If you're taking your class to a museum or other large facility, it will have ramps, elevators and other adaptations for special needs students as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Smaller facilities, farms, or other businesses may not have easy access for some students. Call ahead so you know ahead of time if you need to use special entrances or accesses or what equipment is available. For a hay ride, for example, ask if the facility has a wheelchair ramp up into the wagon.
If your class includes a student with severe emotional or behavioral issues, take enough adults along so that one adult can stay with that student. Since autistic children or others with behavioral issues may become overstimulated easily, assign one adult to that child who can remove him, if necessary, without disturbing the rest of the group. Inviting parents on the field trip provides extra hands to help with students who don't require as much attention so the teacher or aide can focus on the special needs child. Schools cannot demand that parents accompany their special needs child to be allowed on a field trip, according to lawyer Randy Chapman, director of legal services for the The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People.
Talk to your special needs students before the trip about where you'll be going, what you'll be seeing and why you're going. Many special needs students have less tolerance than normal children for changes in their routine or new places and people. Because field trips are often large, with students the child doesn't know going on the bus, a special needs child may become fearful or upset. If your special needs student must ride a specially equipped bus, let several of her classmates ride in the bus with her, so she doesn't feel isolated -- if your school's regulations permit.
If the special needs students in your class have medications that must be taken at certain times or emergency medications such as inhalers, make sure the medications travel with them. In many states, a nurse must accompany a student who needs medication administered during a field trip. Children who require oxygen need enough oxygen in their tank to cover the length of the trip. In many cases, medically fragile special needs students have nursing help at school; make sure the student's nurse knows how long you'll be gone and where you're going so she can plan her supplies for the trip.