Legal Authority

The provision of speech language services to students with disabilities has had a long history in the field of special education. Since the inception of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, SLPs have been hired by school districts, county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and educational service centers to work directly and indirectly (e.g., counseling and guidance to teachers and parents) with students with communication impairments (Huefner, 2000). For more than 30 years, SLPs have been not only granted the legal authority but also mandated to offer a continuum of services (e.g., regular education setting, segregated setting, etc.) to students with speech language impairments. Research and literature in the field has pointed SLPs in the direction of integrated classroom-based services as an effective and legally defensible service delivery model for many students with communication impairments (ASHA, 2006b; ASHA, 2005; Bellini, Peters, Benner, & Hopf, 2007: Ellis, Schlaudecker, & Regimbal 1995; Throneburg, Calvert, Sturm, Paramboukas, & Paul 2000; Wilcox, Kouri, & Caswell, 1991).

In justifying the need for the implementation of integrated classroom-based services and flexible scheduling models for students with communication impairments, SLPs and administrators need to strongly consider federal mandates under The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004). IDEIA 2004 requires students with disabilities to be educated with their nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. The least restrictive environment mandate places a particular emphasis on the provision of special education and related services in the classroom and other natural educational settings (e.g., playground, cafeteria, physical education, etc.). Next, students identified under IDEIA 2004 should participate and make progress in the general education curriculum. Speech language services need to be designed to be educationally relevant in order to ensure progress is made despite impaired communication skills. Lastly, districts are required to provide a continuum of services to children with disabilities. This continuum includes direct and indirect services that range from pullout therapy in a separate setting to classroom-based services with nondisabled peers. It is important to note, that those districts that solely provide pullout speech language services as a district policy may be in violation of several of the aforementioned mandates of IDEIA 2004.

In Ohio, under the Operating standards for Ohios school serving children with disabilities, speech language services include the provision of speech and language service for the habilitation or prevention of communication impairments and counseling and guidance of parents, children and teachers regarding speech and language impairments. Under these standards, preschool and school-age service providers have the ability to offer indirect or direct services in one or any combination of instructional groupings, including large-group, small-group, individual instruction and/or parent training and consultation based on the students individual needs. Upon reviewing the Operating Standards, SLPs in Ohios schools have the authority to offer a continuum of services, to include pullout therapy, collaborative consultation and classroom-based services whenever appropriate.