My child struggles to learn in a group. The group could be 3 people or 30 and they are all the same. He thrives with individual attention and instruction. He is in an ASD classroom and is pulled out usually for gym, music, art. Is this something we can request in an IEP? Or is this beyond the scope of what special education would provide?

I believe that may be beyond what special education in the public sphere would be able to reasonably provide. That's a far cry from a 1:1 para (speaking of which, does your son have one? That's a reasonable thing to ask for). 

I remember being in a meeting with my Pupil Services Director.  She said the school needs to meet the student's needs and if they don't have a program that does this, they need to create one.  What data do you have to show he only learns in a 1:1 group?  We have a private school in my area that's all done 1:1 - Fusion Academy.  They have a few campuses.  Goes to show he's not alone with needing 1:1 school.  I've seen public schools pay for students to go there.

9 hours ago, JSD24 said:

I remember being in a meeting with my Pupil Services Director.  She said the school needs to meet the student's needs and if they don't have a program that does this, they need to create one.  What data do you have to show he only learns in a 1:1 group?  We have a private school in my area that's all done 1:1 - Fusion Academy.  They have a few campuses.  Goes to show he's not alone with needing 1:1 school.  I've seen public schools pay for students to go there.

That sounds quite fascinating.

But it looks like those are only for middle and high school grades and OP gave the impression it was elementary. 

On 11/6/2023 at 3:30 PM, EmilyM said:

I believe that may be beyond what special education in the public sphere would be able to reasonably provide. That's a far cry from a 1:1 para (speaking of which, does your son have one? That's a reasonable thing to ask for). 

He does not have a 1:1 para. The teacher said it is not necessary bc he is in a classroom with 7 children, 3 paras and teacher. I say BS

16 hours ago, JSD24 said:

I remember being in a meeting with my Pupil Services Director.  She said the school needs to meet the student's needs and if they don't have a program that does this, they need to create one.  What data do you have to show he only learns in a 1:1 group?  We have a private school in my area that's all done 1:1 - Fusion Academy.  They have a few campuses.  Goes to show he's not alone with needing 1:1 school.  I've seen public schools pay for students to go there.

How interesting! Will look it up.

21 hours ago, kaydeethree said:

How interesting! Will look it up.

I hope you find something that will work in your area! 

It's an uphill battle, but not impossible. My son receives 1:1 instruction all day, every day.

This is not in his IEP, but he is in an out-of-district placement, and those are their ratios. 

If you have data showing the need for 1:1 instruction, it's a totally reasonable request and something public schools can absolutely provide.  But an easier way to get this would be to show he is not making sufficient progress with the instruction that is currently being provided, which prompts a change in services.  Get specifics in the IEP; i.e., "receives in instruction in small group setting with no more than 6 (or whatever number the team decides on) students."  When that doesn't work after 6 weeks/a quarter's worth of progress monitoring, ask that the services be changed to no more than 3 students.  If that doesn't work, then 2, etc., until you ask for 1:1 instruction.  The "ask" has to be based on data and lack of progress with services currently being used.