Parents can contact the PET office directly. In addition physicians, community agencies, preschools, childcare programs who suspect that a child may have a disability can advise the parent to contact the PET office.

The Parent or Guardian will be asked to complete a developmental history about the child, and to share any significant information. Some examples are: medical conditions; birth history; language delay and/or speech intelligibility.

The PET team holds screenings weekly by appointment at the PET office. Screenings are completed in order to obtain a general sample of the child’s skills and to identify who may need a more comprehensive evaluation. A screening consists of functional hearing and vision evaluation as well as a brief pre-school and developmental skills assessment, and a speech and language assessment. If the child passes all of the screening activities, no further steps need to be taken at this time. If the child does not pass all of the screenings, the parent or guardian meets with the PET team after the screening. Results are discussed and the parent is advised and given a copy of their procedural safeguards and written consent for the evaluation may be obtained.

A comprehensive evaluation is administered in order to determine if the child has a developmental delay or a disability which would need assistance from the Exceptional Student Education program. The following may be included in the evaluation:

• Developmental
• Speech/Language
• Psycho-educational
• Audiological
• Medical
• Visual
• Behavioral

Results of the evaluation are included in a report written by the team and the parent is asked to attend a meeting at the PET office.

The eligibility determination meeting is where the results of the evaluation are shared with the parent and the parent is given a copy of the report. If the child did not meet criteria for Exceptional Education Services no further steps need to be taken at this time.

If the child met criteria for a program, the parent and other members of the school district may be present. For example, teacher, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, school psychologists, resource specialists, school administrators, etc. After results from the evaluation and information about services that can be offered, eligibility determination is made. If the parent gives written permission for placement in a program, an Individual Education Plan is designed for the child.