Understanding the Special Education Referral Process

Please note that this resource is relevant to Texas parents. Each state will have slightly different regulations, but all states must use the federal guidelines under IDEA for their procedures.

Your child needs help. Now what?

You have two paths to choose from:

Submit a Parent Request for testing

This is the route for you! Submitting a request for testing ensures a timely start to your child’s testing procedures. In Texas, schools have 15 days from receiving your request to submit it for testing and receive consent from you.

Request is submitted by the school MTSS committee

Every month (at least) the specialists and teachers at your child’s school come together to discuss students that are not meeting expectations. You are allowed to attend this meeting! If you feel your child is struggling, ask your child’s teacher when the next meeting is. During these meetings, your child’s academic and behavioral performance is discussed as well as possible interventions the school can provide to assist your child in overcoming their obstacles. Sometimes at these meetings, the committee has determined that even with interventions, the child is not making the expected progress. At that time, they will decide if testing is the next step.

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Testing Has Been Initiated

Consent for Testing

After your child’s paperwork has been submitted for testing, you will need to come in to the school to sign paperwork saying that you are giving the school permission to test your child for a full evaluation. In this meeting with your school’s diagnostician, you will tell them what your concerns are and what you would like your child tested for. If you have ADHD concerns, please note that a doctor’s diagnosis must be on file with the school. This is a medical condition, not a academic disability. Your child’s school can also test for autism, although I strongly recommend going to your child’s doctor first if you suspect that.

Now, We Wait

After the signing, you have three days to change your mind. (Never fear, there is always an opportunity for you to say no.) Once you have signed for consent, the school has 45 school days to finish testing. During this time, if you have ADHD concerns or autism concerns, your child should receive a 504. This will give your child the accommodations they need to be successful while we wait for the testing to be completed. Your child should also be receiving interventions during this time to help with academic deficiencies. Once testing has completed, the assessment staff will contact you to review the results with you.

Testing is complete! Now what?

After the assessment staff has contacted you with the results, they have 30 calendar days to have an ARD meeting. This meeting is to discuss and determine what your child’s goals are for the upcoming year, what support they will receive, and what accommodations or modifications they are entitled to. You should definitely plan to attend this meeting. If you would like to bring an advocate with you, you must notify the school ahead of time. The more prepared you are for this meeting, the better. Below are some tips to help you prepare.

• Gather any school work that you find is relevant to bring to the meeting
• Bring all documents from the testing process
• Make a list of any new behaviors or concerns you’ve encountered since testing was started
• Bring any relevant medical records for your child
• Bring a list of any accommodations you have been using at home or at school that are working well, including assistive technology
• Bring any communication you’ve had with your child’s teacher

The ARD Meeting

At the ARD meeting, you can most likely expect many people to be in attendance. There should be the assessment team, your child’s teachers, someone from administration, you, and anyone else that deals directly with your child. The facilitator will review the evaluation and ask each person to present their findings. This moves quickly. Please remember that you are in control here. If they something you don’t understand, or you haven’t heard before, please speak up and ask your questions. After the results have been discussed, the committee will decide what services your child will be provided. They will also review the goals your child will have for their IEP (Individualized Education Plan). You have the right to deny any services you do not wish for your child, or ask for additional services that you think might be necessary. When thinking about services, keep in mind that there must be data to support the need. If you want your child to have 15 minutes a day of math support but your child is doing well in math, they will not allow that. This meeting is your opportunity to ask any questions. You should never leave this meeting confused about what services your child will be receiving.

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