Special Education Services

 

What is Child Find?

Child Find is a process designed to identify, locate, and evaluate individuals (birth through 21 years of age) with disabilities who may need special education and related services.

Are there any costs involved?

No, Taft ISD provides free evaluations and appropriate educational programs and related services for student with disabilities.

Referral for an Initial Evaluation

A school has a duty to make a referral for an initial evaluation for special education services any time it suspects that a child has a disability and a need for special education services under IDEA. You may also initiate a referral for an initial evaluation of your child at any time.

If you make a written request to a local educational agency’s director of special education services or to a district administrative employee for an initial evaluation for special education services, the school must, not later than the 15th school day after the date the school receives the request, either give you: 1) prior written notice of its proposal to conduct an evaluation, a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards, and the opportunity to give written consent for the evaluation; or 2) prior written notice of its refusal to evaluate your child and a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards.

Who can make a referral?

Anyone can start the process:  A parent, doctor, teacher, child care provider, relative, friend, or others who are concerned about a child’s development can call their local school district Child Find contact or their regional Education Service Center.

Who to contact?

For children from birth to 3 years of age who have or might have disabilities or developmental delays contact ECI – Infant Development Program at (361) 364-9131 for information.

For children 3 to 5 years of age who have or might have disabilities but are not enrolled in the public school contact Taft ISD Special Education Department at (361) 528-2636  for information.

For children that are attending Taft ISD who have or might have disabilities contact the child’s counselor and request a meeting.

 

WHAT ARE COMPENSATORY SERVICES? 
Compensatory services are used to help students make up for
progress or skills they lost when their special education
services were not provided. This includes situations where a child
does not get special education services because he or she was
denied a timely initial evaluation, but later found eligible. 
If an initial evaluation was denied when it should not have
been, compensatory services may be needed to make up for
the delay in your child getting special education services.

WHO DECIDES IF COMPENSATORY SERVICES ARE NEEDED?  
Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committees decide if
compensatory services are needed and what those services will be.
Parents and guardians are members of the ARD committee. Your
participation is very important.

 
Decisions about compensatory services have to be made for your child 
as an individual. The ARD committee will discuss the amount and type of 
special education services that your child did not receive and any non-special
education supports, services, or interventions that were provided.

 

HOW DO I REQUEST COMPENSATORY SERVICES FOR MY CHILD? 
If you believe your child needs compensatory services then you
should request an ARD committee meeting. Parents may request
an ARD Committee Meeting at any time. It is best to put your
request in writing to an administrator.  Your child’s school must
respond to your request and let you know if it agrees or refuses to
meet.

HOW WAS YOUR CHILD IMPACTED BY NOT RECEIVING SPECIAL
EDUCATION SERVICES? 
Think about the supports, services, or interventions that your
child received before they were eligible for special education
and how well they worked. 
    »  Did your child improve? 
    »  Did your child’s skill gaps get bigger or smaller? 
    »  Be ready to talk about what worked and what didn’t and what
        progress you noticed.

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU THINK YOUR CHILD NEEDS? 
If compensatory services are needed, think carefully about how 
and when those services could be provided. It’s very important 
to have high expectations for your child’s learning but at the same
time to be careful to not overwhelm your child by adding in too
much at one time and causing problems in another area.

 

¿QUÉ SON LOS SERVICIOS COMPENSATORIOS? 
Los servicios compensatorios se utilizan para ayudar a los estudiantes
a recuperar el progreso o las habilidades que perdieron cuando
no se proveyeron sus servicios de educación especial. Esto incluye
situaciones en las que un niño no recibe servicios de educación especial
porque se le negó una evaluación inicial completada de manera
oportuna, pero luego se determinó que era elegible. 
Si se rechazó una evaluación inicial cuando no debería haber
sido así, es posible que se necesiten servicios compensatorios
para compensar para el retraso en que su hijo reciba servicios de
educación especial.

¿QUIÉN DECIDE SI SE NECESITAN SERVICIOS COMPENSATORIOS? 
Los comités de Admisión, Repaso y Retiro (ARD por sus siglas en 
inglés) deciden si se necesitan servicios compensatorios y cuáles serán 
esos servicios. Los padres y guardianes son miembros del comité ARD.
Su participación es muy importante.