Parent Checklist for Special Education (page 2)

This checklist is designed to be used by parents to aid in their selection or to help improve programs for their young child with special needs. While this checklist is based on the DEC Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (Sandall, McLean, & Smith, 2000), it does not include all of the practices. It is meant to give parents a general overview of the program by highlighting some of the salient practices. For more information on the DEC Recommended Practices and other resources, contact DEC (see contact information at the end of this checklist). Within the checklist, the term professional will be used to refer to teachers, therapists, classroom assistants, and others who work with children.

How do professionals work together with families to meet the needs of the children?

• Teams of professionals and family members make decisions and work together.

• Professionals from various disciplines (e.g., physical therapy, speech therapy) teach skills to each other so that when they are working with children they can work on all of the child’s goals.

• Services are based on the child’s needs, involve the child’s regular caregivers, and focus on the child’s regular routines.

• Services are provided in ways that eliminate stress, are flexible and individualized for each child and family, and promote the well being of families.

• Services are sensitive and responsive to the cultural, ethnic, racial, and language preferences and backgrounds of families.

How does the program determine the strengths and needs of the child and family?

• Programs provide families with a primary contact person and easy ways to contact that person.

• Families and professionals meet together to talk about the child’s strengths and needs.

• Professionals ask families to talk about their child’s interests, abilities, and needs and demonstrate to the families that this information is critical and useful in terms of developing the child’s program.

• Professionals ask families to talk about their resources, concerns, and priorities related to their child’s development.

• Professionals use a variety of methods for determining the child’s strengths and needs (e.g., observe the child in different settings, interview the primary caregivers, test the child).

• Professionals test children in settings that are comfortable for the child.

• Professionals become familiar with the child before testing him/her.

• Professionals and families assess children at different times during the year to measure progress. Modifications in the child’s program are made based on these ongoing findings.

• Professionals report assessment results to families in a way that is understandable, sensitive, and responsive to the family’s concerns.

• Families are given time to ask questions, express concerns, or make comments about assessment findings before decisions are made about the child’s program.

• Professionals tell families about their rights related to assessment.

Reference

Sandall, S., McLean, M.E., & Smith, B.J. (2000). DEC Recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

Note

This checklist is also available free of charge from the DEC website: www.dec-sped.org For more information on DEC Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education:

Division for Early Childhood/Council for Exceptional Children
1380 Lawrence St., Suite 650, Denver, CO 80204
Phone: (303) 556-3328 Fax: (303) 556-3310
Email: dec@ceo.cudenver.edu
Website: www.dec-sped.org

To order a copy of DEC Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education contact:

Sopris West
4093 Specialty Place
Phone: (800) 547-6747 Fax: (888) 819-7767
Website: www.sopriswest.com

Disclaimer

Funding for this publication came in part from a grant to the University of Colorado at Denver and the Division for Early Childhood from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (grant no. H324D.980033). The contents of this book do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education or the University of Colorado at Denver. The Division for Early Childhood assumes no liability or risk that may be incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this publication. DEC does not perform due diligence on advertisers or their products or services and cannot endorse or guarantee that their offerings are suitable or accurate.