December 27, 2011 in Blog by Dee

How to Find Elementary Schools for the Learning Disabled

By Renee Williams

Children with learning disabilities may require special accommodations to help them succeed in school. Students who are diagnosed with a learning disability in elementary school can have the advantage of receiving the help that they need early in their educational career, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Here is how to find schools that help elementary school students with learning disabilities.

Instructions
Step 1
Contact your local public elementary school to learn what programs are available for students with learning disabilities. Public school special education programs help students with a variety of diagnosed disabilities, including learning disabilities. While in a public school, the child may be educated with students who do not have disabilities and receive special help according to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), according to the Learning Disabilities Association of America. In some cases, your child may receive extra help in a class consisting only of special education students.

Step 2
Meet with assessment personnel at the public school. Before enrolling your child in the school, schedule a meeting to discuss resources that the school has in place.

Step 3
Consider other public schools. Public schools are required to educate students in a special education program, but if you are not happy with the elementary school in your area, ask the Special Education director to refer you to another public school in the district before enrolling your child.

Step 4
Talk to parents in special education resource groups. For privacy reasons, the school may not be able to give you names of other parents of learning disabled children, but you can meet the parents on your own by networking or locating a local chapter of the Learning Disabilities of America Association. Ask the parents and adults with learning disabilities to refer you to good elementary schools with strong special education programs for your child’s specific learning disability. Other parents can also refer you to good private schools that may specialize in educating learning disabled children.

Step 5
Search a wider area using online bulletin boards. If you are willing to move to elsewhere to give your child a specialized education, you can ask parents of children with disabilities for recommendations of schools outside your district. You are likely to learn about great schools that specialize in helping children with learning disabilities.

Step 6
Inquire about teacher certification at the school(s) you are considering for your child. Special education teachers who teach children with learning disabilities are certified in interrelated special education. This certificate means that the teacher has been trained to teach children with learning difficulties in both reading and math. An interrelated certificate is valid for teaching students with a wide range of disabilities, including autism in some school systems.

Step 7
Ask for the percentage of learning disabled students in the school. Teachers who have a large number of students with learning disabilities in the school will have more experience teaching these students.

Step 8
Ask for the number of years that the special education teachers have taught in the school. This will give you a good idea of the experience level of the teachers. Teachers who are more experienced will more likely have a larger stock of supplies that they have gathered over the years to use as modifications. On the other hand, teachers who are less experienced may have a fresher perspective and may be more excited about teaching; they may have not experienced teacher burn-out.

Step 9
Review your child’s current Individualized Education Plan (IEP), if there is one, with the special education director and her team. The special education director will most likely lead the meeting. A team made up of a special education teacher, a general education teacher, and an administrator are required to attend the meeting. The special education director can act as an administrator in some schools. In this IEP meeting, discuss possible accommodations, such as giving your child verbal and written instructions, providing extra time for classroom assignments and tests, or notifying you of failing grades.

Step 10
Bring all related documents to the meeting. The special education team need to know your child’s birthday, results from his or her last medical examination, the last IEP that you have and a copy of the child’s psychological report. Anything that you signed approving your child for special education is also helpful. You should also be ready to discuss what you think your child needs and share comments from previous teachers, even preschool teachers.

Step 11
Request a copy of your special education rights. The copy of rights details your parental rights related to the meeting and your child’s education. The school may read the rights to you, or you can request to review the rights on your own. Carefully review the rights before the start of the meeting.

Step 12
Discuss the curriculum in the IEP meeting, and what the school will do to help your child reach goals related to the curriculum. Special education students with learning disabilities are usually given the same curriculum as other students. Schools usually have a set of standards, requirements that students must meet to pass to the next level. Even if your child has a severe learning disability, the school must prove that your child was taught the same skills as other students.

Read more: How to Find Elementary Schools for the Learning Disabled | eHow.com https://www.ehow.com/how_5886551_elementary-schools-learning-disabled.html#ixzz1hlM5iptc