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It is important for special education teachers to know who their local and state resources are. The special educator/case manager will work with outside agencies, service providers and disability organizations to support students and their families. Educators need to partner with school and outside resources early on, to ensure the student is prepared to transition to post-secondary, community life, education, and careers.

Please use an address format for the local, state and national organizations.

Related Service Providers

Let’s start with IDEA’s full requirement for specifying a child’s related services in his or her IEP. This appears at §300.320(a)(4) and stipulates that each child’s IEP must contain:

(4) A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child—

(i) To advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals;

(ii) To be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and

(iii) To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities described in this section… [§300.320(a)(4)]

We’ve bolded the part of IDEA’s regulation that specifically mentions related services, because it’s important to see the context in which this term is used. It is that context, and IDEA’s own definition of related services, that will guide how a child’s IEP team considers what related services the child needs and the detail with which the team specifies them in the IEP.

Related services can include, but are not limited to, any of the following:

• speech-language pathology and audiology services
• interpreting services
• psychological services
• physical and occupational therapy
• recreation, including therapeutic recreation
• counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling
• orientation and mobility services
• medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes
• school health services and school nurse services
• social work services in schools

IDEA requires that a child be assessed in all areas related to his or her suspected disability. This evaluation must be sufficiently comprehensive so as to identify all of the child’s special education and related services needs, whether or not those needs are commonly linked to the disability category in which he or she has been classified.

(Center for Parent Information & Resources, 2017)

A few examples of NH state and local resources. Note the address format with hot links and phone numbers. If you reside in another state, research your state and local resources. Include disability specific organizations.

Web-based resources

Include informative websites that are not just “organizations”. What service providers will your students need currently and looking forward to post secondary resources, for optimal access to independent living?

For Example 

Best Buddies New Hampshire– https://www.bestbuddies.org/newhampshire/

Best Buddies is an international nonprofit volunteer organization that works to enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The IDD community that Best Buddies serves includes, but is not limited to, people with Down syndrome, autism, Fragile X, Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and other undiagnosed disabilities. Their programs empower people with IDD by helping them form meaningful relationships with peers and feel valued by society and more.