Tips to Equip: The Most Important Rule in Special Education

The Most Important Rule in Special Education

The most important rule in special education is that the child’s program must be individualized to the needs of the child.

If a child has an autism diagnosis, do they automatically get placed in the autism special day class? It depends on their unique needs.

The starting point for special education is to determine the unique needs of the child based upon assessments and other data. The next step is to determine the programming that is necessary to appropriately meet those unique needs.

The final step is to determine the placement in which that program can be carried out.

The school district may have a self-contained autism classroom that has all of the typical services for children with autism, including speech, OT, academics, behavior, etc. And it might be convenient to place all children with autism in that placement.

But the standard for the law is you have to consider the unique needs of the child first, and then determine whether that placement is appropriate.

So that special day class may or may not be appropriate for the child. Unlike a cafeteria, the school district must not offer a “take it or leave it” approach to its limited placement options.

So always consider the unique needs of the child first, and then determine what kind of program might be appropriate for them. It all depends on the unique needs of the child, as opposed to what might be expedient.