Special Education Supports & Services
For more than 50 years, the AIU has offered a variety of unique, child-focused special education services for students with special needs. Our caring staff of teachers and therapists foster students' success by tailoring services to meet each student's individualized needs. We serve students ages 3 to 21-years-old with a variety of multiple and complex needs who live in Allegheny County and surrounding Pittsburgh communities.
The Blind/Visually Impaired Support Program provides specially designed instruction to students whose visual impairment adversely affects their educational performance.
The Deaf-Blind Resource Team (DBRT) provides technical assistance to IEP (Individualized Education Program) teams to better support students who are deaf-blind. Through a collaborative model, the DBRT provides training, professional development, and resources for multidisciplinary teams so they may meet the unique needs of learners with deaf-blindness.
The Deaf/Hard of Hearing Support Program provides instruction to students with hearing loss. Educational audiologists are members of the school multidisciplinary team who facilitate listening, learning, and communication access via specialized assessments.
The AIU offers occupational and physical therapy services to school districts. The primary goal of the related service is to ensure that students are able to access their educational curriculum and environment. Therapists promote access by helping students attain optimal occupational and/or physical performance in their student roles. This is done through therapeutic intervention as well as collaboration with the IEP team.
Our speech pathologists instruct students in individual, small group, and classroom settings throughout Allegheny County, serving public schools, non-public schools, specialized settings, and our three AIU-operated special education schools.