How do the special education professionals in a school system interact with external social service organizations? This is a question that has become increasingly important as the demands on educational institutions have grown considerably over the past couple of decades and, in many cases, they do not have the financial or human resources required.
             I talked with the administration and special education professionals in a K-5 school to determine if they were using external services and, if so, which ones and why. Because special education covers so many areas, we decided to narrow it down to speech and language support. The school has 600 students total in all the grades.
             Two full-time and three part-time Speech/Language Therapists (shared between the three elementary schools) evaluate students, consult with parents and teachers, develop materials to enhance abilities and provide necessary services to those students who are identified as being disadvantaged in speech/language capability. Each of the full-time therapists has a Master's Degree in their field and the part-time staff has at least a Bachelor's Degree plus experience in communication disorders.
             In some cases, the students work one-on-one with the specialists. In other cases, the therapists review the classroom curricula and make enhancements that can help students during their regular classes. Also, sometimes the therapist and teacher will work closely together. When the child is first evaluated and at regular intervals, the specialists also meet with parents.
             In addition, the school collaborates with a team of outside services that meet as a group every two months and are called on by the Speech/Language professionals on as an-needed basis. These include:
             Psychological Services: To provide a holistic and comprehensive approach toward evaluation and program development, the psychologist provides evaluations for currently enrolled students where con...