North Dakota IEP Related Services: What's Available, How to Request Them, and What Schools Must Provide

When parents focus on the IEP, they typically focus on the goals. But for many students, the related services listed in the IEP are just as important — sometimes more important — than the specially designed instruction itself. A child whose sensory processing challenges make it impossible to sit and attend during reading instruction may need occupational therapy before any literacy goal becomes achievable. A student who can't communicate effectively can't access their curriculum regardless of how well the goals are written. Related services are what make the rest of the IEP work.

In North Dakota, understanding which related services exist, what the eligibility criteria are, and how to formally request them gives you a clearer path to getting your child what they actually need.

What "Related Services" Means Under IDEA

Federal IDEA defines related services as "transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education." The critical word is "required" — not "helpful," not "nice to have," but required for the child to benefit from their educational program.

This creates both a floor and a standard. The district is not required to provide every service that might benefit your child; it is required to provide every service that is necessary for your child to access and benefit from their special education program. If a service is required and the district doesn't provide it, that's a denial of free appropriate public education.

North Dakota's rules implementing IDEA under NDCC Chapter 15.1-32 mirror the federal list, which includes:

• Speech-language pathology and audiology services
• Psychological services (evaluation, counseling, consultation with teachers)
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Recreation (therapeutic recreation and leisure education)
• Early identification and assessment of disabilities
• Counseling services (including rehabilitation counseling)
• Orientation and mobility services (for students with visual impairments)
• School health services (services a nurse or qualified layperson can provide)
• School social work services
• Parent counseling and training (to help parents understand their child's disabilities and participate in their child's education)
• Assistive technology services (evaluation, acquisition, use training)
• Transportation
• Interpreting services

This is not an exhaustive list — districts may provide additional services needed for educational access.

How Related Services Get Added to an IEP

Related services should be identified during the evaluation process and addressed in the initial IEP. Evaluators in suspected areas of need — speech, motor, behavioral, psychological — produce assessment reports that include recommendations. If the evaluation team recommends a related service, the IEP team must consider it.

But evaluations can miss areas, and needs change. You can request that a specific related service be added at any IEP meeting. The process:

1. Submit a written request before or at an IEP meeting asking the team to consider [specific service] as a related service.
2. The team discusses whether the student requires the service to benefit from special education.
3. If the team agrees, the service is added with specific frequency, duration, and provider qualifications documented.
4. If the team declines, they must provide Prior Written Notice explaining why.

If the team declines and you disagree, you can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) in the area of concern at public expense. The IEE results must be considered by the IEP team.

The Transportation Question

Transportation is a related service that confuses many parents. The district must provide transportation to and from school if the child's disability makes transportation necessary for them to access their educational program — or if the child attends a specialized placement that is not the neighborhood school.

If your child's IEP placement requires attending a school other than their neighborhood school, transportation is almost certainly a required related service. If your child has a physical or health impairment that prevents them from using standard bus transportation without accommodation, the IEP should address adapted transportation.

Special transportation accommodations (a specific pickup location, a smaller bus, a paraprofessional on the bus, a harness for a student who cannot maintain safe seating) should be written into the IEP if they're needed. Transportation-related accommodations are not optional extras — they're part of the IEP if they're required.

Parent Counseling and Training: The Often-Overlooked Service

Few parents realize that parent counseling and training is a federally listed related service. This includes helping parents understand their child's disability, how the disability affects development and learning, and what they can do at home to support educational goals. If you need structured training to effectively support your child's IEP goals at home — particularly for students with significant behavioral or communication needs — this is a service you can formally request.

In practice, most districts don't proactively offer parent counseling and training. You'll need to request it. The team determines whether it's required for the student to benefit from their educational program — a lower bar than it might seem if the home-school connection is critical to maintaining skill generalization.

When a Related Service Is Denied: What to Do

The most common scenario: you believe your child needs a specific related service, the IEP team disagrees, and you receive (or should receive) Prior Written Notice declining to provide it.

Your options, in order:

1. Request an IEE at public expense in the area the team evaluated or should have evaluated. The district either funds the IEE or initiates due process. If the IEE supports your position, bring it to the IEP team and request reconsideration.

2. File a state complaint with NDDPI if the district is failing to implement existing IEP services (not a dispute about what should be in the IEP — that requires the IEE or due process route).

3. Request mediation through NDDPI. A trained mediator helps you and the district reach agreement on service questions. Free, does not require an attorney, and any agreement reached is legally binding.

4. Request a due process hearing if other options are exhausted or the stakes are high enough to warrant a formal adjudicated proceeding. Requires an attorney or sophisticated self-representation.

North Dakota's Service Delivery Reality: Staffing Gaps

It's worth naming the practical reality: North Dakota has significant shortages in school-based speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and school psychologists. Multidistrict special education units often have one specialist serving a wide geographic area on an itinerant schedule. This creates real delivery challenges.

But staffing constraints are not a legal basis for service reduction. If the IEP team determines a student requires a service and the district cannot staff it through normal channels, the district must find another way — contracting, telehealth, hiring — rather than writing a reduced IEP to match available capacity. Understanding that distinction is fundamental to effective advocacy.

The North Dakota IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook includes templates for requesting related service evaluations, disputing related service denials, and tracking service delivery against IEP commitments. It also covers the specific scripts for IEP meetings when a district tries to use staffing shortages to limit the services they'll agree to provide.

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