Early Childhood Special Education
Jane L. Westerhold offers a continuum of special education services to meet the unique educational needs of the three to five year old students with disabilities.
Preschool children are found eligible to participate in district services through an identification and assessment process.
Child Find
What is Child Find?
Child Find is a continuous process of public awareness activities designed to identify,
locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who may be in need of early
intervention programs or special education as early as possible.
Child Find activities may include screening. Screening children provide parents and professionals with information on whether a child's development is similar to children of the same age. In Illinois, children from birth to 3 years of age may qualify for early intervention. Children ages 3 to 21 may qualify for special education provided by local school districts.
Birth-To-three
Certain children are identified at birth as having disabilities. The state has established an
Agency named Child and Family Connections, which assists families in securing itinerant
services (e.g. speech therapy, occupational therapy) for children identified at this age.
The District is responsible for transitioning children from 0-3 to the District 62 Early Childhood Programs. At the age of 2 1/2, Child and Family Connections notifies District 62 of a child in need of transition. The District has up to 6 months to complete any additional evaluations the team recommends and then meet with parents to discuss whether continuing intervention is needed.
A variety of options may be discussed with parents.
early childhood
District 62 offers a continuum of special education services to meet the unique educational needs of the three to five year old students with disabilities.
The range of available services is designed in compliance with the federal and state guidelines supporting the least restrictive environment in which services can be provided.
Least restrictive environment means providing services in settings similar to programs provided to typical preschool children. Preschool children are found eligible to participate in district services through a screening and evaluation process.
Please contact Angela Riggio, Student Services Coordinator, at 847-789-5933 with any questions.