NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS AND LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT

Early Intervention programs seek to provide services to young children in their “natural environments”. In this way, children up to age 3 will have a better chance of “generalizing” skills they’ve learned into use in the real world. It is also important that any testing be done in a familiar environment in which the child is comfortable in order to get the most accurate results.

Preschool children have the right to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This means that first consideration must be given to the school the child would have attended if s/he didn’t have a disability. According to IDEA, alternate placement only occurs if appropriate supports and services are unsuccessful. Inclusion isn’t “dumping” a child into the general education environment to “sink or swim.” Inclusion is actually mutually ally beneficial to children both with and without disabilities, as both improve academically due to the use of differentiated instructional techniques (different ways of teaching).

PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS FOR FAMILIES

Both Early Intervention and the educational system have safeguards in place for families. It is important to remember that parents are part of the team that develops the IFSP or IEP. However, if there is a disagreement, there are steps families can take:

For both EI and the school system, safeguards include:

"The IDEA covers both Early Intervention EI (Part C) and special education (Part B). But some parents describe Early Intervention (EI) as a 'warm, fuzzy' environment as opposed to the more bureaucratic school district system."

Parents need to be prepared to transition their children from Early Intervention services to the school district where the child will receive their special education and related services.•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lauren Agoratus, M.A. is the NJ Coordinator for Family Voices, NJ Regional Coordinator for the Family-toFamily Health Information Center, and Product Development Coordinator for RAISE (Resources for Advocacy, Independence, Self-Determination, and Employment). She also serves as NJ representative for the Caregiver Community Action Network as a volunteer. Nationally, Lauren has served on the Center for Dignity in Healthcare for People with Disabilities transplant committee (anti-discrimination), Center for Health Care Strategies Medicaid Workgroup on Family Engagement, Family Advisor for Children & Youth with Special Health Care Needs National Research Network,National Quality Forum-Pediatric Measures Steering Committee, and Population Health for Children with Medical Complexity Project-UCLA. She has written blogs and articles nationally, including publications in 2 academic journals (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=agora- tus+l). Lauren was recently named a Hero Advocate by Exceptional Parent Magazine (reader.medi- awiremobile.com/epmagazine/issues/207207/viewer?page=18

MOVING ON UP : TRANSITIONING FROM EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES

EARLY CHILDHOOD TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER

Early Intervention contacts in each state ectacenter.org/contact/ptccoord.asp

Child Outcomes ectacenter.org/eco/pages/childoutcomes.asp

Transition from Part C to Preschool ectacenter.org/topics/transition/transition.asp

Understanding Procedural Safeguards (Part C) ectacenter.org/~pdfs/topics/procsafe/UnderstandingProcSfgrds-table-2012.pdf

PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION CENTERS

Find your Parent Center parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center

Transition to Preschool parentcenterhub.org/transitionpreschool

Transition to Preschool and Other Programs (IDEA Part C regulations) parentcenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/repo_items/legacy/partc/handout9.pdf

SPAN PARENT ADVOCACY NETWORK

Transition to Preschool-video series spanadvocacy.org/video-webinar-archive/ei-infants-toddlers-birth-to-3