• Special education programs and services in California are governed by both federal law, as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and state law, as defined by the California Education Code (CEC).
  
  
• A student with a Speech or Language Impairment is defined as a pupil who has been "assessed as having a language or speech disorder which makes him or her eligible for special education and related services when he or she demonstrates difficulty understanding or using spoken language to such an extent that it adversely affects his or her educational performance and cannot be corrected without special education and related services" (CEC, Section 56333).
  
  
• Children 3 - 22 years of age who meet criteria for special education services may be eligible for Language and Speech (LAS) services. School-based speech-language pathologists share in the decision-making process with the IEP team to determine how to best meet the educational needs of individual students.

• Classroom-based collaborative services and consultation with school staff, designed to maximize the student's communication skills for improved participation in curriculum activities.
  
  
• Sessions are designed to build speech and language skills to support and enhance interactive communication skills through peer modeling. Service could take place either in the classroom or in a smaller setting outside of the classroom.
  
  
• Services and supports may be delivered in-person or virtually (telepractice). 

Articulation

• Play activities which include sound awareness and discrimination, using songs, stories and games that emphasize letter sounds
• Identify a "target sound of the week." Find objects that begin with the sound, make a sound book with pictures, and listen for the sound when reading stories

Language-Receptive, Expressive, Social/Pragmatic

• Talk to your student about everything you do together
• "Match plus one" - imitate the child's verbal expression and add one word to model expanded language at his/her appropriate learning level
• Incorporate role-playing, story-telling and play-acting into activities
• Encourage students to tell you what they want rather than anticipating their needs
• Gain students' attention and have child repeat directions to check for understanding
• Break instructions into smaller parts to assure comprehension
• Make connections to the child’s life for understanding of new vocabulary
• Use visuals to assist with story-telling and learning of daily routines
• Read books to your child and ask questions on their level

Fluency

• Minimize time pressures, interruptions, competition, and a barrage of questions
• Model acceptance for individual differences
• Accept and listen to the student's message

Voice

• Consult with the school nurse about possible medical concerns
• Provide opportunities for the student to speak in a normal tone of voice, minimizing situations where he or she will shout or scream

The Los Angeles Unified School District Speech and Language Program consists of a dedicated staff of over 600 qualified speech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology assistants. Our providers are state licensed and/or credentialed. Many are also certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Continuing education is supported by the District for our providers to maintain a keen awareness of the latest research, technology and best clinical practices.

District providers have training to support the wide variety of needs of the students we serve:

• Intensive Language Education After School Program (ILEAP)
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Bilingual Assessment
• Preschool Assessment

LAUSD offers a variety of sports opportunities for students with special needs. Students of all ages have an opportunity to participate in a progression of athletics from lead-up sports activities to competitive team sports. APE teachers coach their students to be able to safely and successfully participate in sports. Similar APE service delivery, the sports programs offered by LAUSD are tailored to meet the various needs of our students. 

In partnership with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC), LAUSD offers five physical education/sports programs that span from ages 3 to 22. The programs offered promote inclusion and support the development of sports skills that promote successful participation in competitive sports. The partnership, funded by Project Unify through SOSC, offers a positive foundation for activity between special education and general education students, family members, and adult volunteers.

• A bachelor’s degree in kinesiology or a related subject area
• A minimum of one teaching credential
• An added authorization in adapted physical education

Many of our teachers are multilingual, National Board Certified, and also coach high school, collegiate, and/or Special Olympics sports.  Our adapted physical educators’ service provision includes special education intervention in the areas of perceptual motor skills, locomotor skills, object control, physical fitness, and adaptive behaviors following a comprehensive standardized assessment by an APE teacher.

Occupational therapy primarily focuses on purposeful, goal directed activities that improve a student's functional performance during their school day. School-based occupational therapists:

• Assess students within their educational setting, using a comprehensive approach to evaluate and assess a student’s needs in their educational environment as well as "The Educational Framework for Child Success" to determine their needs
• Collaborate with team members, including students, parents, teachers, adapted physical education teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, orientation and mobility specialists, etc.
• Provide services in the delivery model of individual or small group treatment, consultation, monitoring or environmental adaptations
• Provide consultation to classroom teacher/staff/families and environmental modifications for students with disabilities to improve occupational performance within the educational environment

• Postural stability
• Self-help skills
• Fine motor skills
• Sensory processing
• Social and play abilities
• Visual motor and perception
• Task completion and organization

School-based occupational therapists use therapeutic activities that may improve a student's ability to function within the school environment in the areas of self-help, work and play. Occupational therapy intervention may include adaptation of tasks or the environment in order to enhance student performance.

The Educational Framework for Child Success (EFCS) emphasizes the importance of the child’s abilities within their curriculum in the context of the school environment, and the EFCS also highlights the importance of curriculum; evidenced based practice; team collaboration; and ongoing as well as future postsecondary child outcomes.

The Los Angeles Unified School District Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Program consists of a growing staff of over 200 state licensed occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. The occupational therapists and the occupational therapy assistants are state licensed and many of the therapists on staff also hold a Master's or Doctoral degree. The staff members come from diverse backgrounds and have experience in a variety of settings. Some therapists are actively involved in research, teach University level courses, and have published literature related to the fields of occupational therapy and physical therapy. Additionally, District therapists participate in ongoing continuing education training in a variety of clinical areas.

Physical therapy primarily focuses on purposeful, goal directed activities that improve a student's functional performance during their school day. School-based physical therapists:

• Assess students within their educational setting, using use a comprehensive approach to evaluate and assess a student’s needs in their educational environment as well as "The Educational Framework for Child Success" to determine their needs
• Collaborate with team members, including students, parents, teachers, adapted physical education teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, orientation and mobility specialists, etc.
• Provide services in the delivery model of individual or small group treatment, consultation, monitoring or environmental adaptations
• Provide treatment, consultation to classroom teacher/staff/families, and environmental modifications for students with disabilities to improve performance and access within the educational environment

• Postural control
• Balance
• Strength and stability
• Motor control and coordination
• Endurance
• Functional mobility and accessibility within the educational environment
• Gross motor skills

The Los Angeles Unified School District Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Program consists of a growing staff of over 40 state licensed physical therapists. Many of the therapists on staff also hold a Master's or Doctoral degree. The staff members come from diverse backgrounds and have experience in a variety of settings. Some therapists are actively involved in research, teach university level courses, and have published literature related to the field of physical therapy. Additionally, District therapists participate in ongoing continuing education training in a variety of clinical areas.

• The term assistive technology device refers to any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability.
  
  
• The term assistive technology service refers to any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. This includes: evaluation; providing for the acquisition of AT equipment; selecting, designing, maintaining, repairing, or replacing the equipment; coordinating and using other therapies, interventions or services with assistive technology devices; and training or technical assistance for the child, family and other professionals who work with the child.

Although consideration of assistive technology does not mandate assessment, assistive technology devices and services are most often deemed necessary and provided in LAUSD after an assessment has been conducted by the staff at the student’s local school site, staff from the District’s assistive technology team, or both groups in collaboration. The multi-disciplinary team of professionals who work in the field of assistive technology within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is comprised of highly qualified general and special education teachers with specialized training and experience in the field of assistive technology (AT assessors), occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, audiologists, deaf and hard of hearing teachers, and teachers of the visually impaired who work at the school site.

If assistive technology equipment is recommended, the local school site has primary responsibility to provide such equipment, with support from the assistive technology team as necessary, including short term equipment loans through the Assistive Technology Lending Library.

Our Assistive Technology Assessors are credentialled special education and general education teachers with specialized training and experience with assistive technology.  All Assessors hold a certificate in Assistive Technology and many have over 10 years of experience in the field. They are well versed in both general education core curriculum and the alternate curriculum, and keep up to date on the latest assistive technology trends, equipment and software.

As part of a multi-disciplinary assessment team, AT Assessors evaluate individual students to determine their functional level and need for assistive technology and/or specialized equipment and services. Assessors identify devices and applications appropriate to student’s assessed needs to facilitate access to their instructional program. They assist in selection, setup and maintenance of equipment, and provide training and consultation to students, school staff and parents regarding the use of that equipment.

Assistive Technology Assessors serve as a resource for school site and local district staff, conducting professional development for LAUSD staff focused on the integration of technology to address Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and provide student access to the curriculum. They also play an active role in maintaining the inventory of Assistive Technology resources available through the seven local LAUSD Assistive Technology Lending Libraries.

• Consider the use of no-tech or low-tech supports such as sentence isolators and overlays to assist your student with tracking text while reading
• Slant boards and pencil grips may assist students who struggle with the physical act of writing
• Sentence starters, graphic organizers and visual models may help your student with written composition
• Explore built-in device accessibility settings on computing devices for features such as text-to-speech and speech-to-text capability
• Utilize the digital accessibility features that are integrated into most district adopted curriculum, including text to speech, annotation, and supports for writing
• Contact the Assistive Technology Assessor assigned to your school with regards to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), or further information and assistance

• Assess students within their educational setting, using a comprehensive and dynamic approach to evaluate and assess a student’s needs in their educational environment
  
  
• Collaborate with team members, including students, parents, teachers, adapted physical education teachers, psychologists, speech therapists and behavior support providers
  
  
• Utilizing a multi-tiered system of support, assist schools, teachers and other stakeholders in identifying strategies to support ALL students in utilizing skills required to meaningfully engage in a variety of school based cooperative lessons and activities
  
  
• Provide services through a scope of service delivery models including: collaboration, individualized, small group, as well as, pushing into whole group setting to support skill generalization
  
  
• Provide consultation to classroom teacher/staff/families for students with disabilities to improve social functioning within the educational environment

School based RT is a support service to the student’s educational program. School based RT predominantly addresses supporting a student in the development and application of the underlying skills that are necessary to engage in inclusive cooperative learning and inclusive cooperative play (or social recreation) lessons and activities, across a variety of school environments.

School based Recreation Therapists use therapeutic activities that may improve a student’s ability to utilize social functioning skills with the school environment.