The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires states to provide early intervention services to eligible infants and toddlers up until their third birthday.
Parents can request an evaluation from their state’s early intervention program. In Indiana, First Steps — a program under the auspices of the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services — provides early intervention services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities. The state provides a service coordinator who works with families through the evaluation process. If a child is identified as having a disability or developmental delay that qualifies them for early intervention services, a service coordinator works with their family to establish an Individualized Family Services Plan, which specifies what will be provided to the child.
Children age out of these services on their third birthday. At that point, it's the responsibility of their public school or charter school to provide a free, appropriate public education to students who are identified as having a disability and between the ages of 3 and 22.
But disabilities are not always identified before a child reaches the age of 3. IDEA also states that public education agencies have a duty under law to identify and evaluate all students between 3 and 22 years old who are suspected of having a disability that would make them eligible for special education services — regardless of the severity of that disability.
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Brandi said she knew her son Caiden had special needs when he was just a few months old. And by the time he was 2 years old, she said he had a ton of excess energy.
“He’s always been my bumper, mover and a shaker. That’s how I’ve always described him,” Brandi said.
Brandi said people told her that’s how little boys behave and that he was fine.
“But you know something's off. But you don't know what it is. And part of that is just because of a lack of knowledge and education and information that I had surrounding what would end up becoming autism,” she said.
During a back-to-school night for Caiden’s kindergarten class at his first school district in 2007, Brandi said most of the students huddled around their parents’ legs or held onto their hands. Caiden, she said, ran around the room.
“I remember sitting there thinking, oh my goodness, we’re going to have such a terrible time, like, this is going to be really bad,” Brandi said.
Gaelle was born and raised in Haiti and moved to the U.S. when she was 9 years old. She largely taught herself how to speak, read and write English by listening to music, watching TV and studying books.
When her daughter, Kymbrie, was born, Gaelle said she wanted to give her an educational foundation that she didn’t have. She hoped she would be advanced by the time she entered school. But when Kymbrie brought home assignments from day care, Gaelle said she noticed her daughter struggled to absorb information.
“So then we would go over the ABCs. And we will sing the songs. And then immediately after she would forget it,” Gaelle said.
Kymbrie also struggled in kindergarten and first grade at a central Indiana school district.
“We're still counting, we're still going through the ABCs. And she's still struggling with these. And this is the stuff that we were going over even before she started school … I was hoping that we were going to be ahead. So, now, not only are we not ahead, we're not even on target, let alone now we're behind,” Gaelle said.