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The Japan District Special Education Liaison (SPED) is responsible for overseeing all aspects of special education and Pupil Personnel Service (PPS) programs in the twenty district schools. The SPED is located in the District Superintendent's Office on Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan.

The Japan District SPED Liaisons' areas of responsibility are:

Review and monitoring of special education programs and services
Coordination with Educational and Developmental Intervention Services (EDIS), the military medically related service agency
Training
Pupil Personnel Services (PPS)
Counselors, Nurses, and School Psychologists

It is the philosophy of the Japan District that all children, including those with special needs, have a great capacity to learn. They also have individual, unique ways of developing and mastering skills. As parents and educators, our challenge is to understand children's learning needs and to use a variety of strategies to help them acquire knowledge and skills. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) underscores these principals and the importance of all children being given challenging educational opportunities. The IDEA is an important educational law that has been incorporated for overseas schools in DoD Instruction 1342.12.

The DoD Instruction mandates that children who are eligible for special education services must:

Be provided a free appropriate, public education
Be educated in the least restrictive environment
Be provided fair and objective assessments, with parent permission
Have the protection of due process rights

DoDDS, Japan District and Educational and Developmental Intervention Services (EDIS) are working together to provide quality services to children with disabilities and their families. Our goal is to ensure that all children with special needs receive quality services, interventions, and modifications necessary as determined by their individual education plan (IEP).

All schools in the Japan District are in full compliance with the special education program standards and components and are regularly monitored. Schools are provided regular ongoing technical assistance from the district SPED.

For questions concerning the type of special education services offered in any of the 20 district schools, please contact the district special education coordinator.