Related Services

Overview 

A student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP), developed by the IEP Team, may include related services. Virginia regulations define related services as:

"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 and includes speech-language pathology and audiology services; interpreting services; psychological services; physical and occupational therapy; recreation, including therapeutic recreation; early identification and assessment of disabilities in children; counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling; orientation and mobility services; and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Related services also include school health services and school nurse services; social work services in schools; and parent counseling and training. Related services do not include a medical device that is surgically implanted including cochlear implants, the optimization of device functioning (e.g., mapping), maintenance of the device, or the replacement of that device. The list of related services is not exhaustive and may include other developmental, corrective, or supportive services (such as artistic and cultural programs, and art, music and dance therapy), if they are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. (§ 22.1-213 of the Code of Virginia; 34 CFR 300.34(a) and (b))

Nothing in this section:

1. limits the right of a child with a surgically implanted device (e.g., cochlear implant) to receive related services that are determined by the IEP team to be necessary for the child to receive FAPE;
2. limits the responsibility of a public agency to appropriately monitor and maintain medical devices that are needed to maintain the 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; or
3. prevents the routine checking of an external component of a surgically implanted device to make sure it is functioning properly.

Resources

• Evaluation and Eligibility For Special Education and Related Services: Guidance Document (Word)
• Speech-Language Resources
• Occupational Therapy & Physical Therapy Services
• School Psychology Services
• School Social Work Services
• School Counseling & Advisement
• Audiology: Guidelines For Working With Students Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing In Virginia Public Schools (Word)
• Medicaid and Schools – School divisions can submit reimbursement claims to Medicaid for some services provided to students.
• School Nurses
  • School Health Services – Health & Medical
  • The School Nurse Institute Partnership (SNIP): A Statewide Collaborative for Improving School Health Services in Virginia (PDF)
• Pupil Transportation services are provided to those students who need special assistance because of their disability or the location of the school relative to their home. Not all students with disabilities are eligible to receive specialized transportation services. Many are able to use the same transportation that students without disabilities use to get to school. However, for those who need special assistance, the school district must:
  • provide travel to and from school and between schools;
  • provide travel in and around school buildings; and
  • provide specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a child with disabilities.

• American Occupational Therapy Association
• American Physical Therapy Association
• Department of Health Professions Virginia
• Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia
• Virginia Academy of School Psychologists
• American Speech-Language Hearing Association
• Educational Audiology Association
• Virginia Association of School Nurses
• Virginia Association of Visiting Teachers/School Social Workers