Q: What is Child Find?
Each school district is required to put in processes and procedures to identify, locate and evaluate students suspected of having a disability who may need special education and related services.
Q: What is the purpose of Child Find?
- To promote public awareness of disabilities.
- To alert parents, professionals and the public to children who may have special needs.
- To assist school districts in finding children who may have disabilities and who otherwise may not have come to their attention.
- To enable children and families to receive the special education and related services that are needed.
Q: What is a disability?
Children ages birth to 3 years - a mental or physical impairment that may result in a developmental delay. For additional information, refer to the Help Me Grow website.
Children ages 3 to 5 years - Students who have documented needs in one or more of the following areas: adaptive behavior, cognition, communication, hearing, vision, sensory/motor functioning, social-emotional functioning, and/or behavioral functioning.
Children ages 5 to 21 years - Students who have documented needs in one or more of the following areas:
Autism, Cognitive Disability, Deaf-blindness, Deafness, Emotional Disturbance, Hearing Impairment, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, or Visual Impairment.
Q: What do you do (as a parent/guardian) if you suspect your child(ren) has a disability?
If you suspect your child has a disability, contact your student’s building principal in writing with your concerns. The school team will contact you to discuss the next steps in the process.
Q: What do you do (as someone other than the parent/guardian) if you suspect a child(ren) has a disability?
If you suspect a child other than your own has a disability, please contact the district Special Education Department at 614-797-5900.The school team will contact the parents of the child to discuss the next steps in the process.