Perkins School for the Blind Admissions and Evaluations Department Chris

Admissions and Evaluations Christopher Underwood, Director Kate Dietz, Administrative Assistant Justine C. Rines, Evaluations Coordinator Martha Simon, Community Liaison

What does the Admissions and Evaluations department do? Works with families, school districts and Perkins on-campus educational programs to coordinate the student admission process Coordinates Perkins outside evaluation service Promotes Perkins Educational Programs to the community at large Responds to phone calls, emails, and other inquiries about Perkins Educational Programs

What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? An inquiry is received and an application packet is sent Evaluation required paperwork includes: IEP Eye reports (ophthalmological, low vision, etc.) Audiological report if student has a hearing impairment TVI reports (LMA, FVA, annual reports, etc.) Previous evaluation reports (psychological, Sp&L, OT, PT, O&M, etc.) Behavioral reports Progress reports Completed Perkins Evaluation Information Form with specific evaluation questions and concerns Admissions required paperwork includes all of the above plus: Perkins Annual Health Update (pink form) Perkins Student Health History (green form) Other relevant medical reports such as neurology, orthopedic, swallow study, etc.

What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued) The evaluations/admission office receives the student referral information and passes the file on to the evaluation/admission team in the appropriate educational program. Each educational program has a team that includes: education director social worker school psychologist teacher at least one representative from each related service area Teams meet monthly to discuss student referrals and determine if potentially Perkins is an appropriate placement option or if we can conduct an appropriate evaluation If moving forward, an on-campus visit is scheduled

What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued) During an Admission Visit: Student is accompanied by family and sometimes school district personnel to tour and learn about Perkins Student meets with admission team members and participates in various school activities Parents participate in interviews with social worker and program nurse Student and other guests have lunch in a cottage and view the residential space, if relevant Sometimes parents and school district personnel will come for a school tour before they begin the referral process to see if they are interested in applying for admission. These visits are also scheduled through the admission/evaluation office

What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued) During an Evaluation: Student works throughout one or two days in various evaluation and testing activities Parents participate in at least one interview to gather more information for the evaluation Evaluation areas can include: psychological, educational, speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, orientation and mobility, and a few other areas Student has lunch in a cottage with parents and often an SLP and/or an OT join them so they can gather more functional evaluation information

What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued) Post-admission/evaluation meeting: For admission referrals, team determines whether or not Perkins can accept the student For evaluations, team exchanges information regarding evaluation results, impressions and recommendations If student is accepted: Parents and school district receive notification Start date is established Funding is secured Parents complete registration packet If student was evaluated: Each evaluator writes a report and submits it to our office Reports are mailed to parents and the school district (8 weeks) Families and schools may contact us with follow-up questions

What are some interesting admission facts? 99.9% of students who come to school here are sponsored by their school district. Perkins will consider a student for placement without a school referral (many private, special education schools will not). There are several complicated reasons why Perkins may not be the first choice for school districts: According to IDEA, it is preferred that students with disabilities go to school and have classes with other children who do not have disabilities (e.g., “Least Restrictive Environment”) School districts want to educate all children in their district and take pride in successfully doing so Perkins is expensive Transportation is expensive

What are some reasons Perkins wouldn’t accept a student? Student doesn’t have a visual impairment or deafblindness or deafness with additional disabilities Student needs services, programming and/or professional expertise that is not available at Perkins Severe health complications Severe behavioral complications Lack of peer group for student Family and/or school district wants an educational approach that doesn’t match with Perkins (i.e., facilitated communication, discrete ABA trials, etc.)

What are some interesting evaluation facts? Perkins provides evaluations to students from all over the country This service does not include a Learning Media Assessment Evaluations are paid for by parents privately, by the student’s local school district, or sometimes by other agencies such as BESB in Connecticut This service falls under the “Independent Educational Evaluation” regulations as allowed in IDEA and also under Massachusetts state regulations

What are some interesting evaluation facts? (continued) The cost of a Perkins evaluation is set/regulated by the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy (i.e., yes, we accept state rates) Examples of cost: Psychological - $899.28 Educational - $262.91 Orientation and Mobility - $188.10 Speech and Language - $208.64 OT and PT - $156.48 each Each educational program can do about one outside evaluation a month There is sometimes a long wait for an evaluation

What are some reasons Perkins wouldn’t conduct an evaluation for a student? Student doesn’t have a visual impairment or deafblindness or deafness with additional disabilities Unable to answer the submitted evaluation questions and concerns Severe behavior concerns and team doesn’t think the student would be successful and/or cooperative in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar staff A large amount of recent testing was already completed and the evaluation team can not find additional appropriate evaluation methods to use and it is not appropriate to repeat the same testing so soon.

Questions?