Early Interventions Services:
What To Expect When Your Child Turns Three
If you have a child receiving early intervention services, it is important to know that the 3rd birthday is a time when there can be many changes to service delivery and funding sources.
• Initial Transition Meeting (RC and School):
This meeting is held at Regional Center (RC)when your child is around 2 years 9 months old. The Consumer Service Coordinator (CSC) contacts parent to schedule
a date and time for the meeting at the RC. A representative from your child’s school district will also be present to discuss educational services available.
• Children are typically not present for this meeting.
• This is an information gathering session and a time to ask questions (What services are available? What are the options for school placements?
Who do you call to schedule classroom observation visits?)
• It is also a time to sign paperwork consenting to various assessments.
Read all documents carefully.
Request copies of all assessments. Request business cards/phone number of the school district representative.
• Regional Center assessment will be scheduled during this meeting or by phone after the meeting.
Regional Center: Assessments and Services
• A Regional Center psychologist will conduct assessments to determine eligibility for continued services with Regional Center after your child turns three. There are 5 main categories of eligibility that will qualify children for these services (autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, epilepsy, and intellectual disability)
• If the psychologist determines your child is eligible under one of these categories, your child will remain a client of Regional Center and be eligible to receive RC services throughout his/her life. Services will change depending on the needs of the child and family.
• When your child turns three years old, Early Start Services funded through the Regional Center will end. If your child received a qualifying diagnosis and is eligible to continue services after the age of three, then he/she will transition into the school age department at RC. You will now have a new RC Coordinator.
If your child is not eligible under one of these categories all Regional Center services will end on your child’s third birthday.
• Once your child is in the school age program……..
• Parents are required to attend a 16-hour parent training.
• Services are to be determined at Individual Program Plan (IPP) meeting
• Behavior Intervention (Applied Behavioral Analysis-ABA)
• Adaptive Skills Training (CDI’s relationship-based program for children ages 3-8)
• RC will authorize an assessment to be conducted to determine the number of hours recommended for services.
School District: Assessments
• The school district will also schedule and conduct their own assessments in the areas that your child has been receiving services: ▪ PT, OT, Speech, Psychological (to determine eligibility)
• School Psychologist will request all prior reports.
• SSTI therapists (CDS, OT, SP) will prepare a Closing report at least 4-6 weeks prior to your child’s third birthday. These reports are sent to Regional Center by SSTI. Parents will need to give a copy of SSTI reports to the school psychologist to be used in their assessment process.
• There are several categories of eligibility for children to receive special education (speech delay, health impairment, learning disability, developmental delay, autism, etc.). The school does not give a medical diagnosis, but they do categorize children’s developmental needs into one of the district eligibilities.
If the district assessments do not find your child eligible for special education services, then a special education program will not be offered. Parents may pursue a private pre-school program if desired.
School District: Preschools
• If your child is eligible to receive special education services, they will begin at age 3 years old.(Students receiving special education services are eligible to remain in school until age 22).
• The district will first look at appropriate and available pre-school programs at the school closest to the child’s home. If there is not an appropriate program, the district will look to the next closest school (geographically) for open placements.
• Once a preschool placement has been determined by the school district, parents are able to observe the classroom/teacher prior to enrollment.
School District: IEP Meeting (Individualized Education Plan/Program)
• This meeting occurs just before your child’s 3rd birthday to determine school placement, goals and services that will now be provided by the school district. Speech and OT is usually offered as a school-based service. ▪ Whether your child needs a classroom aid is also determined. This person is called a BII (Behavior Intervention Implementation).
• This meeting typically lasts between 2-3 hours. All reports and assessments are reviewed by the school district’s team of assessors. IEPs can be overwhelming, it is recommended that parents do not sign the IEP at the meeting, but rather take home a copy to look over and review with their lead therapist.
• Once a parent agrees with the IEP, it must be signed, and your child can be enrolled in preschool and begin to receive the awarded services.
• A new IEP will be conducted yearly to re-evaluate goals and services.
• When your child is about to turn 5 years old the school psychologist will reassess your child to determine placement for Kindergarten.
It is an option to continue therapy services with Speech Source after your child turns three by using your health insurance or paying privately. We accept Kaiser, Anthem, Facey and Blue Cross
For more information, please contact our Patient Care Coordinator at 818-788-4121
or email at patientcare@speechsourceinc.com