“Related services” should be requested at an IEP meeting and if the IEP Team agrees, the services should be written in your child’s IEP even if the services will not be provided by the district. It is important to write the service into the IEP because it helps to establish that the service is an educational service and necessary for the student’s education. Ultimately, it is the district’s responsibility to provide the related services even if an outside agency stops providing the services.[1]
What the IEP Must Specify about Related Services
The IEP must state and clearly describe the related services (e.g., “speech therapy”, “OT/PT”, “psychotherapy”, etc.) that your child is to receive in the IEP. The IEP must set out the specific frequency, location, duration, and projected date of the beginning of the service to be provided.[2] The IEP should contain a similar statement describing the same details for any special education and supplementary aids and services that the team determines appropriate for the student as well as for any program modifications and supports to be provided to school personnel to enable the student to advance toward the annual goals, to be involved and make progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in extracurricular and nonacademic activities.
For example, the IEP should state “speech therapy” and describe the service with a statement like this: individual instruction in phonology and syntax one time per week, 45-minute session; and small group (1-3 students) instruction one time per week, 45-minute session provided by a credentialed Language, Speech and Hearing Specialist, with supportive group activities on a daily basis in the classroom, provided by the teacher or paraprofessional (instructional aide) in consultation with the Specialist.
If an IEP contains goals for related services, such as speech articulation progress for speech therapy services, these goals should be written into the IEP in measurable terms along with a description of how progress toward those goals will be measured and what the schedule will be for informing you on the progress your child is making toward those goals.[3]
Parents/Guardians/Other Education Rights Holders should reject statements that are vague and not specific. For example, a district will often try to insert a statement like this: “Student will receive speech therapy one to three times per week” or “up to three times per week”. This statement is vague because it does not clearly specify how many times a student will receive therapy and the district can decide to provide speech therapy at most one-time per week.
Similarly, a statement such as: “Student will demonstrate up to three of the targeted skills by June 1,” is also vague because it means that the student will have met the goal as long as they can demonstrate one, or perhaps none, of the three targeted skills.
Changes to Related Services Require an IEP Meeting
Changes to the amount of services, projected start date, frequency, location or duration of special education, related services and supplementary aids and services as well as the program modifications and supports for school personnel listed in the IEP cannot be made without holding another IEP meeting, unless you agree to a change being made without a meeting.[4] However, if there is no change in the overall amount, projected start date, frequency, location and duration, some adjustments in scheduling the services can be made without holding another IEP meeting (based on the professional judgment of the service provider). The district should notify the parents/guardians/other education rights holders whenever this occurs.