How To Refer Your Preschool Child for Special Education
An overview of the parent referral process
How does a child “get into” preschool special education? In other words, how might your child become eligible?
Typically, the process involves one of these three routes:
- Transitioning from early intervention into preschool special education
2. Referral through an early childhood program, or though professionals such as a primary care physician, pediatrician, or social worker
3. Parent referral
Here, I review the third route: how a parent might refer their child for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law under which most children qualify.
IDEA Part B covers special education for children ages 3 to graduation, or up to age 21 or 22 in some cases. Your preschool child’s rights (and your rights as their parent) are the same as for a child in kindergarten through 12 (or beyond).
The Parent Referral Route
Parent referral was the least frequent route to eligibility in my work as a preschool special education teacher for 17 years.
