What makes a need educational

While children may present with many needs, not all have an educational impact nor may they be such that the child is found to be eligible to receive special education services. Special education is instruction that is specially designed to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. This means education that is individually developed to address a specific child's needs that result from his or her disability. These needs must also have an educational impact. This means that the unique needs of the child, as determined by the ETR team, must adversely impact the ability of the child to have access to and/or make progress in the general curriculum.

Keep in mind that a child may have a documented disability but is not found to be eligible to receive specially designed supports and services. Also, a child may have needs that do not adversely impact the ability of the child to have access to and/or make progress in the general curriculum. Some examples might be that a child has a mild physical impairment that does not limit access to or progress in the general curriculum, or the child may have a medical condition and they self-medicate throughout the day.

These examples demonstrate that while a child may have needs, they are not considered educational needs. It is however important for the school to be aware of these needs but they may not warrant eligibility for special education services