Exceptional Children
Exceptional Children
The Exceptional Children’s Program currently serves more than 1,400 students in Lenoir County with one of the following areas of eligibility: Autism, Developmental Delayed, Serious Emotional Disability, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disability (Mild, Moderate, Severe), Specific Learning Disability, Other Health Impairment, Orthopedic Impaired, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, Visually Impaired, Deaf/Blind, deafness and multiple disability.
The placement in exceptional children is determined by state procedures, Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities. Each student when placed in Exceptional Children is placed by eligibility criteria defined in the Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities for each area of eligibility. The majority of the students are referred by SST teams to an EC Compliance Specialist at each school and the EC process begins. Additionally, some referrals are received from parents.
Exceptional Children’s Services for students are based on their Individualized Education Plans (IEP) that is developed annually by parents and school staff. The IEP addresses the services each individual student needs as well as accommodations and /or modifications required in the general education class and for state testing. All students with IEP’s are expected to progress in general curriculum and all students are included in state testing program. All exceptional students are up for reevaluation every three years. The IEP teams decide if testing is necessary based on the data and observations they have collected on the student.
All students are served in their least restricted environment based on their needs. Lenoir County Exceptional Children’s Services provide services in a variety of settings. The level of services ranges from inclusion to self-contained placement. LCPS also offers Day Treatment Services for the students who have severe behavioral challenges.
The Exceptional Children’s Services are provided by physical therapists, speech therapists, visually impaired teachers, hearing impaired teachers, certified exceptional children teachers and teacher assistants, occupational therapist, autism specialist, program compliance specialist and behavior support and psychological services.