The Content Mastery Program is designed to assist students to achieve maximum potential in mainstream courses. The underlying principle is that students with mild to moderate disabilities can succeed in the mainstream with appropriate accommodations and support. The CM model is a problem- solving model, constantly analyzing student performance in the mainstream. The Content Mastery teacher works with the regular education teacher to match the demands of the class with the skills of the student. It is more than “a little extra help”. The content mastery teacher obtains lesson plans and materials ahead of time to plan a quality support system for both the regular education teacher and the student so than pre-teaching, re-teaching and guided practice can occur using a variety of stategies and learning modalities.

Services include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Taped textbooks
- Highlighted materials
- Reading tests orally
- Test adaptation
- Individual and group assistance on worksheets, research, projects
- Study groups
- Teacher consultations regarding individual student stengths and weaknesses
- Supplementary materials
- Modified materials
- Study skills development
- Aiding in student organization
- Vocabulary development strategies
- Test taking skills instruction

The student may leave the classroom to go to the Content Mastery Center when independent work is being done. The student should not use the CMC center during direct instruction, class discussion, group work, lab work, or film. Time spent in CMC can vary from ten minutes to an entire class period depending on what the student needs to accomplish.

This program is for our most cognitively impaired students or autistic students who have a documented degree of regression over school breaks such as Christmas and Spring Break.

ESY is a program that allows a student to continue practicing skills already learned during the school year. The focus is not on advancement, but rather the prevention of regression.

Homebound services are accessed through the campus 504 coordinator for general education students or the ARD committee for special education students. Homebound services require an evaluation. A Homebound Needs Assessment Form must be completed by a licensed physician. This form is available at the student’s campus. The Homebound program is a very restrictive program. Students on homebound services do not have access to the full extent of general education curriculum and instruction or general education peers. For this reason, the respective committee will consider homebound services only when other alternatives, such as a modified school day or alternative school schedules are inappropriate. The physician’s statement alone does not assure eligibility for homebound services. The 504 or ARD committee will consider homebound services for the shortest duration possible.

Purpose
Through the provision of these services, students will have increased opportunity for generalizing skills learned in the academic environment to the home/community setting and to acquire new skills specific to those settings. In addition, parents will have the opportunity to more fully participate in their child’s education by acquiring teaching and management skills. Our goal is to help students with disabilities develop specific skills or behaviors that will facilitate increased independent functioning across a variety of environments.

In Home Training:
The focus of in-home training is to assist the student to generalize skills from school to home and other environments. The focus of In-Home training is the student. Utilizing in-home trainers, targeted skills/behaviors mastered in the educational setting will be generalized to the home and/or community settings. Initially, the home trainer will be primarily responsible for implementation of the generalization activities.

As generalization occurs, training should shift from the trainer to the parent (via parent training) to facilitate long-term maintenance of the target skills/behaviors. In addition to the generalization aspect, this service may also be considered appropriate for teaching priority skills/behaviors in the home setting that otherwise would be difficult or less appropriate to address in the educational setting.

Parent Training:
This training component is designed to “train parents as trainers” for their children. Through participation in a variety of training activities, parents can acquire teaching and management skills to assist their child in the development and mastery of specific skills and behaviors. Parent Training services can be provided in both group and individual training formats and should incorporate a variety of training strategies based upon individual needs.

Examples of some commonly used accommodations are:
- taped books
- math charts
- additional time
- oral test
- oral reports
- preferred seating
- study carrel
- amplified system
- braille writer
- adapted keyboard
- specialized software

Accommodations are determined specifically to fit the student’s learning style and assist the student in overcoming his/her learning differences.

Occupational Therapy Staff
Cassie Klingelhefer Garrett, OTR
Lisa Maddox, COTA
Kay Oldham, COTA

What is school-based occupational therapy?
The school-based occupational therapist role is to help your child function to his or her fullest potential in the school setting. Therapy can be completed directly by an occupational therapist (OT) or certified occupational therapist assistant (COTA) in various settings in the school environment individually or in a small group. Your child’s therapist will also observe him and consult with his teacher or aide. This is important since the goal of therapy is to help your child benefit from his educational program. The therapist is able to educate and make recommendations to the teachers and aides on strategies and ways to meet your child’s goals and modifications to his or her environment on a consistent daily basis.

What does therapy involve in a school setting?
Various activities and strategies are used to help your child meet educational goals and improve classroom performance. Therapy can be done in various settings throughout the school including classroom, recess, PE, cafeteria, art class, etc. depending on your child’s specific needs. Occupational therapy can be provided as a direct and/or consultative service by the therapist. Therapy involves a collaborative team including therapists, teachers, aides, and parents to carry out activities and strategies on a consistent basis to ensure the best possible outcome for your child’s educational success.

The following areas may be addressed depending on your child’s specific needs:
- Fine and gross motor skills
- Visual motor and perceptual skills
- Sensory motor/processing skills
- Daily living/social skills
- Environmental Adaptations/Modifications/Assistive technology

How does a student qualify for school-based occupational therapy?
School-based occupational therapy is considered a related service to special education under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This means your child must qualify for special education services in order to be considered for occupational therapy services. Eligibility for the special education program does not mean that your child will automatically qualify for occupational therapy services. School-based occupational therapy services are provided only if needed to help a student learn from his educational program and enhance IEPs.

If your child is referred to occupational therapy, a screening or evaluation will be completed by a school occupational therapist first to see if he or she qualifies for services. If your child qualifies for occupational therapy services, goals will be established to support his or her IEPs set through the ARD team. A plan will be set and implemented to work toward success of the goals for that year.

Why a student would only qualify for clinical outpatient therapy
Another important fact to realize is your child may qualify for clinical outpatient therapy, but not educational occupational therapy. This type of occupational therapy has different guidelines for qualifying your child for services. Also, your child does not automatically qualify for school-based occupational therapy services with a physician prescription. In other words, your child may not qualify for school-based occupational therapy because it is not necessary for him or her to benefit educationally, but may qualify for outpatient occupational therapy to address his or her specific areas of concern medically.

Helpful resources
Handwriting Tips
Fine Motor Activities

Comal ISD participates in a network comprised of CISD, New Braunfels ISD, Seguin ISD, and Schertz-Cibolo ISD. This group of educators takes turns planning and hosting educational opportunities for our families. Topics relate to the education and day to day care of the special needs child. These parent meetings are scheduled every other month and take place at campuses within the network.

What is school-based physical therapy?
School-based physical therapists work with other professionals to assist children with disabilities to access their education. This includes activities of a school day, like: moving throughout school grounds, sitting, standing in line or at the board, moving in class or through the building. All children, who qualify for clinical (or out patient) physical therapy, may not qualify for school-based services. The school therapist’s focus is not on correcting the student’s disability, but enabling the student to participate in school within the limits of the disability. The focus of therapy intervention is not medical.

What does therapy involve in a school setting?
Interventions may include adaptations to school environments, working with a student on motor skills, assistance with identifying and getting special equipment, and collaboration with school staff and other professionals.

Specific areas that are often addressed include:
- Wheelchair mobility
- Gait training
- Gross motor skills
- Safety awareness
- Transfer training
- Postural stability
- Positioning
- Balance
- Strength and endurance
- Coordination
- Equipment assessment and adjusting
- Environmental modification

How does a student qualify for school-based physical therapy?
School-based physical therapy is considered a related service to special education under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This means your child must qualify for special education in order to be considered for physical therapy services. Exceptions to this rule are children who qualify under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. If the student is unable to perform functional skills appropriate to access and benefit from his/her education due to physical limitations such as poor balance, decreased muscle strength, tone imbalance, limited or painful joint motions, impaired sensation, deficits in sensory awareness and processing, poor coordination or decreased postural stability and shows potential for progress, then the student becomes eligible for physical therapy services. If the student can meet his/her established IEP without therapy intervention, then therapy is not warranted.

A child’s eligibility for services is determined by a multidisciplinary team that includes parents, educators, program facilitators, the student and other special service providers. The team gathers information about a child’s functional abilities and physical development relevant to their education. This information comes from a variety of sources including parents or caregivers, direct observation, medical and teacher reports, assessment tools, and information or input from community agencies. Recommendations for education based services, including physical therapy, are made based upon a thorough review of available information. Findings are shared with team which uses the information and recommendations to develop an individual education plan or IEP. If a child qualifies for related services in order to benefit from their special education, they are provided at no cost to families.

Who provides physical therapy services in the schools?
Physical therapy is provided by a qualified physical therapist (PT) or physical therapist assistant (PTA) licensed in the state of Texas. All screens, evaluations, and consultations are performed by physical therapists licensed by the state of Texas.

Who Qualifies?
Students who are functioning multiple grade levels below their EGL in the areas of reading and/or math.

What does the program look like?
Students will remain in their EGL classroom for direct teach instruction. Students will then leave to attend a class taught by a SE teacher who will teach specific IEP goals based on identified deficits in reading and/or math TEKS. This program is designed to be a supplemental service to students and not supplant GE instruction/TEKS.

How does this compare to inclusion?
The RAMP Program is designed to provide a full continuum of services for students. Students taking TAKS or TAKS (Accommodated) need less support than their more disabled peers and therefore can benefit from an inclusion teacher monitoring their progress and working with the GE teacher to accommodate for the student’s needs. RAMP students need a modified curriculum and therefore require being pulled into a more restrictive setting where specific IEP goals can be taught.

Child Find
Twice Annually activities are conducted by CISD to locate, identify, and screen all students who are suspected of having disabilities under IDEA, so that a free appropriate public education (FAPE)can be made available to all eligible children.

Access by Students and Provisions of Procedural Safeguards
Parents/guardians will be supplied with a copy of Parent Rights. Parent/guardian shall receive a written notice of their rights, including the right to a due process hearing for any dispute related to child find or assessment. Assessment to Determine Eligibility Evaluations must be conducted within 60 days of a signed parental consent to conduct the evaluation. Evaluation materials must be selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis. A reevaluation must be conducted at least once every three years with parents/guardians informed consent.

Offer of FAPE if Attending a Public School
If a determination is made that the child needs special educational and related services, an offer of FAPE is made. If the parents/guardian elects to place the child in a public school, an IEP will be developed. If it is clear that the child will remain in their current placement, an Individual Service Plan (ISP) will be developed, based on a Consultative Model for services. The term “service plan” has been adopted for use with parentally placed children in private schools, in lieu of “IEP.” Each private school child with a disability who has been designated to receive services “must have a services plan that describes the special education and related services that the LEA will provide to the child.” Parents will receive written annual notice of Comal ISD’s desire to provide special education serives. This written annual notice includes: • Willingness to provide FAPE upon enrollment at a public school • Procedural Safeguards • Continuation of ISP with contact information Provide a new ISP only when and if services are changed. Comal ISD will use a proportionate amount of federal funds to provide consultation services to private/home school students. The amount will be calculated by the following formula: (Federal funds) (Number of private IDEA students) (Total Number of IDEA students in District)

Child Find and Referral
Comal ISD complies with federal guidelines to identify, locate and evaluate children with disabilities within their district. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(3)(A)(child find obligations). If, however, parents choose to homeschool their children, rather than enroll them in a public school, federal law does not require that the school districts provide special education services to those children. Parents wishing to refer their home-schooled child for evaluation must do so in writing. Comal ISD will determine if an assessment is appropriate and contact the parents.

Referral Documentation & Assessment Coordination
Comal ISD office staff will maintain a logbook to document all written referrals and contacts. If an assessment is deemed appropriate, District Special Education staff will coordinate scheduling of the testing of the home-schooled student with district assessment staff.

Assessment of Home-Schooled Students
Test Administration: Qualified District personnel (Psychologists, Speech Therapists, RSP Teachers, Nurse etc.) may conduct cognitive, academic, speech, health and other appropriate assessments as needed. Testing Location: Testing of home-schooled children will in most cases be conducted at the K-12 school site of attendance. Parent Notification: Written notice regarding assessment details will be provided to the parents of the home-schooled student by the District Special Education staff. This notice will require the parent to provide written permission for student assessment by signing Consent for Evaluation Form. Evaluations will be conducted within 60 calendar days, as per federal guidelines, and a meeting to review the assessment within the following 30 calendar days. If a determination is made that the child needs special educational and related services, an offer of FAPE is made. If the parents/guardian elects to place the child in a public school, an IEP will be developed. If it is clear that the child will remain in their current placement, an Individual Service Plan (ISP) will be developed, based on a Consultative Model for services.

Orientation and Mobility services are available for those qualifying students with a visual impairment, who require safe and independent travel training, including the use of low vision aids and the long cane.

MHMR 830.620.6221
DARS 830.608.8750
CRCG 512.424.6963
ARC of San Antonio 210.490.4300
River Gardens 830.629.4400
Catholic Charities Guardianship/ and money management 210.293.1009
My Friends Haus - Adult Day Program 830.626.8611
Unicorn Center - Sheltered Workshop 210.692.0342

Transition happens for all students with disabilities starting at age 16 or before. A student starts planning by recognizing who they are, who they want to become, and where they want to go.

Transition is based on the individual’s needs, taking into account the student’s strengths, preferences, and interests. Transition services are a coordinated set of activities for the student with a disability that focuses on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the student’s movement from school to where it is they want to go.