Programs and Services

Inclusive Practices
Special Education is a service, not a place. The Mt. Lebanon School District supports the implementation of inclusive practices and supplementary aids and services needed to access the general education curriculum. Based on agreement within an IEP team, these services are brought to the child, rather than sending the child out of the general education classroom to receive special education services. Students who need more intensive services are able to access the full spectrum of special education services provided by the District.

Emotional Support
The emotional support program is designed to meet the needs of students with social, emotional, and behavioral needs that have an adverse impact on their learning. Direct instruction in social skills is provided according to individual student need. Additionally, academic support and/or direct instruction are also able to provide as needed.

Learning Support
Learning support services are provided to students who demonstrate a disorder in understanding or in using language (spoken or written), listening, reading, writing, and/or mathematics. Accommodations and modifications may be provided in the general education classroom. Students who need more intensive services may receive academic support and/or direct instruction within the learning support program.

Life Skills Support

Elementary

The PaTTAN Autism Initiative, Applied Behavior Analysis Supports is a collaborative effort to expand provision of effective science-based interventions for children with disabilities in the PA Public Education system. Since its inception in the Mt. Lebanon School District, the ABA classroom at Washington Elementary has been a model site for fidelity and validity in implementing the theoretical constructs of verbal behavior instruction. Consultants from the PA Department of Education conduct on-site reviews of the programs analyzing the following areas: Classroom Organization, Consultation/Training Process, Parent/Family Engagement, Inclusive Practices, Instruction, and Social Skills Training. Currently, Mt. Lebanon has three ABA classrooms in the District – one at Howe Elementary and two at Washington Elementary.

Middle-High School

The Middle and High School Life Skills Support Programs provide specially designed instruction to students whose needs may consist of functional academics, social skills instruction, fostering independence, self-care, and exposure to community based instruction activities. Students who participate in the life skills program are also included in the general education curriculum, as agreed upon by each student’s IEP team.

Speech/Language Support
Students who demonstrate a need in the area(s) of articulation, fluency, language and pragmatic development, are able to receive school-based speech and language support. Students are scheduled for individual and/or small group sessions, according to age as well as the level of supports.

Related Services
A student who has gone through a special education evaluation and has been identified as a student with a disability who has demonstrated the need for specially designed instruction, may qualify for related service(s) as part of their special education program.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy focuses on the functional performance of the student in educationally relevant activities, such as self-help, sensory, fine motor and postural skills. Individual and/or small group therapy sessions as well as consultative services are provided according to student need.

Physical Therapy
Physical therapy focuses on the natural opportunities for students to develop motor competence, balance and coordination in routine educational activities.

Hearing Support Program and Services
Hearing Support Services are provided to students who qualify for hearing services due to impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. A child who meets criteria for deafness demonstrates a hearing impairment so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification. Hearing Support can also be provided as a related service.

Vision Support Program and Services
A visual impairment, including blindness, indicates the impairment, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

*Other related services such as psychological counseling, travel training, nursing services, and other supports will be considered by each IEP team to determine if additional supports are necessary for a student to receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).