Related Services on Washington IEPs: Speech, OT, AT, and What to Do When They're Denied

Your child's IEP can specify academic goals, behavioral support, and placement — but the services that make those things possible are called "related services," and they are where parents most often encounter outright denial. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, and assistive technology are the most commonly requested and most commonly denied related services in Washington IEPs. Understanding what the law requires, and how to push back when the district says no, changes the dynamic entirely.

What Related Services Are and Why They Matter

Under IDEA and WAC 392-172A, related services are the developmental, corrective, and other supportive services required to help a student with a disability benefit from special education. The list is expansive — it includes speech-language pathology, audiology, psychological services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, recreation, counseling, social work, orientation and mobility, and more.

The critical legal test is whether the related service is required for the student to benefit from their special education. If your child cannot meaningfully access the general curriculum without speech therapy, speech therapy is required. The district does not get to offer it as optional enrichment or decline it because it is expensive or the caseloads are full.

Speech Therapy: The Most Common IEP-Related Dispute

Speech-language pathology services are among the most frequently requested and most frequently under-delivered services on Washington IEPs. The shortage of SLPs, particularly in rural areas and Eastern Washington, means that districts often propose fewer minutes than the data supports — or propose group services when individual therapy is clinically indicated.

When evaluating a proposed speech service, ask:

• Is the number of minutes proposed consistent with the evaluation findings? If the evaluation identifies significant expressive language delays, 15 minutes per week of group service is almost certainly insufficient.
• Is the service individual or group? Group speech services are less intensive and are appropriate only when a student can benefit from peer modeling. For students with significant pragmatic or articulation needs, individual therapy is usually required.
• What are the speech goals, and are they measurable? A goal that says "student will improve communication skills" is not measurable and is not legally adequate.

If you believe the proposed speech service is insufficient, request the evaluator's recommendations in writing and compare them to what the IEP proposes. If there is a gap, document it and ask the team to explain — in writing, via a Prior Written Notice — why it chose a lower service level than the evaluation recommends.

Occupational Therapy: When Fine Motor and Sensory Needs Are Dismissed

Occupational therapy is frequently contested because districts often argue that OT addresses "functional" needs that are not strictly educational. Washington courts and OSPI have consistently held that this framing is too narrow — if a student's fine motor deficits affect their ability to write, access materials, or participate in classroom activities, OT is an educationally relevant related service.

Watch for these patterns when OT is denied or minimized:

• The district argues that the student's OT needs are "medical" rather than educational, and therefore not an IEP responsibility
• OT services are proposed only as "consultation" to the classroom teacher rather than direct services to the student
• The district claims the student has "compensatory strategies" (like using a keyboard) that eliminate the need for OT, without evaluating whether those strategies are actually sufficient

If your child has a documented OT evaluation showing deficits that affect educational performance, the district cannot simply decline to offer OT services without issuing a Prior Written Notice explaining exactly why it believes those deficits do not require related services under the IEP.

Assistive Technology: What the IEP Team Is Required to Consider

Under WAC 392-172A, every IEP team is legally required to consider whether a student needs assistive technology (AT) devices and services as part of their IEP. "Consider" does not mean the team can briefly mention the topic and move on — it means the team must evaluate the student's AT needs and document the outcome of that consideration in the IEP.

Assistive technology spans a wide range: text-to-speech software, speech-to-text tools, AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) devices, adapted keyboards, word prediction software, and more. For students with significant reading or writing difficulties, communication disorders, or motor disabilities, AT may be the difference between being able to access the curriculum and being effectively excluded from it.

If the IEP does not address AT and your child has needs that could benefit from technology supports, request that the team conduct an AT evaluation. An AT evaluation looks at the student's tasks, environments, and tools to determine what supports would improve educational access. If the district declines to evaluate for AT, it must issue a Prior Written Notice explaining why.

How to Fight a Related Services Denial

When the district denies or reduces a related service, the procedure is the same regardless of which service is at issue:

Step 1: Demand a Prior Written Notice. Under WAC 392-172A-05010, the district must issue a PWN whenever it refuses to provide a service. The PWN must explain exactly why it is refusing, what data it relied on, and what other options it considered. Without a PWN, the refusal is procedurally invalid. Send a written request: "Please provide a Prior Written Notice pursuant to WAC 392-172A-05010 documenting the team's refusal to include [speech therapy / OT / AT services] in the IEP, the data relied upon, and the other options considered."

Step 2: Request an Independent Educational Evaluation. If you believe the district's evaluation underidentified your child's related service needs, you have the right to request an IEE at public expense under WAC 392-172A-05005. An independent SLP, OT, or AT specialist who disagrees with the district's findings creates a second data point the team must consider in the next IEP meeting.

Step 3: File an OSPI Community Complaint if the service is already listed in the IEP but not being delivered. If speech, OT, or AT is in the IEP and the district is not providing it, that is an implementation failure. OSPI can order corrective action including compensatory services for the time your child went without.

The Washington IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/washington/advocacy/ includes the Prior Written Notice demand letter and the IEE request letter with specific WAC citations — the documents that shift a related services dispute from a verbal disagreement into a documented legal record. Related services are not extras. They are how your child accesses everything else in the IEP.

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