A Handbook for Supplementary Aids and Services: A Best Practice and IDEA Guide “to Enable Children with Disabilities to be Educated with Nondisabled Children to the Maximum Extent Appropriate.” eBook

A Handbook for Supplementary Aids and Services will be useful to regular and special education teachers, related service providers (e.g., speech and language, physical and occupational therapy, etc.), school personnel, psychologists, IEP team members, and parents in the development, implementation and review of individualized education programs (IEPs). Public law 105-17 (the IDEA amendments of 1997) has reemphasized the importance of participation in the regular classroom and in the general curriculum. In order to maximize the participation of children with disabilities with children who are not disabled, Supplementary Aids and Services are now a required element of a child’s IEP. Of the three services which must be specified in every child’s IEP (special education related services and Supplementary Aids and Services), Supplementary Aids and Services are the least defined. Nonetheless, Supplementary Aids and Services are the key to mainstreaming and inclusion and provide the basic test when determining “the maximum extent appropriate” a child with a disability can be educated with children who are not disabled. This book attempts to fulfill this need by providing guidance based on best practice, the law and current research concerning the meaning and implementation of Supplementary Aids and Services. The book is composed of ten chapters. The first three chapters deal with the need to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE), the various services required by IDEA, and the importance of regular classroom placements. Chapters Four, Five and Six detail the full range of Supplementary Aids and Services, the continuum of alternative placements that must be provided by schools, and methods for providing the least restrictive environment (LRE) requirement. Chapter Seven presents methods for including Supplementary Aids and Services in a child’s IEP and related matters concerning IEP documentation. Chapters Eight and Nine describe direct and indirect teaching services that will enable a child with a disability to participate in the regular classroom. Chapter Ten focuses on assistive technology services, devices and aids that can be used in conjunction with special education, related services and Supplementary Aids and Services to enable successful regular classroom participation.