Special Education
The Oswego Community Unit School District 308 Special Education Department strives to support students in the district, offering individualized programming and services. Students' diverse needs are carefully considered by the Special Education Department, ensuring each student is supported along their unique educational journey.
To read more on Special Education at SD 308, view the navigation on this page or click on each program below to read more:
View information and resources on the 504 program.
View information and helpful resources for Assistive technology.
View information and resources on the IEP program.
Information and Events for our Special Olympics teams.
View Information on the Work Based Learning program.
SPED PROGRAM DESCRIPTORS AND ATTRIBUTES (English) (Spanish)
Special Education Resources
Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) was passed by Congress to ensure all students with disabilities ages 3-21 would receive a free and appropriate public education to meet their individual and unique learning needs.
PUBLIC ACT 100-1112
HB5770 enrolled into a Public Act. This link contains the full Illinois General Assembly account of the public act per the ILGA.gov website.
PUNS
Our district provides guidance to families on PUNS and the registration process for PUNS. PUNS is a database of Illinois children, adolescents, and adults with developmental disabilities who want or need developmental disability services. The PUNS database helps the Division of Developmental Disabilities identify and plan for services. For more information visit https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=41131
Special Education Services
Related Services
The IEP must include special education and related services and other supports and services for the student to:
The IEP must include special education and related services and other supports and services for the student to:
- Advance toward annual goals;
- Progress in the general curriculum;
- Participate in extracurricular and nonacademic activities; and
- Be educated and participate with all children
Purpose of Related Services
- Related services in the school setting are provided only if needed to help a child learn from his educational program.
- To help the child function in the school setting so that he or she can benefit from the educational program.
Delivery of Realted Services
- IEP reflects the amount of service and frequency (per week, month, quarter)
- Services can be delivered in therapy classrooms or integrated within the student’s classroom environment.
- Services types vary
- Direct (works directly with a student on goals)
- Consult (provides consultation to the educational team for carryover in the educational environment.
Speech and Language Therapy
- Evaluate student’s communication skills
- Treatment consists of
- Expressive language (how they communicate)
- Receptive language (what they understand)
- Language delays typically impact academics, especially in the areas of Language Arts and Math.
- Articulation skills (how clear speech sounds are)
- Fluency (Stuttering)
- Oral Motor/Feeding skills
Occupational Therapy
- Evaluate student’s fine motor and sensory processing skills
- Visual motor (Forming letters, writing)
- Tasks to improve truck strength
- Tasks to improve tone for reaching/grasping objects
- Sensory processing skills will help develop motor sensory plans to assist students to maintain their attention and participate in the educational environment.
- Self-help skills
- Assist with access to assistive technology
Physical Therapy
- Evaluate gross motor skills, strength, tone, and balance
- Activities to improve strength/balance
- Mobility activities – improve the ability to independently move (roll, crawl, walk)
- Specialized equipment – seating, mobility (wheelchairs), modifications to environments
- Consultation on lifting and transferring
- Facilitate independence
Music Therapy
- Use of music intervention to accomplish individualized goals
- Utilizes music to reinforce communication (concepts), motor and sensory needs
- Utilizes music to reinforce academic/social skills, motivation and positive behavior supports
- Provides group services to targeted classrooms
- LSP, STARS, and Early Childhood
Adapted Physical Education
- Physical education that may be adapted or modified to address the individualized needs of students with gross motor delays.
- Adapts/modifies the PE curriculum and or instruction to meet the needs of the student
- Facilitates participation of students with disabilities with typically developing peers in age-appropriate activities
- Provides modifications to equipment
Social Work/Counseling Services
Social Work/Counseling Services are available to students with disabilities as a related service. The goal of social work/counseling services should be to constantly target approaches that have a preventive and developmental basis. In creating a preventive atmosphere, Social workers/Counselors are skilled in helping children set goals, make decisions, understand accountability and responsibility, and express their needs.
Vision Itinerant Services
Vision itinerant services are available to children with visual impairments whose educational functioning is impacted as a result of a vision loss, blindness, or degenerative vision condition. The goal is to coordinate and facilitate each child’s educational plan in all areas impacted by low vision or blindness.
Hearing Itinerant Services
Hearing Itinerant services are provided by a teacher certified to teach the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; however, since these teachers often travel from school to school. These services support the mainstream curriculum or alternative academic curriculum.
Orthopedic/Health Impaired Itinerant
Orthopedic/Health Impaired itinerant services for children with physical disabilities and/or significant health is to facilitate participation in the school program and enhancement of student functioning across the environments of school, home, and community. The Orthopedic/Health itinerant teacher collaborates with a variety of personnel to ensure the student’s IEP is fully implemented.
Paraprofessional
Full and part-time paraprofessionals are used to assist students with disabilities. A paraprofessional may be necessary to provide the student with a free, appropriate public education (FAPE).
Board Certified Behavior Analysts
At select Special Education programs in SD308, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) work together with staff to provide behavioral supports for individual students and classrooms. They also collaborate with teams in developing functional behavior assessments, behavior intervention plans and data collection for Individual Education Programs.
In the event that BCBAs are requested to participate in behavioral assessments or direct intervention with individual students, parents are notified in advance.
Social Work/Counseling Services are available to students with disabilities as a related service. The goal of social work/counseling services should be to constantly target approaches that have a preventive and developmental basis. In creating a preventive atmosphere, Social workers/Counselors are skilled in helping children set goals, make decisions, understand accountability and responsibility, and express their needs.
Vision Itinerant Services
Vision itinerant services are available to children with visual impairments whose educational functioning is impacted as a result of a vision loss, blindness, or degenerative vision condition. The goal is to coordinate and facilitate each child’s educational plan in all areas impacted by low vision or blindness.
Hearing Itinerant Services
Hearing Itinerant services are provided by a teacher certified to teach the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; however, since these teachers often travel from school to school. These services support the mainstream curriculum or alternative academic curriculum.
Orthopedic/Health Impaired Itinerant
Orthopedic/Health Impaired itinerant services for children with physical disabilities and/or significant health is to facilitate participation in the school program and enhancement of student functioning across the environments of school, home, and community. The Orthopedic/Health itinerant teacher collaborates with a variety of personnel to ensure the student’s IEP is fully implemented.
Paraprofessional
Full and part-time paraprofessionals are used to assist students with disabilities. A paraprofessional may be necessary to provide the student with a free, appropriate public education (FAPE).
Board Certified Behavior Analysts
At select Special Education programs in SD308, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) work together with staff to provide behavioral supports for individual students and classrooms. They also collaborate with teams in developing functional behavior assessments, behavior intervention plans and data collection for Individual Education Programs.
In the event that BCBAs are requested to participate in behavioral assessments or direct intervention with individual students, parents are notified in advance.
