The Paraeducators Role in the IEP Process

1
Overview of Disabilities
2
Paraeducator Development Plan Menu(to be used in
conjunction with Paraeducators Personal
Development Plan)
Directions This menu is a tool for you to use as
you progress through the Paraeducator Course.
Whenever you come across topics about which you
would like more information, place a checkmark
next to the topic and indicate in the Notes
column any specifics (for example, in 1 indicate
which disability). For each topic checked make an
entry in the Paraeducator Personal Development
Plan.
3
Paraeducator Development Plan
4
Local Policy

• Your local districts policies regarding
  paraeducator job descriptions, duties, and
  responsibilities provide the final word!

5
Agenda

• How do students qualify for special education?
• What is a special education program?
• Disability categories and the Paraeducators role
  in supporting students with disabilities

6
Learner Outcomes

• Identify eligibility criteria for special
  education
• Identify thirteen (13) disability categories as
  listed in IDEA
• Discuss Paraeducators role in supporting
  students with disabilities

7

• What do you already know?
• Handout 1
• Pre-Test

8
How Do Students Qualify for a Special Education
Program? Evaluation

• Referral
• Evaluation team
• Gather information to answer two questions
• Write an evaluation report

9
What is a Special Education Program?

• Individualized Education Program (IEP)
• Outlines goals and objectives, when applicable,
  and supports needed so that the student
• Can achieve proficiency in the PA Academic
  Standards and
• Can successfully learn how to live, work and
  play in his community
• Is directly related to the general education
  curriculum

10
Disability Categories

• Need to identify
• For eligibility
• To better match student services to student needs

11
Thirteen (13) disability categories as listed in
IDEA

• Autism
• Deaf-blindness
• Deafness
• Emotional disturbance
• Hearing impairment
• Mental retardation
• Multiple disabilities

12
Thirteen (13) disability categories as listed in
IDEA (cont)

• Orthopedic impairment
• Other health impairment
• Specific learning disability
• Speech/language impairment
• Traumatic brain injury
• Visual impairment

13
Disabilities Overview

• Total Enrollment in Pennsylvania 1,830,684
• Total Special Ed Enrollment 270,075 14.8
• Specific Learning Disability 53.9
• Speech or Language Impairment 16.0
• Emotional Disturbance 9.7
• Mental Retardation 9.4
• Other Health Impairment 4.4
• Autism 3.2
• Hearing Impairment Including Deafness 1.1
• Multiple Disabilities 1.1
• Visual Impairment Including Blindness 0.4
• Orthopedic Impairment 0.3
• Traumatic Brain Injury 0.3
• Deaf-Blindness 0.0
• Gifted-only Total 71,830 3.9

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Disability Categories Autism

• Autism is a developmental disorder significantly
  affecting verbal and nonverbal communication.
  Students with this disability have difficulties
  with communication, behavior, and social skills.

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Disability Categories Autism (cont)

• What might you do?
• provide structure in routine and classroom
  environment
• prepare students for changes in routine
• use very concrete language
• make language visual
• observe activities and
• choices

16
Disability Categories Deaf-Blindness

• Deafblindness is the combination of a visual
  impairment and a hearing loss.
• Educational approaches to address one of these
  problems may not be the best way to help a
  student learn.

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Disability Categories Deaf-Blindness (cont)

• What might you do?
• Maximize the use of vision and hearing
• Learn successful procedures for greeting each
  student
• Help students orient themselves to classroom,
  bathroom, cafeteria, etc

18
Disability Categories Deafness

• Deafness is a hearing loss so severe that the
  child cannot get information through the sense of
  hearing even with the use of amplification.

19
Disability Categories Deafness (cont)

• What might you do?
• Help the student learn to operate their listening
  device
• Meet with interpreter to share homework,
  vocabulary
• Look at environment for best
• seating
• Work with others to follow good
• communication behavior
• Facilitate student learning

20
Disability CategoriesHearing Impairment

• Hearing impairment means an impairment in
  hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that
  adversely affects a childs educational
  performance. It is not as severe as deafness.

21
Disability CategoriesHearing Impairment (cont)

• What might you do?
• Optimize learning environment
• Organize their instructional materials
• Communicate clearly
• Promote self-advocacy

22
Activity

• Please look at Handout 2.
• Consider the disabilities that we have just
  discussed autism, deaf-blind, deafness, and
  hearing impairment.
• Answer the two questions on the handout relating
  to these disability categories.

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Disability Categories Emotional Disturbance

• A condition exhibiting one or more of the
  following characteristics which occur over a
  period of time, and to a marked degree, which
  affect a childs ability to learn
• -inability to learn which cannot be explained by
  intellectual, sensory or health factors
• -inability to build or maintain satisfactory
  interpersonal relationships with peers
• and teachers

24
Disability Categories Emotional Disturbance
(cont)

• -inappropriate types of behavior or feelings
  under normal circumstances
• -a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or
  depression
• -a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears
  associated with personal or school problems

25
Disability Categories Emotional Disturbance
(cont)

• What might you do?
• Keep rules short
• Check for understanding
• Provide verbal cues to students to remind them to
  prepare for changing classes or going home
• Give written cues such as schedules or To Do
  lists
• Remain patient

26
Disability CategoriesMental Retardation

• Children with this disability have impaired
  mental development which adversely affects their
  educational performance, and who exhibit impaired
  adaptive behavior in learning, maturation, or
  social development.

27
Disability CategoriesMental Retardation (cont)

• What might you do?
• Make instruction and practice more concrete and
  personally relevant by relating them to tasks and
  experiences the child understands
• Provide additional practice on skills
• Provide social skill instruction
• Repeat instructions or activity descriptions
• keep directions simple

28
Disability Categories Multiple Disabilities

• A child with multiple disabilities is a child who
  has several disabilities together (such as mental
  retardation, along with blindness or orthopedic
  problems) that cause a need for many educational
  services.

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Disability Categories Multiple Disabilities
(cont)

• What might you do?
• Provide physical support in daily activities such
  as dressing, feeding, toileting
• Learn positioning techniques
• Use safe lifting techniques
• Ask for training in specialized areas if you need
  it (tube feeding, seizures)

30
Activity

• Matching test
• Handout 3 A

31
Disability CategoriesOrthopedic Impairment

• Children with this disability have skeletal
  problems which may be first seen at birth (i.e.,
  clubfoot, cerebral palsy), may be the result of
  disease (i.e., polio), or may be the result of an
  accident (i.e., amputation).

32
Disability CategoriesOrthopedic Impairment
(cont)

• What might you do?
• Learn to accommodate the classroom environment
• Use assistive devices for writing skills and
  communication
• Consider inclusion issues

33
Disability CategoriesOther Health Impairment

• Children with this disability have limited or
  heightened sensitivities to their environment, or
  limited strength or endurance caused by health
  problems like asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy.

34
Disability CategoriesOther Health Impairment
(cont)

• What might you do?
• Be sure you know which of your students has which
  health problem
• Get clear direction on what you need to do in an
  emergency
• Monitor safety and health

35
Activity

• Please look at Handout 2 again.
• Consider the disabilities that we have just
  discussed emotional disturbance, mental
  retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic
  impairment, and other health impairment.
• Answer the two questions on the handout relating
  to these disability categories.

36
Disability Categories Specific Learning
Disability

• This is a disorder in one of the basic ways
  students process, use, or relay information like
  listening, thinking, reading, writing, spelling,
  or math calculation or problem solving.

37
Disability Categories Specific Learning
Disability (cont)

• What might you do?
• Adapt the physical environment
• Provide organizational changes in areas such as
  time, instructional methods, or materials
• Use advance organizers (outlines, study guides,
  focus questions) to structure classroom
• Allow more time for assignments, projects

38
Disability Categories Speech/language Impairment

• This is a disability that affects communication
  such as stuttering or not being able to make
  certain vocal sounds.
• It may also be a language delay or voice
  impairment.

39
Disability CategoriesSpeech/language Impairment
(cont)

• What might you do?
• Prepare the class
• Adapt the physical environment
• Provide many opportunities for student to
  interact verbally
• With student who stutters, use nonverbal
  listening skills

40
Disability CategoriesTraumatic Brain Injury

• Traumatic brain injury is a disability caused by
  a head injury that may impair memory, problem
  solving, or judgment.

41
Disability CategoriesTraumatic Brain Injury
(cont)

• What might you do?
• Provide a structured environment
• Shorten homework assignments
• Use lots of drill and practice
• Break instruction into smaller amounts of time
• Allow student to keep extra set of books at home
• Be clear on classroom rules expectations
  repeat them often

42
Disability CategoriesVisual Impairment

• Students with this disability are blind or have
  low vision.
• Most students with visual impairments can see
  some things
• Some have visual impairment as their only
  disability, others have multiple disabilities
• This is a low incidence but very diverse group
  of students

43
Disability CategoriesVisual Impairment (cont)

• What might you do?
• Use concrete materials and tactile aids like
  relief maps, math manipulatives, and raised-line
  paper for writing
• Encourage hands-on learning
• Produce modified materials on a copier, computer
  or produce braille
• Help students see, i.e. incidental learning
• Expect the student to actively participate and be
  engaged

44
Activity

• Please look at Handout 2 one more time..
• Consider the disabilities that we have just
  discussed specific learning disability,
  speech/language impairment, traumatic brain
  injury, and visual impairment.
• Answer the two questions on the handout relating
  to these disability categories.

45
Activity

• Matching test
• Handout 3 B

46

• What do you know now?
• Handout 1
• Pre-Test review

47

• What do you know now?
• 1) Name one person who might be on the
  students evaluation team.
• 2) When a hearing loss is so severe that the
  child cannot get information through the sense of
  hearing even with the use of amplification he is
  said to have what disability?
• 3) What disability causes problems with
  communication, behavior, and social skills?

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• What do you know now?
• 4) Write down one of the two
• questions that must be answered YES
• for a child to qualify for special
• education.
• 5) For which disability categories should you
  provide a structured environment?
• 6) A child with a pervasive mood of unhappiness
  or depression may have what disability?

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• What do you know now?
• 7) Students with what disability may
• benefit from the repetition of instructions
  or activity descriptions and keeping directions
  simple?
• 8) A child who has several disabilities together
  probably fits into this disability category.
• 9) This is a disorder in one of the basic ways we
  process, use, or relay information.
• 10) Name one disability which may result in
  students having poor social skills.

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What have we talked about?

• Identify eligibility criteria for special
  education
• Identify thirteen disability categories as listed
  in IDEA
• Discuss Paraeducator's role in supporting
  students with disabilities

51
Wrap Up
Wrap Up

• Complete Paraeducator Development Plan
• Complete Session Evaluation

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Upcoming Paraeducator Trainings
PaTTAN Website www.pattan.k12.pa.us