Consultation and Direct Services for Students with A

Consultation and Direct Services for Students with a

Visual Impairment on the IEP

Consultation services for students, who are blind or visually impaired, including those with additional disabilities,shall now be identified as a Support or Related Service on page F in the IEP in all AEAs. Direct services should be recorded as Specially Designed Instruction or Support or Related Services on page F according to your AEA directives.

There are some students for whom Vision Consultation is listed on Page F in the IEP, but not as a support or related service. Below is an example where the service was identified as a supplementary aids and services instead of a Support or Related Service. The Support or related services should be marked “Y” for all vision related consultation services.

Adherence to this procedure is required in order for complete data to be available through the Information Management System (IMS) reports. The AEA Directors of Special Education have approved the use of this procedure for all vision related consultation services on the IEPs.

When Support and related services is not used for vision consultation then VI, VS or OM are not included as a Support Service code and this data is needed for accurate and complete reports. Data entry personnel are instructed to enter only specially designed instruction or support or related services into IMS, not supplementary aids and services.

SERVICE CODES

VI - Vision InstructionSpecially designed instruction provided by a teacher of the visually impaired

VS - Vision ServicesEvaluation and assessment of vision functioning, provided by a certified orientation and mobility specialist or teacher of children with vision impairments

OM - Orientation MobilityAssessment, instruction, collaboration, or evaluation provided by an orientation and mobility specialist

Additionally,Support and Related Services needs to include time and frequency. Designations such as “upon request” or “as needed “ are inadaquate to convey to the parent and other team members the extent of the service. Time and frequency shall be specified such as “30 min. month” or “60 min. quarter”. The service if needed should be sufficient in duration to make a difference. If the IEP team determines that time is not required then the service should not be specified on the IEP. An example follows.

In summary, if Vision Consultation is needed then it shall be listed as a Support or Related Service on Page F of the IEP, it will then be entered into IMS. Future use of Supplementary aids and services will necessitate an amendment by the service provider.

Consultation and Direct Services for Students with a Visual Impairment on IEP.docx