a balanced perspective.
- Uses professional and objective language to ensure the description is clear and easily understood by all team members.
- Ensure that the description aligns with the data findings from assessments, evaluations, and observations conducted as part of the IEP process.
English Proficiency
If your child has limited English language proficiency, the IEP team must consider how this factor effect’s their capacity to make substantial educational progress. The team will assess the influence of limited English skills on their learning and advancement within the general education curriculum.
For example, if your child’s IEP addresses a learning disability and their primary language is Spanish, the team will discuss the methods for delivering special education services. This could involve the consideration of whether your child requires participation in an English Language Learner (ELL) education program or access to a Spanish language interpreter during their special education classes. The decisions agreed upon by the team regarding these matters will be documented in the IEP.
The IDEA defines “limited English proficient” at §300.27 as the same thing as the definition given in section 9101(25) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which reads:
“(25) LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT.—The term ‘limited English proficient’ when used with respect to an individual, means an individual—
(A) Who is aged 3 through 21;
(B) Who is enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary school or secondary school;
(C)(i) who was not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English;
(ii)(I) who is a Native American or Alaska Native, or a native resident of the outlying areas; and
(II) who comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on the individual’s level of English language proficiency; or
(iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a language other than English, and who comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant; and
(D) whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the individual—
(i) the ability to meet the State’s proficient level of achievement on State assessments described in section 1111(b)(3);
(ii) the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English; or
(iii) the opportunity to participate fully in society.
Blind or visually impaired
This unique consideration pertains to children who are blind or visually impaired. For these children, the IEP team is required to include provisions for braille instruction and the utilization of braille throughout their curriculum—unless, after evaluating the child’s reading and writing abilities, needs, and the most appropriate reading and writing methods, the team determines that braille instruction or the use of braille is not suitable for your child.
The IDEA requires schools to “provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille,” unless… “the team determines that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate for the child. And the team can only determine that… after an evaluation of the child’s reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media.”
This evaluation must also include an evaluation of the child’s anticipated requirements for braille instruction or the use of braille in the future.
While the particular emphasis for this special consideration focuses on the child’s need for Braille instruction, the IEP team must consider other suitable forms of support and instruction to address your child’s needs related to blindness or visual impairment. This may include various accommodations such as enlarged print materials, recorded audio materials, math manipulatives, or materials formatted according to the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) as outlined in IDEA.
Blindness and visual impairment can significantly impact virtually all aspects of your child’s academic and non-academic involvement in school, and these impacts must be understood by their IEP team.
Deaf or hard of hearing
If your child is deaf or hard of hearing, the IEP team is obligated to thoroughly assess all language and communication requirements that the student may have. This involves an examination of how the child will engage with their peers and the extend to which direct instruction can be delivered in their primary mode of communication, especially if it differs from the standard instructional model. For example, the team may consider providing instruction through alternative means such as sign language, adding captions to videos, or written communication.
When addressing your child’s communication needs, the team members are required to consider the following:
- Their language and communication requirements
- Opportunities for them to engage in direct communication with peers and teachers/staff using their preferred language and communication method.
- Their academic proficiency levels.
- The entire spectrum of their needs, including access to direct instruction in their chosen language and communication method.
It’s crucial to note that regardless of the type of disability, the IEP team must take into account your child’s communication needs. When determining these needs, the team may consider:
- The communicative demands placed on your child and the opportunities for communication they encounter.
- Whether they possess the necessary skills and strategies to meet these communicative demands and capitalize on communication opportunities.
- Their ability to fulfill their need to communicate in diverse settings.
- The appropriateness and effectiveness of their communication, and if any problems exist, review the nature of these deficits in communication.
Consistent, reliable and effective mode of communication
I f the IEP team identifies that your child has communication needs, they must address these within the IEP. This may involve the inclusion of these needs in the statement of goals, the provision of specialized special education and related services, supplementary aids and services, including assistive technology, or any other pertinent forms of instruction, services, and support.
Some children may employe one or more communication modalities, whereas other children, particularly those with more profound disabilities, may face challenges in adequately communicating through any of these means. The communication requirements of these children must be carefully considered during the development of the IEP.
The accessibility of communication within the public school environment should be consistent, reliable, and effective. This means that the school should not rely on the presence of a specific individual and your child should have the ability to communicate with peers and educators at all times.
Here are some examples of communication modes:
- Eye Gaze
- Facial Expression/Gestures/Body Language
- Head Nod (yes/no)
- Object/Picture Symbols
- Communication Symbols
- Vocalizations (approximations, words, and other)
- Sign Language
- Communication via Assistive Technology (AT)
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices
Supplementary aids and services serve as a means of assisting children with disabilities and should be explicitly outlined in your child’s IEP by the IEP team if they determine that your child requires these services. Such accommodations are relevant for children who are deaf or have hearing impairments. The IDEA defines these aids and services as: “aids, services and other supports that are provided in regular education classes, other education-related settings, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with §§300.114 through 300.116.”
Assistive technology
Assistive Technology (AT) devices have the potential to facilitate various activities of tasks for many children. Some of these devices include:
- Tooles that enlarge text on computer screens or verbally articulate typed words (particularly beneficial for children with visual impairments).
- Electronic talking board, which provide support for students experiencing speech difficulties.
- Computers and specialized software programs, which offer enhanced learning opportunities for students with special needs.
The incorporation of AT should be a consideration for all children, regardless of their specific disability. Much like other individualized factors, the deliberation regarding AT must be tailored to the unique needs of each child. AT services encompass the assessment of your child to identify the potential benefits of using assistive devices. These services also encompass the provision of the devices and the training of your child, you, and/or the professionals involved in their education to effectively use the technology.
AT can serve as a pivotal tool for learning and fostering independence among children with disabilities. For example:
- An assistive listening device can facilitate their full inclusion in a general education class.
- A watch equipped with an alarm or vibration can remind a child to independently use the restroom.
- A recorder can empower a student to independently document homework assignments.
- Numerous available apps can enhance your child’s functional capabilities, such as converting text to speech to have books read aloud using computer.
The IDEA defines assistive technology devices and services as follows:
- 300.5 Assistive technology device.
“Assistive technology device means 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 a child with a disability. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device.”
- 300.6 Assistive technology service.
“Assistive technology service means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. The term includes—
(a) The evaluation of the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child’s customary environment;
(b) Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by children with disabilities;
(c) Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices;
(d) Coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs;
(e) Training or technical assistance for a child with a disability or, if appropriate, that child’s family; and
(f) Training or technical assistance for professionals (including individuals providing education or rehabilitation services), employers, or other individuals who provide services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of that child.”
Behavior
One of the first behavior-related question on the IEP states
“Does the student exhibit a pattern of behaviors that impede their learning or that of others?”
If the response is “yes,” then the team is obligated to discuss the utilization of positive behavioral interventions and supports, along with other strategies, to address such behavior. The IEP team members will discuss your child’s specific needs in this regard and incorporate this information into the IEP. In accordance with IDEA, this assessment includes the assessment of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and other strategies to address your child’s behavior.
Do any behaviors displayed by your child impede their learning? Are there behaviors that hinder the learning of their classmates? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” the IEP team must take into consideration behavioral interventions, strategies, and support systems designed to cater to your child’s behavioral requirements. In this process, the team is addressing the special factor of behavior. The team should:
- Clearly define the behavior that impedes the child’s learning or that of others, sometimes requiring a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to comprehensively evaluate the behavior. This involves grasping the purpose or function of the behavior. In the event of challenging behaviors, it is a best practice to request a comprehensive FBA be completed as soon as these behaviors are noticed.
- Discuss which PBIS may prove best in managing the behavior. Are there observations or insights from caregivers regarding this behavior at home or other environments, along with effective behavior management strategies used by caregivers?
- Explore alternative approaches to tackle the behavior. For instance, if your child exhibits disruptive behavior in the classroom, which disrupts the learning of both your child and their peers, and this behavior is attributed to difficulties in managing anxiety resulting from sensory overload due to autism spectrum disorder, the IEP team may identify several PBIS. These interventions could aim at teaching your child how to recognize anxiety and cope with it by taking sensory or movement breaks throughout the day and before potentially triggering events. These interventions should be documented in the IEP under “supplementary aids” and “accommodations.”
How does the IEP team determine the appropriate and effective behavior supports for your child? As explained in the IDEA, one of the roles of the regular education teacher on the team includes determining what behavior supports and other strategies would be appropriate for your child. This includes supplementary aids and services, and program modifications and support for school personnel.
The functional behavioral assessment (FBA) also plays a pivotal role in determining the necessary behavior supports for a child. FBA is typically regarded a s a problem-solving process for addressing maladaptive behaviors. It uses various techniques and strategies to discern the purposes of specific behavior and to assist IEP teams in selecting interventions to directly address the targeted behavior(s).
Within the context of FBA, behavior is viewed as servicing a purpose, functioning as a form of communication, or fulfilling some role for the child. The primary goal of FBA is to identify the underlying purpose, function, or communication behind your child’s behavior. Understanding why a child engages in the behavior is fundamental to creating appropriate behavior supports.
Caregivers should request, in writing, that an FBA be completed as soon as possible after any behavioral concerns are identified. This allows the data collection for the FBA to begin and ensures that a positive behavior plan can be created and included in the IEP as soon as possible to avoid any further delays in academic progress or behavioral support.