Host: How can parents determine if their child is a candidate for special education? Rene Hackney: There are several different ways that children become candidates for these services. Typically that they are having academic difficulty, the teachers will pick them up, suggesting that this maybe something to look at to see if that will be beneficial or if a child has a pre-existing condition, if they are coming into school already identified with a speech language delay or if they have had some type of medical condition that would be helped by special education.