AHM Resource Center
Disability, access, advocacy and life after AHM.
Start with the question you have, not with an acronym. Every card gives you the short version in plain language, then points you to the official source or to the organization itself. Nothing here is legal, medical or financial advice, and nothing here replaces a conversation with your child’s team.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Where are you right now?
Where are you right now?
Pick the line that sounds most like you. The system or agency comes second.
My child communicates differently.
AAC, eye gaze, switches, signs and symbols are all real voices.
I’m looking for services.
Children’s services, health case management and Early Intervention.
My student is approaching 18.
Turning 18 does not automatically mean guardianship.
We’re exploring college or training.
Inclusive college and transition programs, local first.
I want to learn about independent and community living.
A life with choice, participation and the right support.
I need support as a parent or caregiver.
Families deserve information, connection and support too.
I’m an educator who wants to learn.
Accessibility, AAC, UDL, language and transition.
I’m stuck. Who can help?
Who to call for school, children’s services, transition, adult services and more.
Explore by pathway
The Resource Center, section by section
For families
Know your rights.
Short explanations first, then the official documents. We describe the law in plain language; we do not reproduce it, and we do not give legal advice.
PRISE: Parental Rights in Special Education
New Jersey’s official explanation of your rights as the parent of a student with an IEP, in the 2026 version and in multiple languages.
You are a required member of your child’s IEP team. This document explains what that means and what you can ask for.
Best for: Families
Topics: Rights, IEP, evaluations
Disability Rights NJ: Special Education Self-Advocacy Guide
A plain-language guide from New Jersey’s protection and advocacy organization on speaking up for your child in the special education process, updated in 2026.
It turns the law into steps you can actually take at a meeting.
Best for: Families, Students
Topics: Rights, IEP, self-advocacy
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
New Jersey’s Parent Training and Information Center: information, training, workshops and one-to-one help for families of children with disabilities.
A parent who has been through it can answer the phone and help you prepare.
Best for: Families
Topics: Family support, training, IEP
IEPs and services
The IEP is the written plan for your child’s education, and you are a required member of the team that writes it. Some supports come from state systems rather than from the school; the cards below are the official access points.
At AHM
Related services at AHM explains physical, occupational and speech-language therapy, nursing, counseling and the other services written into an IEP. The FAQ answers the everyday questions, and the glossary explains the words.
NJ Special Child Health Services Case Management
County-based case management for children and youth with special health care needs from birth until their 22nd birthday, through the New Jersey Department of Health.
A case manager can help a family coordinate medical, educational and community services that do not talk to each other.
Best for: Families
Topics: Case management, children’s health, coordination
AHM note: especially useful when a child has complex health needs and several systems are involved.
NJ Early Intervention System
New Jersey’s program for infants and toddlers, birth to age 3, with developmental delays or disabilities, and their families.
Early Intervention is where services usually begin, before a child is old enough for preschool.
Best for: Families
Topics: Birth to 3, early childhood
PerformCare: I/DD application (under 21)
PerformCare is the access point for New Jersey’s Children’s System of Care. This page explains how to apply for intellectual and developmental disability services for eligible children and youth.
Some in-home and behavioral supports for children come through this door, not through the school.
Best for: Families
Topics: Children’s services, eligibility, under 21
AHM note: not every AHM student qualifies. Eligibility is decided by the state, not by the school.
PerformCare: I/DD services
What the Children’s System of Care may offer eligible children with developmental disabilities.
It shows what to ask for once a child is found eligible.
Best for: Families
Topics: Children’s services, developmental disability
A diagnosis and school eligibility are not the same thing
A medical or developmental diagnosis matters, but special education eligibility is an educational decision made through the district’s evaluation process. The New to Disability page explains the difference.
Communication and AAC
Communication is more than speech. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is communication, and every AHM student has the right to be heard in the way that works for them.
CommunicationFIRST
A disability-led organization that advances the communication rights, autonomy and dignity of people who cannot rely on speech to be understood, including people who use AAC.
It gives families and students language for a simple truth: AAC is communication, and being understood is a right.
Best for: Families, Students, Staff
Topics: Communication rights, AAC, autonomy
AHM note: it fits AHM’s belief that every voice matters.
ASHA: AAC Practice Portal
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s professional summary of augmentative and alternative communication: what it is, who uses it and what the evidence says.
When someone tells you a device will stop a child from talking, this is the evidence that says otherwise.
Best for: Staff, Families
Topics: AAC, speech-language, evidence
AAC, in a few sentences each
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Augmentative and alternative communication is every way of communicating that adds to or replaces spoken words: picture boards, sign, gestures, writing, and speech-generating devices and apps.
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A device, a board or a sign is not a substitute for a voice. It is the person’s voice. AAC supports language; it does not hold it back.
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A look, a reach, a sound, a body turn, a smile, a refusal: all of these communicate. Communication partners learn to notice and respond to every form.
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The communication partner points to or selects symbols on the person’s own system while speaking, so the person sees the words being used before being expected to use them.
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Many people need more time to process a question and to organize a response, especially with a device or a body that moves slowly. Pausing, and staying quiet while you wait, gives the person room to answer.
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The partner offers choices one at a time, by speaking them or pointing to them, and the person signals yes when they hear or see the one they want.
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Making a choice by looking. It can be as simple as looking at one of two objects, or it can use a device that tracks where the eyes are looking to select words on a screen.
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A switch is a button a person can press with any reliable movement, such as a hand, head or knee, to operate a device, make a choice or take a turn.
Assistive technology
Assistive technology is any item or system that helps a student do something they could not do as easily otherwise. These are the New Jersey places to learn about it, try it and ask for it.
Assistive Technology Advocacy Center (ATAC)
Disability Rights NJ’s assistive technology program, which helps people with disabilities learn about, find and advocate for the technology they need.
If a device is being denied or delayed, ATAC knows the funding routes and the appeals.
Best for: Families, Students, Staff
Topics: Assistive technology, advocacy, funding
AT4NJ
New Jersey’s assistive technology program: device demonstrations, short-term loans, reuse of donated equipment, training, information and referral.
You can try a device before anyone buys it.
Best for: Families, Students, Staff
Topics: Device loans, demonstrations, reuse
NJ Assistive Technology Resources
The assistive technology section of the NJ Disability Information Hub, connecting employment, independent living and AT resources across the state.
It gathers the AT programs adults use after school-provided technology ends.
Best for: Families, Transition-Age Students
Topics: Assistive technology, independent living
NJDOE: Assistive Technology
The New Jersey Department of Education’s page on assistive technology in special education, including how AT is considered in the IEP.
It explains how to ask for AT through the IEP, in the state’s own words.
Best for: Families, Staff
Topics: Assistive technology, IEP
Benefits, decision-making, housing and what comes next
These topics matter most as a student approaches 18 and 21, so they live on the Life After AHM and Independent and Community Living pages.
Life After AHM
DDD, employment, benefits, transportation, decision-making at 18, college and training.
Independent and Community Living
Home, money, health, communication, community, safety and the supports that make participation possible.
Support for the whole family
Peer support, helplines, workshops and caregiver resources for parents and caregivers.
I’m stuck. Who can help?
I’m stuck. Who can help?
Start with the row that matches your situation. When two agencies point at each other, the Ombudsman is the tiebreaker.
School and IEP
Your school or district team first. Then NJDOE, SPAN and Disability Rights NJ.
Children’s services (under 21)
PerformCare for the Children’s System of Care and Special Child Health Services for case management.
Transition
The AHM transition team, Planning for Adult Life, DVRS and, when applicable, DDD.
Adult services
DDD, your Support Coordinator and the NJ Disability Information Hub.
Independent living and advocacy
hip, Hudson County’s Center for Independent Living, and the statewide directory.
System navigation: NJ Disability Information Hub
New Jersey’s official starting point for disability information: employment, transportation, assistive technology, housing, healthcare, caregiver supports and advocacy.
When you do not yet know which agency you need, this is the map.
Best for: Families, Students, Transition-Age Students
Topics: Navigation, employment, housing, healthcare
AHM note: a good first stop before any phone call.
NJ Ombudsman for Individuals with I/DD and Their Families
A one-stop office for information about services and supports for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families, across state departments.
When a family is stuck between agencies, the Ombudsman helps sort out who is responsible.
Best for: Families, Transition-Age Students
Topics: System navigation, advocacy
Outside resources are provided for informational purposes and do not constitute an endorsement by A. Harry Moore Laboratory School or Kean University. Programs, services, eligibility requirements, funding and availability may change. Families should contact each organization directly and work with their school team or appropriate service coordinator when applicable.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Learn with us
Short, plain-language answers to the questions we hear most. Open any question.
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Augmentative and alternative communication is every way of communicating that adds to or replaces spoken words: picture boards, sign, gestures, and speech-generating devices and apps. AAC is communication in its own right, and it supports, never replaces, the development of language.
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Any item, piece of equipment, or system that helps a student do something they could not do as easily otherwise: a switch, an adapted keyboard, eye gaze, a communication device, a stander, a slant board. Assistive technology is written into the IEP when a student needs it to access learning.
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Teaching skills in the real places where students will use them, stores, restaurants, libraries, transit, campus, and workplaces, so the skills transfer to adult life. The community is a classroom
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An Individualized Education Program is the legal, written plan that describes your child's present levels, goals, services, supports, and placement. It is reviewed at least once a year, and you are a required member of the team.
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Services a student needs in order to benefit from special education: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language services, music therapy, nursing, counseling, and transportation, among others. Related services at AHM
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Planning, starting by age 14 in New Jersey, for what comes after school: education or training, employment, independent living, and community participation, built on the student's strengths and interests. Planning for life after AHM
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Pre-Employment Transition Services from DVRS and CBVI for students with disabilities ages 14 to 21: job exploration, work-based learning, workplace readiness, postsecondary counseling, and self-advocacy instruction.
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Communicating your own choices, needs, and rights, yes, no, help, more, stop, I want, in any form of communication, and taking part in decisions about your own life.
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An approach in which an adult with a disability makes their own decisions with help from people they trust, instead of having decisions made for them. It is one option families consider at 18, alongside others. Ask the school and the resources above for New Jersey specifics.
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Designing lessons from the start with many ways to take in information, many ways to show what you know, and many ways to stay engaged, so fewer students need after-the-fact accommodations.
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Offer two real options, show them (objects, pictures, or words), wait, accept any clear response, a look, a reach, a sign, a word, and honor the choice.
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Let your child do the parts of a routine they can, even if it takes longer. Use the same visual schedules and communication system school uses. Celebrate effort and problem-solving, not just finished tasks.
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Belonging: being a full participant in the life of a school and community, with the supports that make participation possible.