These alternative placements include separate classes, specialized schools, and homebound instruction (not to be confused with homeschooling).
If the school officials have provided the maximum appropriate exposure to non-disabled students, they have fulfilled their obligation under IDEA.
In broad theory, the court does not allow the education of the student's non-disabled peers to be negatively affected, although applying this test fairly to all the facts and circumstances of a specific situation may be very difficult.
The final factor, cost of supplementary services, provides a safeguard for schools so that they do not exceed spending on one particular student.
[6] IDEA protects students whose disabilities fall within 13 categories: Some of these labels are decided through a rigorous referral process through the school district and others are given based on diagnosis by a medical doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist.
IDEA states that an individual who fits these characteristics can receive special education services if a student is exhibiting signs of autism after their third birthday.
Characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, fall within three categories: social interaction, behavior, and communication.
[9] According to IDEA, deaf-blindness is defined as "concomitant [simultaneous] hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
They believe that the placement and resources provided for the student should be based on communication and that the IEP team making the decision should be fully educated on the issues related to sign language and the needs of the deaf population.
"[15] According to IDEA, an intellectual disability is defined as "significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently [at the same time] with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
"[18] According to IDEA, other health impairments are defined as "having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that— (a) is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis [a kidney disorder], rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and (b) adversely affects a child's educational performance.
"[19] According to IDEA, a specific learning disability (SLD) makes up the largest portion of students receiving services.
Some examples of creating the least restrictive environment for students with learning disabilities include providing an audio recording of instructions or passages, providing text with a larger font, reducing the word count per line of text, and having a designated reader to give the written directions aloud to the student.
[21] School speech-language pathologists (SLP) must work with school evaluation teams to identify students who meet certain criteria prior to beginning services.The range and severity of students that meet such criteria has greatly expanded in recent years.
In determining the least restrictive environment for a student with a speech or language impairment, it is important to consider the severity of their condition.
As mentioned previously, students with more severe impairments may still benefit more from individualized services outside of the general classroom.
Small group meetings with an SLP outside of the general classroom can also be beneficial for those with similar impairments or needs.
[22] According to IDEA, traumatic brain injuries are defined as "an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.