The administration of the Special Education Department includes management of school-age programs, management of specialists through evaluation and leadership, and oversight of contracts for specialized services. It is the responsibility of this administration to stay current on Special Ed law and report and present to staff. The Special Education Department provides administrative support necessary to assist component districts in planning and coordinating their special education services. The staff is also involved in consultation with instructional staff and parents regarding IEP/IFSP development, interpretation of data, appropriate adaptive equipment, and inclusion strategies. They monitor and report progress as indicated on the IEP. Services include: 

• Program development
• Staff development
• File review and maintenance
• Regional census/record keeping
• Special education software management
• Medicaid billing for qualifying services (speech therapy and evaluation)
• Receiving and responding to requests for program services and evaluation data
• Assistive technology support
• State and federal reporting

The Special Education Department at Lake County ESD has five programs that provide special education services to the communities of Lake County. These programs are:

• Itinerant Special Education Teacher on Site as Needed
• Speech Language Services
• Psychological Assessment/Counseling
• Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Program
• Autism Evaluation/Consultation

• Itinerant Special Education Teacher
  The function of the Itinerant Special Education Teacher is to use research based instructional methods with children who have various disabilities, and act as a consultative resource to instruct staff in ways to help implement these methods within the school setting. This position provides direct services to IEP students in four of the five member school districts.
• Speech Language Services
  The Speech Language Program provides instruction to children who have speech and language disorders and hearing impairments. Services include identification, diagnostic evaluation, and intervention which are provided through direct instruction and consultation with teachers and parents. The program also provides hearing screenings and services to children with hearing impairments through consultation and direct instruction. The staff in this program serve young children through the EI/ECSE Program as well as all students in Lake County.
• Autism
  Lake County ESD provides autism consulting. This service assists classroom teachers in providing services to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, helping the student benefit from their educational environment and become as independent as possible in their school, home and community.
• School Psychological Assessment/Counseling
  The Psychological Assessment/Counseling Program provides evaluations, risk assessment, mental health assessments, behavior consultations and in-service trainings for school staff. The staffs are also members of school teams who make decisions about special education eligibility, providing these services to children from birth to 21 or graduation from high school.

Executive functions consist of several mental skills that help the brain organize and act on information. These skills enable people to plan, organize, remember things, prioritize, pay attention and get started on tasks. They also help people use information and experiences from the past to solve current problems.