| Special Education Program - FAQ Note to prospective parents: Joining SelfDesign is an important step for your family. In addition to being part of this unique and supportive Special Education program, you are also committing to fulfil the requirements of our regular SelfDesign program. Please read the information provided about SelfDesign on this website so that you are aware of the regular program agreements prior to enrolling your child in SelfDesign. This may help you determine if our program is the best choice for your child and your family. Once you have read through the FAQ below, please feel free to contact our Special Education Coordinator at specialed@selfdesign.org if you have further questions. NOTE: Due to staff availability, our SE Low Incidence program is full for the coming year. If you are interested in enrolling your child with special needs in SelfDesign, please contact our Special Education coordinator, Rebecca McClure, to be put on our waiting list. specialed@selfdesign.org If your child has needs that are "high incidence" (speech/language, learning challenges), please go ahead and enroll your child in our regular program. August 15/08. What needs aren't covered by the Special Education grant? Where can I find more information about learner eligibility for Special Education grants? I have a child with PDD-NOS. Will he receive the Special Education grant? What is the application process? What documentation about my child's diagnosis do you need me to send? And when? When is the application deadline? When will I find out if my child's application has been approved? How does the grant money support my child? Who decides how the funding is to be used? What is the difference between educational and therapeutic goals? What is the difference between an Individual Education Plan and a regular Learning Plan? What is the difference between a modified and an adapted program? Do we get to choose our Learning Consultant? How many times a year do we meet with our Special Education Consultant? What qualifications do support workers need? What types of interventions can be funded? What might a budget look like? What is my role as a parent? I have more questions. Who do I contact? Who is eligible for the Special Education grant? Learners who have been professionally diagnosed as having a special need and who have the relevant documentation (assessments written by qualified professionals) may be eligible for this program. According to Ministry guidelines, this includes learners who are considered:
dependent handicapped
deaf/blind (multi-sensory deprived)
blind (requiring Braille support)
deaf (requiring full-time signing/oral interpreter)
medically fragile
This also includes learners with the following moderate to profound intellectual or physical disabilities who require additional support and/or instruction:
moderate to severe/profound intellectual disabilities (mental handicaps)
physical disabilities
visual impairment
hearing impairment
autism [including learners diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome or PDD-NOS, if the child's needs impair their access to learning]
Learners requiring intensive behaviour interventions and/or those diagnosed with a serious mental illness are also eligible. According to the BC Ministry of Education, "these are students whose behaviour is sufficiently serious that they are known to schools and community personnel as being a serious risk to themselves and/or others, and who exhibit behaviour which significantly interferes with their school progress and/or that of others" (from The BC Guide for Independent Schools).
What needs aren't covered by the Special Education grant?Special Needs or Services that do not qualify for additional funding include:
English as a Second Language (ESL) Learning Assistance
Speech and Language Services
Learning Disabilities including Severe Learning Disabilities (SLD)
Mild Intellectual Disabilities (Mild Mental Handicap)
For details about the Special Education funding Levels and Categories, please consult the BC Guide for Independent Schools website. For details about the Special Education funding Levels and Categories, please consult the BC Guide for Independent Schools website. http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/independentschools/bc_guide/spec_ed.htm http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/independentschools/bc_guide/spec_edgrants.htm All children who are diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum are eligible to apply for a Special Education Grant. We still need to look at all your child's professional documentation/assessments in order to gain a full understanding of your child's needs and how they impact your child's access to a learning program. The Ministry has provided specific guidance on how to create a Special Education program for children with autism. Unlike public schools, independent schools are required to prove a child's need before Special Education funding is allocated to that child from the Ministry of Education. Thus, we submit a comprehensive application package to the Office of the Inspector of Independent Schools on behalf of your child. The application process has six steps. 1. When a family enrolls a child with SelfDesign and indicates on the application form that their child may be eligible for a Special Education grant, the Special Education Coordinator contacts them. She will ask questions to determine whether or not their child fits the criteria for the Special Education grant. If it is likely the child is eligible, she requests copies of all relevant professional assessment and diagnostic reports, which she will go through carefully to summarize the professional findings and recommendations.
2. The family will meet with our Special Education Consultant to create the child's Learning Plan. When working on the Learning Plan, the family will also consider the types of specialized activities or resources that specifically address and support the learner's special needs and goals. 3. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is created based on the professional recommendations from the professional assessment documents provided, the Learning Plan, and from further conversations with the family. We also create an IEP supplement that shows how your child's regular program is separate from yet supported by the Special Education program. Some learners may require a Case Management Plan (CMP), which our team will co-create with the family and the learner's community team. 4. We then co-create a budget that reflects the amount of the grant the learner is eligible to receive. The Office of the Inspector of Independent Schools requires us to monitor the spending of Special Education grant monies with Ministry of Education guidelines in mind. This means that all budget items are approved by the Special Education Coordinator prior to money being spent and must clearly support the educational program of the learner and meet SelfDesign and Ministry of Education criteria. 5. When the above information is created and complete, the Special Education Coordinator fills out the Ministry application form for the Special Education grant and forwards it to the SelfDesign Principal to sign. For reasons of confidentiality, all application packages are mailed to the Office of the Independent Schools and must arrive before the set deadline. 6. The applications are all reviewed by an independent "Provincial Review Committee", which is a panel of individuals with expertise in Special Education and engaged by the Independent Schools Branch of the Ministry of Education. Even with a solid and complete application package, a child may not be approved for the Special Education grant after the first submission. If your child's application for the grant is not approved, there is an appeal process. We consult with the Independent Schools Branch, improve your child's application according to their recommendations and resubmit the information to the Ministry. In the past, we have had success in having applications approved as a result of the appeal. Different Special Education categories have different requirements as to what documention is required. In general, we ask that parents provide us with the first assessment report that gives your child's diagnosis. Then, we ask for any assessment (not necessarily followup) reports where distinct assessment tools and tests were used, such as: a psychoeducational assessment, a neuropsychological assessment, a speech and language assessment, an occupational therapy assessment, a psychiatrist's report, a physiotherapy assessment, a medical report from a doctor (a paediatrician or a specialist). In addition, reports (including follow-up reports) with professional recommendations are helpful because the more recommendations we have, the broader the program we can develop for your child.
We require this information from you, via fax if possible, at the time of your child's enrollment in SelfDesign and at least 4 weeks prior to the application deadline. If your child has recently been enrolled as a student with another educational authority (school), we will ask you to sign a form that allows us to request your child's confidential file from that school so that we are certain we have all the information we need for the application. For learners joining us in September, the Ministry of Education Independent Schools Branch requires that the completed application package is submitted by the beginning of October and SelfDesign receives notice of approval by mid-November. The Ministry of Education does not release funds for approved September applications until mid-December. We ask that new learners to our program are enrolled by August 15 so that we have sufficient time to create the application package. We have two other opportunities to apply for funding in the school year. A recent change in Ministry policy allows us to submit new applications at the beginning of February (new learners must be enrolled by December 31). This grant is available in March and allows late-enrolling learners to access Special Education funding (at half the grant amount). Another time to submit applications is the beginning of May. This is for applications for "Pre-Approval" for the following September. If an application is pre-approved, the child's funding becomes available in late October. Please note this message from the Ministry of Education Independent Schools Branch: "Principals should note that these applications are limited to special needs students who are committed to enrolling in your school for September." Preapproval applications are done for children already enrolled and participating in the SelfDesign program, and whose parents have committed to return to the program the following September. Our principal receives notification regarding application approval as follows: May pre-approval applications - notification received in June
September applications - notification received in November
February applications- notification received in March
The Special Education Coordinator will contact you once we receive notification.
How does the grant money support my child?Our Special Education program is tailored to the needs of the child. According to the Inspector of Independent Schools, we cannot provide direct funding to the family ; instead, we create, with you, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) based on professional recommendations and we use community resources, selected by you and approved and contracted by us, to meet your child's goals. This may include occupational therapy, 1:1 support in social situations, 1:1 support in academic and other learning areas, behavioural intervention, physiotherapy, and so on. SelfDesign also provides support for families through our Special Education Team, an online support conference for parents of our learners with special needs, and through other online conferences in the "Village of Conversations". The Inspector of Independent Schools has stated that the funding is for the program. This means that the grant money goes toward the whole Special Education program and is distributed among learners at the school authority's discretion. At SelfDesign, we choose to invest this money in meeting the individual child's educational needs in a tangible way so that the child truly benefits. The "program" is the child and thus the grant is used to meet the child's needs as outlined through the recommendations in the diagnostic and assessment reports. We consider the Special Education program to be a collaboration between the family and SelfDesign. We need to be able to justify each budget item according to the professional recommendations in the professional assessment reports and our qualified Special Education Team acts as a guide for families when determining what resources will best meet the child's educational needs. There are some Ministry of Education limitations as to how the grant money can be used. The main guideline is that funding is to be used to support the realization of a child's education program in light of the child's special needs. This means that the SE grant cannot be used to buy materials or resources that fit under the child's Learning Plan. Instead, the SE grant is used to provide the modifications or adaptations to your child's program that enable him or her to reach his regular program goals. as stated in your child's Learning Plan. Each Special Education intervention is clearly tied to an educational goal stated in the child's IEP. Therapeutic goals can only be addressed when they improve the child's access to his or her learning program. The Special Education Coordinator approves all interventions, according to Ministry and Self-Design criteria, prior to their start. Parents of children with autism will notice that this is different than how Provincial Autism Funding, through the Ministry of Children and Family Development, is administered. According to the Ministry of Education, the Special Education grant cannot be used to cover interventions such as Speech and Language Therapy, Counselling, or Learning Assistance. Any of these items may be covered through the learner's regular program Learning Investment as long as the intervention is listed in the Learning Plan. Please note that all services/resources must be contracted by and directly paid by SelfDesign. Unfortunately, due to Bill 33, we are unable to reimburse parents if they choose to pay directly. An educational goal relies on interventions to support a child's special needs so that the child can fully participate in his or her educational program. A therapeutic goal addresses other needs that are not necessarily impeding a child's learning. For example, an Occupational Therapist (O.T.) may suggest that a child have deep pressure therapy to assist with self-calming or twirling devices to accommodate a sensory-deficit issue. Although neither of these is specifically an educational issue, it may be helpful to use related therapeutic techniques in educational situations if a child's learning is being hindered by anxiety or sensory deficit issues. It doesn't mean, however, that the Special Education funding can cover the cost of the therapeutic equipment. Instead, it may be appropriate to use the funds to bring in a Special Education Assistant (SEA) who is knowledgeable about these issues or to have an Occupational Therapist show the family or SEA how to use these techniques to help the child in learning situations. It would also be appropriate to contract the Occupational Therapist to work with the child on a weekly or biweekly basis so that the child's needs are being addressed. SelfDesign Learning Plans are not IEPs. The Learning Plans are individualized, not "modified" or "adapted" like an IEP. An IEP is really for learners requiring a Special Education program because of their diagnosed/assessed special needs. When we prepare an application on behalf of a learner with special needs, we include an additional document that clearly demonstrates how the learner's Special Education program (IEP) is different than the regular program (LP). The IEP is based on recommendations from the diagnostic and assessment reports submitted, and is created to support your child's educational goals. An adapted program provides adaptations so that the child with special needs can approach the regular learning activity/grade-level content regardless of his or her special needs. In a modified program, the presentation and the complexity of the educational content are usually changed so that the child experiences ongoing academic success regardless of their special needs. In order to reduce the number of people in our program that families need to communicate with (regarding their learner with special needs), one of our Special Education Consultants will also work with your family as your child's Learning Consultant (LC). This brings simplicity and cohesiveness to our program, which parents appreciate. Because our Special Education Consultants are experienced in the field of Special Education, we trust they will be a warm support and valued resource for your family. When selecting a LC on the SelfDesign Enrollment Application, please select "Special Education Consultant" as your family's first choice for your learner with special needs. Then, select two other LCs you'd like to work with as your second and third choices. If your child is not eligible for a Special Education grant, your LC will be one of your other selections. If you have a preference regarding the Special Education Consultant you'd like to work with, please note this on the Special Ed section of the application form. We will do our best to accommodate your request. Depending on your geographical location in the province, she will meet with your family twice during the year. The first meeting will be in August or in early September to create or review the IEP. The second meeting will take place prior to the March IEP review period. In addition, the Special Education Consultant will use online technology, such as video chats via web camera, to interact with your family "face-to-face". She will also call your family on a regular basis to check in and will interact with you on a weekly basis in your child's SelfDesign Planner. SelfDesign and the parents decide what "qualified" means and we look to contract people who will provide the best intervention for your child. We are required to ask for resumes, copies of professional certification or registration (if applicable), references, and sometimes copies of transcripts/certificates. We do look for evidence of experience and training that is closely related to the role the individual will be doing. We require all support services providers to submit a consent form to us for a criminal record check. Support workers and community-based professionals are contracted by SelfDesign to provide interventions for the Special Education learner. They are informed of the goals on the learner's IEP that relate to their intervention and they provide written reports three times during the year so that we know how the intervention is proceeding. Please note that we cannot contract members of a child's immediate family. This is a decision your family, the Special Education Coordinator, and the Special Education Consultant makes together based on the recommendations presented in your child's assessment reports as well as on the contents of your child's Learning Plan. We also keep in mind guidelines that have been given to SelfDesign by the Inspector of Independent Schools and the Special Education Coordinator approves all budget items. Here are some items that other learners have included in their Special Education budgets (all these activities are tied into the child's IEP and individual goals)
-1:1 support from a Special Education Assistant (SEA) - this includes people who provide behavioural intervention, teach social skills in context, provide specialized tutoring, or generally support a child in learning daily living skills. SEAs have either training or experience in working with children with special needs.
- Specialized Small Group Classes or Interventions
- Music or Art Therapy - to address Self-Regulation or Motor-control issues
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Services of a Psychologist for testing or providing behavioural support
- Fine motor manipulatives that are necessary for a child's educational program
- Specialized Software (such as Writing with Symbols, Clicker4, COWriter, Dragon Naturally Speaking)
- 1:1 Specialized Classes that a child could not access in a group situation, such as swimming instruction or gymnastics classes
- Therapeutic Riding or Adapted Physical Activity Instruction - these activities must be provided by individuals who are certified or trained in these areas
The Special Education grant money cannot be used to cover interventions such as Speech and Language Therapy, Counselling, or Learning Assistance. Any of these items may be covered through the learner's regular program Learning Investment as long as the intervention is listed in the Learning Plan.
Also, although we can pay for music or art therapy if warranted, we cannot pay for music lessons or art lessons through the Special Education grant. In addition, if your child is able to attend a class without support, such as gymnastics, we do not cover the cost of the class through the Special Education program. This budget reflects the interventions that may be included on a budget for a child diagnosed with autism. A child with different needs may require different support and resources. Please note that a portion of the budget is used by SelfDesign to provide your child with his or her Special Education program. The amount that can go directly to service providers contracted by the SelfDesign program is usually 75% of the grant. If a child does not need to use their full funding, the surplus amount is used to support other learners in our Special Education program. This redistribution of funds occurs at the discretion of the Special Education Coordinator, in consultation with your family and the Special Education Consultant. Please note: this is a sample budget only.
What is my role as a parent?
Parents are important and welcome members of the Special Education Team at SelfDesign. They know their childrenÕs needs better than anyone and often have clear ideas as to the types of interventions that will facilitate their childÕs optimal development.
Parents have a number of tasks they do to help their childÕs Special Education program run smoothly: they provide all needed documentation to Rebecca in a timely manner, including authorization for previous schools to release confidential files; they work on their childÕs Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in partnership with the SE Team; they work with the SE Team to find support services providers that fit our programÕs requirements for experience and training; and they provide service provider contact information as soon as possible. They ensure that support workers have received all relevant documentation about the program and help to keep the lines of communication open between service providers and SelfDesign staff.
Parents uphold the agreements of the regular program, including timely and personal reporting in the weekly Observing for Learning (O4L) and keeping weekly hours up to date. They include a section in the O4L indicating how the Special Education interventions are progressing for their child. Parents also have frequent phone or webcam contact with their childÕs Special Education Consultant (SpEC), in addition to any direct-contact O4L that their SpEC, as your childÕs LC, offers. Parents are also asked to check their Village messages at least twice a week so that they are able to keep up-to-date on important correspondence from the Special Education Team.
I have more questions. Who do I contact?
Please email the Special Education Coordinator if you have further questions about our Special Education program or you are planning to enroll your child in the SelfDesign program and you feel your child meets the criteria for a specific Special Education grant. She is happy to provide you with the information your family requires in order to make a decision about our program. |