Rachael: If a school says they don’t have a speech therapist or an OT that comes out to the school can they insist services be accessed outside of school but during the school day- regardless of whether parents agree to transport with reimbursement or the school transports? Or must they provide these related services at the school site?
We have asked that the district allow our outside OT, PT and Speech therapists to come onto the campus and provide these services during the school day. We are being denied this request due to District Policy. Isn’t this discrimination?
We now have two full summers with OT and PT, and two full years of Speech being provided by private therapists. The experience is exponentially better than what the district can provide – they don’t provide PT, OT is “consultative”, and Speech is 3-4 students at a time. The private services are far superior to what the district has provided.
On the discrimination front – we asked if there has ever been a recruiter (sports, military, work, etc.) on any of the campuses. We even learned that a college had an office on one of the campuses for 2 years.
The dispute resolution processes that IDEA gives parents are options for you to consider. Your state parent training and information project can assist you. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center
I believe providing such services away from the campus is acceptable as long as it is a no cost to the parent. However the issue of what services/instruction will the child miss while away from school should be addressed.