By Richard Finegan
This blog is a collaborative effort between my wife Sara and me. She does most of the writing. I do all of the editing, formatting, illustrating (mostly clip art), layout, etc. Since neither of us had ever blogged or had a website before, it has been a new and rewarding experience.
I am a Special Education Tech in a large Southern California school district where I have worked for several years, usually assigned in general education classrooms working one-on-one with students on the autism spectrum. My assignments have included one elementary, two middle, and two high schools and even the school to which they remove students for zero-tolerance violations.
I have a degree in journalism, a law degree, and am only a few hours short of being certified as a mild-moderate special education teacher. So why am I working as a para-educator/classroom aide?
Because I like being able to focus on the students. Only on the students. Not grading 150 of yesterday’s five-paragraph essays, or preparing tomorrow’s lessons, and especially not tolerating all that frustrating, annoying administrative stuff that teachers are expected to deal with. (As an hourly classified employee, I rarely even have to attend staff meetings!)
The role of para-educator
Helping the teachers, of course, is part of our job description but we are not there for the teacher’s benefit (to make copies, or grade homework, or mop the floor, though I’ve done all those things). We are there only because one or more of the kids in that class has an IEP that says they need extra classroom support.
Don’t be shy about telling the teacher when and why you can’t do something they ask you to do if you truly feel it intereferes with something one of your students needs from you.
So what is the role of the special education classroom aide in a general education classroom?
To help the child with an IEP become more independent.
When a child no longer needs me, I have succeeded. When a child continues to depend on me for something other children do without assistance, I have failed. I have asked in the past not to continue with a particular student because I thought they had progressed as far as they needed to go with me.
Tip: I rarely sit next to “my” student. Though I may be in a particular class only because Brandon, or Susie, or Juan is there, I do not want the other kids to know that unless it seems necessary that they know that. I watch my student from a distance, take notes, move in with advice or assistance and move back out again. Meanwhile, I’m helping other students all around the classroom. No student in the classes where I am assigned feels any stigma because I step over and talk to or assist them. Most of them couldn’t tell you why I’m there.
Children on the autism spectrum can be great to work with as an aide.
I worked with a sixth grader who was fascinated by Alfred Hitchcock (they often have intense interests) and wrote an essay about the filmmaker discussing several of his movies. An eighth-grade student on the spectrum was a math whiz who read ahead in his algebra book for fun (and also composed on the piano). A ninth-grader who rarely spoke required almost no help in completing earth science worksheets, finding answers from the textbook.
Yet all of these students, capable as they were in certain areas, had difficulty following even simple plots when reading fiction. I don’t know that they had hyperlexia, but I would think it highly likely. Often this particular reading deficit is not specifically identified.
What can you do to help a child who understands the vocabulary but still can’t follow the story?
Well, you can read Sara’s two posts on this blog about Autism and Hyperlexia. And whether or not your teachers know about or focus on anaphoric cuing, you can use what you learn about it to help any student comprehend narratives, particularly fiction.
Simply put, anaphora are words that refer to other words. Most of us know almost instinctively who “his” refers to when we read:
“Bob slung the backpack over his shoulder and followed Julio.”
A child with autism will often be unsure who is carrying the backpack.
So first, we have to identify the anaphora that may confuse a child. These include more than just the obvious pronouns :
I- we
- us
- ours
- you
- yours
- he
- his
- she
- hers
- they
- theirs
- them
- it
- its
but also such words as:
- there
- then
- can
- do
When the child encounters these words in reading, we can ask (and teach them to ask themselves)
- Where is “there”?
- When was “then”?
- What is “it”?
- Who is “he”?
- Whose is “theirs”?
- “Can” what?
- “Do” what?
Reading connections that most of us make almost automatically the child with autism may need coaching and repeated practice to learn how to make accurately and regularly.
If you, the para-educator, can help a struggling reader learn this seemingly simple reading strategy, you may just open the door to a lifetime of reading enjoyment. It is worth the effort.
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PS: I love this slogan “When children can not learn…It’s time to change the way we TEACH” They offer more than 40 products with this alone, and have dozens more autism-related designs. We make not a dime off this endorsement, by the way. 
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Our Goal: Providing help for struggling readers on the autism spectrum.
Related posts:
- FAQs about anaphoric cuing and reading comprehension
- The child in the IEP: Can we really see him as described?
- Hearing the story in your head: The role of expressive reading
- Autism and hyperlexia, part 2: Helping Bobby read
- Paraprofessional/aide as facilitator in partner/group work
2 Comments
Thank you for this information and insight. I am currently dealing with a struggle to get the right help for my child’s teacher at a Waldorf Methods Charter school in Sonoma CA. My child was born with spin bifida which has so many complications attached to it. One complication which in itself has complications is hydracephalus. He has a VP shunt and of late has had several revisions and one of those was due to an infection. I am sure anaphoric cuing is a large reason as to why he struggles with both written and verbal material. He does his best work when there is visual demonstration such as science labs, painting, etc.
I have been volunteering in the class for pre algebra this year to be an anchor for my child. I found that helping any child that needs help is the best practice in being an aide to my child and helpful to the teacher.
Due to the infection my son was out of school for over a month and upon re-entry the classroom teacher asked at the IEP meeting that a “special day class” be considered. I was outraged. I had to literally bite my lip to keep from yelling.
Fortunate for me the special ed. teacher from UCSF who worked with us during the month he was there set the teacher straight. She clearly spoke that socially my child is best served in a regular ed classroom, and while he needs extra support to stay on task and grasp instruction etc. he is very able to learn and give “output”. Thank goodness for this angel who agreed that a classroom aide for at least the morning lesson would be best.
It is sad that a teacher with only 15 students in his class feels that he cannot give my child what he needs. I feel if that is the case then it is true that none of the children can be taught by this teacher.
I think that your practice of leading a child to being independent is so very important. Special ed or regular ed this is the goal of a solid education is for any child.
Amy:
When I find myself hovering close to the child I’m assigned to help, I’ll literally cross the room and look for another child I can assist. We do not want our kids to think we are there to lead them by the hand through every assignment or to eliminate all obstacles for them. That does nothing to promote the independence we want for them.
There is definitely a place for special day classes. Sara’s is a special day class. But not all special day class teachers are as demanding as they should be. Special day class should not be “dumbed down” versions of general ed. Alternatively, general ed classes are not ideal for every student if the necessary supports (special ed resource teacher, classroom aides) are not being provided there.
Making sure your child gets what they need is a constant concern, and from year to year you may have to fight the same fights all over again. Hang in there.
You may also want to visit our sister website: http://www.thedemandingclassroom.com.
Richard