Child Find
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The purpose of Child Find is to identify, locate, and evaluate children from birth to 21 years of age with known or suspected disabilities who reside in and/or attend school within district boundaries. Child find is a free referral service designed to determine whether a need for special education and related services exists.
Children learn at different rates but some children have significant difficulty in one or more areas of development.
Denton ISD is committed to identifying and evaluating all students in our district who are in need of special education and related services.
For more information, contact us at:
Phone: 940-369-4075
Email: specialeducation@dentonisd.org
Frequently Asked Questions
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How do I refer my child?
Parents of Pre-K-aged children (3-5) are encouraged to complete the CDC Child Development Checklist before requesting an assessment.
If your child is not enrolled in a Denton ISD school, please visit the Denton ISD Family Resources site. If you have questions, and your child is not in school, then please email specialeducation@dentonisd.org.To request a special education assessment, please fill out this referral form. <--- Click the link here.
If your child is already enrolled in a Denton ISD campus, talk to their teacher or your campus administrator.
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How old does a child need to be in order to be evaluated?
Students who may have a visual or auditory impairment can be referred at birth. For other suspected disabilities, any student between the ages of 3 and 21 can be referred.
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Who usually recognizes the possible disability?
Often it is a parent or family member, Pediatricians, preschool teachers, and family friends may also notice a possible disability.
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Who does the evaluation?
A multi-disciplinary team of professionals conducts the evaluation.This may include an educational diagnostician, a speech/language pathologist, and a licensed specialist in school psychology. The parent is part of the team as is a teacher if the student is in school.
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How long does the process take?
From the time the parent signs consent for evaluation, the team has 45 school days to evaluate and complete its report. Then, within the next 30 calendar days, the team will schedule a meeting to review the evaluation and make recommendations based on their findings.
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What disabilities are identified through the school district’s Child Find program?
A full, individual evaluation is done to identify the following areas of disability: speech impairment, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, traumatic brain injury, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disability, visual impairment, auditory impairment, deaf-blind, and multiple disabilities.
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What if my child is home schooled or in private school?
Denton ISD offers a free appropriate public education to all students who reside in Denton ISD boundaries. However, due to an Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) ruling in July of 2005, we cannot offer services to private school students who attend private schools outside district boundaries.
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Where do I go for more information?
The following links provide more information and resources for students with disabilities and their families:
Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process
