Information & Resources for Parents of Children with Disabilities

Being a parent of a child with disabilities may be initially daunting or overwhelming. It is critically important parents be educated on all aspects of their child’s diagnosis, evaluation and educational process to best support their child. The page will serve as a resource for parents and guardians of children with disabilities. All information has been gathered from special education resources including New York State Office of Special Education and a variety of other books, articles and professional reviews. The information is intended to better inform parents and be a source for pertinent links.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

An IEP is a written document for student’s with disabilities that is developed, revised and reviewed on an annual basis according to the special education law. The IEP is developed by certain team members including: special education teachers, general education teachers, school administrators, school psychologist, related service providers, teaching assistants and anyone else related to the child’s school experience. Below are the required components of a student’s IEP:

• Student / Family Demographic Information;
• Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP’s): These statements are written to convey how the student’s disability effects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum;
• Annual Goals (Both academic and functional);
• Related Services and Supplementary Aids;
• Program Modifications or Supports;
• The extent to which the child will participate with non-disabled students (academic, non-academic and extracurricular activities);
• Individual accommodations;
• Transition planning (depending on age);
• Date for beginning of services; and
• Frequency, location and duration of services / modifications.

Information about Referral to the Committee on Special Education

For more information about referring a child to the Committee on Special Education please refer to the website A Parent’s Guide to Special Education on the New York State Education Department’s and the Procedural Safeguards website at:

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/parentguide.htm

Procedural Safeguards (46-page PDF) can be viewed & downloaded from here.

Or contact Sarah Allen, Committee on Special Education Chairperson, at 518-523-2474 x.4011 or sallen@lpcsd.org.

Safety Net Options Available To Students With Disabilities

A 6-page PDF file to view and download.

Assistive Technology Mission Statement

The Lake Placid School District is committed to providing appropriate assistive technology to students with disabilities to facilitate access to the general education curriculum. The school district is also committed to training teachers, paraprofessionals and students on how to most effectively use assistive technology.

Equitable Access

The Lake Placid School District is committed to ensure that all the instructional materials used in the district’s schools are made available in a usable alternative format for students with disabilities in accordance with their individual educational needs and course selection at the same time as those materials are available to non-disabled students. In accordance with applicable law and regulations, any such alternative format procured by the district will meet the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard.