School-Age Services
As a child transitions from early childhood services to a school-age program, a child’s school district of residence is responsible for the provision of special education services to children identified with a disability. A parent’s active participation in the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a child identified with a disability becomes of paramount importance. There are numerous resources and organizations, including state-level resources from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), Office for Exceptional Children (OEC), available to increase a parent’s knowledge and understanding of the identification of a child with a disability, the development of the IEP, and special education requirements.

“A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education”
Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities
Provides information regarding a free appropriate public education (FAPE), definitions, evaluations, identification, development of an IEP delivery of services, and discipline.
Special Education in Ohio
Provides Ohio Department of Education information on special education, requirements, programs, and resources, preschool through high school.
If you suspect your school-age child may have a vision and/or hearing loss
If you suspect your child may have a vision and/or hearing loss, the Decision Tree: Risk Factors and Behavior Suggesting Possible Vision and/or Hearing Concerns in Young and School-Age Children and the web-based Hearing Loss and Vision Impairment Assessments may help guide decision-making to determine the next steps for an individual child. Click here to access the Decision Tree; click here to access the web-based Hearing Loss and Vision Impairment Assessments. Both of these assessments provide information based upon the abilities of your child.
OCDBE Services for School-Age Children with Deafblindness
The Ohio Center for Deafblind Education provides services and supports to the parents and families of young children with a combined vision-hearing loss (deafblindness) who are registered on the Ohio Deafblind Census. Services provided by OCDBE include information on deafblindness, resources, consultation, webinars, scholarships for conference attendance, and consultation for families and service providers through the Deafblind Technical Assistant Program.

Additional OCDBE Resources and Information

Parents Guide for the Identification of Children with Deafblindness
The Parents and Families Guide for the Identification of Children with Deafblindness provides guidance for assisting in the identification of a child with a possible vision impairment, hearing loss, or combined vision-hearing loss (deafblindness) and how to register a child with deafblindness on the Ohio Deafblind Census.

Educators Guide for the Identification of Students with Deafblindness
The Educators Guide for the Identification of Students with Deafblindness brochure provides information on combined vision-hearing loss (deafblindness) based on the degree of each sensory loss, steps to take in school when a combined vision-hearing loss is suspected, services offered by the Ohio Center for Deafblind Education, and how to register a child on the Ohio Deafblind Census.
English

Literacy Guide: Building a Literacy Foundation for Children with Combined Hearing-Vision Loss
The Literacy Guide: Building a Literacy Foundation for Children with a Vision-Hearing Loss provides parents, families, educators, and service providers with information related to the development of literacy skills, factors to consider, and resources to support the development of a child’s language, communication and literacy abilities.
English

Postsecondary Transition Manual for Students Who are Deafblind
The Postsecondary Transition Manual for Students Who are Deafblind provides the steps to develop a Transition Plan required as part of a student’s IEP beginning at age 14.
English
This IS Communication! Modules
This IS Communication is an online learning series that focuses on communication intervention for students who do not have a consistent communication mode or who need to expand their current communication mode to engage socially, behaviorally, and academically and benefit from their educational experiences.
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