NC 1500-2.31 Related Services

Plain English summary

This regulation defines 'related services' under NC special education law, encompassing transportation and supportive services required to help children with disabilities benefit from special education. It lists and defines 16 specific service categories including speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychological services, and transportation, while explicitly excluding surgically implanted medical devices from the definition. Protections are maintained ensuring children with surgically implanted devices still receive necessary related services as determined by the IEP Team to achieve FAPE.

Key requirements

• Related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education.
• Related services do not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, the optimization of device functioning (e.g. mapping), maintenance of the device, or the replacement of that device.
• Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) limits the rights of the child with a surgically implanted device to receive related services that are determined by the IEP Team to be necessary for the child to receive FAPE.
• Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) limits the responsibility of a public agency to appropriately monitor and maintain medical devices that are needed to maintain health and safety of the child, including breathing, nutrition, or operation of other bodily functions while the child is transported to and from school or is at school.
• Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) prevents the routine checking of an external component of a surgically implanted device to make sure it is functioning properly, as required by NC 1501-2.11.
• Occupational therapy means student centered continuum of services provided by a licensed occupational therapist or a licensed and supervised occupational therapy assistant.
• Physical therapy means a continuum of services provided by a licensed physical therapist or a licensed and supervised physical therapy assistant.
• School-based physical therapy is a related service and is provided only as required to assist a child to benefit from special education.
• School nurse services are services provided by a qualified school nurse. School health services are services that may be provided by either a qualified school nurse or other qualified person.
• Orientation and mobility services means services provided to children with blindness or visual impairment by qualified personnel to enable those students to attain systematic orientation to and safe movement within their environments in school, home, and community.
• Parent counseling and training means assisting parents in understanding the special needs of their child, providing parents with information about child development, and helping parents to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the implementation of their child's IEP or IFSP.
• Rehabilitation counseling services means services provided by qualified personnel in individual or group sessions that focus specifically on career development, employment preparation, achieving independence, and integration in the workplace and community of a student with a disability.
• Transportation includes travel to and from school and between schools, travel in and around school buildings, and specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a child with a disability.

Affected parties

• children with disabilities
• students with IEPs
• IEP Teams
• public agencies/school districts
• parents and families
• licensed occupational therapists
• licensed physical therapists
• school psychologists
• school nurses
• speech-language pathologists
• audiologists
• social workers
• rehabilitation counselors
• orientation and mobility specialists

Official source

https://www.dpi.nc.gov/documents/publications/catalog/ec144-policies-governing-services/open#page=17