TIPS FOR HELPING YOUR CHILD MAKE A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION

FROM EARLY INTERVENTION INTO SCHOOL…

 

*    Before June, visit the primary special education class your child will attend in September.

 

*    Get the name and phone number of a contact person who will be able to answer questions you may have about your visit at a later date.

 

*    Role play going to school—consider using props like the Fisher Price school house and bus.

 

*    Talk positively and reassuringly about the new school experience.

 

*    Plan a family excursion (include siblings, grandparents) to visit the new school building and playground during the late summer.

 

*    Read stories about children and school...many are available in local libraries.

 

*    Communicate with the teacher: Child’s likes/dislikes, family  members’ names and pets, fears, allergies, word for “potty”, etc.

 

*    Expect some separation anxiety— yours and the child’s

 

 

 

Some areas to consider when transitioning from Part C

 

(Early Intervention) to Part B (School District):

 

The IFSP process is similar to the IEP process, mandating meetings attended by a designated group and stressing the importance of parental participation.  Early intervention services under the IFSP resemble those provided under Part B. However, there are three types of services unique to Part C:  Family Support Services,

Nutrition Services and Case Management.

 

Both Part B and Part C require that responsible agencies develop a transition process to ensure that when a child becomes eligible for Part B services on the child’s third birthday, an educational program is in place.  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) permits states to elect to allow school districts and intermediate educational units to use an IFSP instead of an IEP to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to children with disabilities transitioning from Part C, up until a child’s sixth birthday, assuming parental consent.

 

If a state’s procedures for transitioning children with disabilities from Part C to Part B include a transition conference, an eligible child’s initial IFSP or IEP can be developed at this meeting.  The decision of whether to provide FAPE according to an IFSP or IEP may be made at this conference.  Results of the transition planningTransition IEP, and provided by the school district under Part B. Meeting could be a determination that the child is no longer

eligible for any IDEA educational services.  If so, parents are accorded the procedural safeguards set out in Part B.

 

When a student becomes eligible for services under Part B, a school district in not necessarily required to continue to provide the same services identified in a child’s IFSP under Part C.  While Part B requires coordination to assure continuity of services, the services do not need to be identical. Districts are free to conduct an initial evaluation of the  child and convene an IEP meeting to design the IEP from scratch, provided the district adheres to the generally applicable time frames for evaluation, holding IEP meetings, and implementing IEP’s.

 

If a child with a disability who is receiving Part C services turns 3 during the summer, the school district cannot wait until the beginning of the next school year to initiate the child’s Part B programming if the child receives extended year services.  Under these circumstances, the district must provide needed services upon the child’s third birthday to prevent an interruption in services. For children eligible for special education and related services, an IEP must be developed and implemented by the child’s third birthday, specifying the programming needed upon that birthday. If ESY services are required, they must be addressed in that first programming document, called the Transition IEP, and provided by the school district under Part B.

 

 

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The Family seems to be the most effective and economical system for fostering

 and sustaining the child’s development.

  Without family involvement,  intervention is likely to be unsuccessful,

And what few effects are achieved  are likely to disappear once the intervention is discontinued.

 

— Urie Bronfenbrenner


 

                    

 

Copyright 2009