Paraeducators

Paraeducator Central: Our New Blog

By readers1  |  2011/02/11 15:07 Posted in Paraeducators  |  Comments (0)

     All aboard!  We now host a new blog by, for, and about paraeducators:  Paraeducator Central.

     We only slowly came to recognize the amount of interest there has been on posts about topics relating to those non-teacher personnel who serve our special needs kids, whether we call them special education assistants, paraprofessionals, classroom aides, educational assistants, or paraeducators.

     We hope and believe that this new blog will serve a needed niche, where paraeducators can speak for and among themselves.  Take a look and let us hear from you.  http://paraeducatorcentral.com

Paraeducators need to speak for ourselves

By readers1  |  2011/01/12 10:11 Posted in Paraeducators  |  Comments (7)

By Richard Finegan

      There seems to be lots of interest on the web in information about paraeducators and our work with special needs kids. Plenty is written about us by teachers, administrators, union professionals or college professors who’ve never actually done our jobs. Not much out here is written by paraprofessionals ourselves. That is a shame.

Sara and Richard Finegan

      Some, even some of our coworkers, may have the impression that we are little more than day care workers in the public schools. Most of us have been asked by a general ed teacher to leave the classroom (and the kids we are there to help) to go run some menial errand. Many of us are not even consulted about or included in IEPs relating to the kids we work with, as if our observations or insights are of no consequence.

      If we are going to be taken seriously, as professionals, we need to support efforts to make our jobs more professional. Continuing education classes should be required for us, in my opinion. Certification by the state might be appropriate where that is not already done.

      But I’ve drifted from my point: We need to speak for ourselves. We need to assert ourselves as intelligent, articulate professionals capable of worthwhile contribution to the discussion of our own jobs and role in the special education system.

      With the expansion of full inclusion, where kids with special needs are distributed among the general ed population and not segregated in special classes, more of us than ever before will be working in general ed classrooms without the constant presence of a special ed teacher. Many of the general ed teachers will turn to us for guidance in dealing with issues relating to our kids. If you’ve worked as a one-on-one to an included child you know this to be true.

      We need to be prepared to step up to the plate. Don’t wait for the general ed teacher to identify problems to you; bring things to his or her attention. Suggest solutions or consultations with the special ed case manager. Be an advocate for your kids. Be an advocate for yourself as a knowledgeable coworker in the classroom, more than just a warm-bodied adult.

      We contribute to this acceptance of us as professionals when we stop letting the conversation, both in the schools and on the web, be ABOUT us and start being WITH us.

We need to speak for ourselves.

      So here is my invitation to all paraeducators with something to say to the world: contact me. I have no desire to be a lonely voice in the wilderness of the internet . I can see that appropriate posts get published and, more importantly, FOUND by search engines like Google, bing, Yahoo, AOL. Together we can be stronger.

     If there is enough interest in this, I am considering setting up a separate blog that can serve as a forum and sounding board for paraeducators. What do you think?

     I am cross-posting this on The Demanding Classroom and Readers With Autism. Each blog already contains earlier posts for and about us as paraeducators. You can look for the category “Paraeducators” on either blog to find my posts, which are mostly different on each site.

First…Then: A kindergartner with autism, Part II

By readers1  |  2010/10/20 18:50 Posted in Paraeducators  |  Comments (3)

By Richard Finegan

Experiencing some success with the rule cards I devised for Jacob, and taking further advantage of his desire and willingness to read, I took another step this week.

Jacob (not his real name) is a kindergartner with autism  who decodes well, better than most of his peers, but is easily distracted, especially by the knowledge that just across our small playground there are cars passing by– cars he’d rather watch than do just about anything else. I am his one-on-one paraeducator.

Except in the morning, when he is at his most attentive, it has been a nearly constant job to redirect him to whatever task is at hand, using the five “Jacob’s Rules.”  Usually I don’t have to read the rule aloud any longer, simply get his attention to it by placing it in front of him and perhaps prompting: “What should you be doing?”

But rules alone don’t help much with transitions, of which there are dozens in the day of a kindergartner; and when the kindergartner has a constant distraction just outside the window, something else was called for.

Both Jacob’s mom and his new speech therapist mentioned that he had some success in the past with a “First ___, Then ___” approach to get him to do something less desired before doing something desired.

My thought about how to utilize “First ___, Then ___”  in the classroom was not to reward every appropriate behavior but simply to get him to do things in sequence, to focus on what he should be doing now and then proceed to what he will be doing next, without walking to the window during every transition.   I am not helping him become a better student if I lead him by the hand to each new activity.

With the support of his classroom teacher and case manager, I got a small whiteboard, maybe 10×12 inches (about 25×30 cm) and used painter’s tape to divide it into four panels.  The left side I labeled “First” and the right side “Then.”  It looks like this…

Now I carry around my ring of Jacob’s Rules, the whiteboard, a dry erase marker, and a small square of felt cloth I use for an eraser.  I write the activities in sequence, always showing what he just finished, what he should be doing now, and what he’ll do next.

 He’s a kindergartner, after all, even if he decodes well, but I often have to tell him what it says.  Still, he loves to read, and will attend to any new entry on the board.   I let him hold the board in his lap so he can see what the current activity is and what the next one will be.

An added bonus:  Because Jacob is fully included with students that do not have special needs but read less well than he does, they are fascinated by his rules and his “First ___, Then ___” board.  They want to read them too! 

Even though all his classmates are learning to write their letters, and he lags well behind them, Jacob is held in high regard by the other students for his ability to read.  For a child with autism, it can only be a good thing when his peers early recognize him for his strengths.

Writing rules for a kindergartner with autism

By readers1  |  2010/10/13 18:35 Posted in Paraeducators  |  Comments (3)

By Richard Finegan

Just when I thought I knew what I was doing after years as a paraprofessional working one-on-one with children with autism, life teaches me a hard lesson:  it is a different world in kindergarten!

I mean, kindergartners are barely socialized!  And I’m not talking about the ones with autism.  They have to be taught how to walk in line, how to use crayons, how to sit in one spot.

I work with an included five-year-old who can already read at about a first grade level but rarely talks spontaneously.  He is stimulated to the point of fascination by moving vehicles and our classroom has a full view of the street.  He will stand up, turn his back on the teacher, peer out the windows (or walk to the door when the windows are blocked) and bounce stiffly in place while watching the cars.

For more than I week, I redirected him (over and over) back to his place at the checkered rug, where most instruction takes place.  Finally, I had an idea.

As I said, he reads, or at least decodes, well.  Things like “Animals need plants to grow” and “Think About It” which were titles in a science book we were looking at together.  He may have hyperlexia, but it is difficult at this point to assess how much he comprehends of what he reads.

I also have had the experience with more than one older child with autism that they tend to (dare I say) religiously follow rules, and are often upset by other students who disobey them.

So I decided to write some rules for Jacob (not his real name).

Jacob’s Rule 1:  In your square or in your chair.  Other kids were sent to their desks when they wouldn’t behave at the rug, so I did the same with Jacob.  He accepted this readily.

Jacob’s Rule 2:  Eyes on the teacher.  He would rarely watch the teacher or look at what she was demonstrating to the class.  I showed him the rule while turning him toward the teacher.

Jacob’s Rule 3:  Stay in line.  He doesn’t stray far from the line but rarely follows behind the person in front of him.

Jacob’s Rule 4:  Hands to yourself.  He has a friend he adores, a girl smaller than he is, who he loves to touch and hug.  Which is quite cute but…not conducive to what is considered appropriate classroom behavior.

Jacob’s Rule 5:  No watching the cars.  This one was a gamble.  Jacob’s car watching is less a choice and more a compulsion.  But I was hopeful that, once he accepted that there were rules in the classroom, we could stop the “stimming” by reminding him of the rule.  So far, I’ve had some success with this.

I printed each rule on a different colored square of paper, laminated them, and put them on a ring.  I carry the ring around most of the time and when I enforce a rule, I hold it in front of Jacob until he looks at it, then point to the words as I read them.  He will now read along with me and will almost always comply with no additional prompting. 

Granted, it is often as little as 30 seconds before he forgets and repeats the activity, but I am thrilled that a child with autism that young is responding to written rules.

Why I object to the term shadow

By readers1  |  2009/12/25 21:28 Posted in Paraeducators  |  Comments (2)

(Following is a cross-post from our sister blog, The Demanding Classroom.  If you haven’t  already done so, please take a look.  There are several other posts of mine there on paraeducators, plus a wide variety of  articles by Sara, on maintaining rigor across the curricula in a special education classroom.)

By Richard Finegan

You may call me a paraeducator, a paraprofessional, a one-on-one aide, a classroom assistant, a special education technician, even a teacher’s aide (though I am there for the student, not the teacher) but please don’t call me a shadow or describe what I do as shadowing.

The term shadow suggests that the aide never leaves the side of the child. That describes a bodyguard, not a paraeducator. I would not be doing my job if I hovered as close to my student as Malia Obama’s Secret Service agent.

True, I am what used to be called (and I still call) a one-on-one aide, and I do move from classroom to classroom with the same child. But my job is to help that student become more independent, more self-regulated and self-sufficient. I’ve never heard anyone explain how this can happen if I am constantly elbow-to-elbow with my kid.

A better analogy to what we do might be a sheepdog: Constantly alert and watching his or her charges but only moving in and out again as circumstances require. Yes, this analogy works better; shepherding is an improvement over shadowing. Even so, I don’t think I’m quite ready to be called a sheepdog either. Smile.

This is more than just a semantic issue. When others refer to me as a shadow or to what I do as shadowing, they consciously or unconsciously suggest that I should be sticking like glue to my student and that I am perhaps not doing my job properly if I am halfway across the classroom taking notes or, more often, walking around interacting with other students.

Worse even is what it suggests to new paraeducators trying to learn to do what we do. What they should be hearing is: Get up. Step back. Give your student some room to grow!

Role of the classroom aide: To help the child toward independence

By readers1  |  2009/09/15 17:41 Posted in Anaphoric cuing, Paraeducators  |  Comments (4)

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.

jigsaw_green_10I 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!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.

thumb_Alfred_HitchcockI 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 :

  • IMG_17023-580x1024I
  • 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.

====================

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.  :)   http://shop.cafepress.com/design/17338377

Our Goal:  Providing help for struggling readers on the autism spectrum.

bookshelf

Paraprofessional/aide as facilitator in partner/group work

By readers1  |  2009/11/05 10:24 Posted in Paraeducators  |  Comments (0)

By Richard Finegan

While the issues rarely arise in reading class…Children on the autism spectrum often need a facilitator when working with a partner or  in a group.  “Teamwork”  is a difficulty for many of these students.

team_spirit

...is difficult for many with autism

Working in groups may feel unnatural and uncomfortable for a child with autism.  They may…

  • Call out other members of the group who are not following directions
  • Be distressed when others are not playing by or violate “the rules”
  • Antagonize other members of the group by their seemingly hostile or unfriendly attitude
  • Imagine that others in the group are harassing or picking on them (when they aren’t)
  • Actually be harassed or picked on by other members of the group
  • Completely tune out the group and work on the project independently
  • Be uncooperative when the group elects to do something differently than they would choose to do it
  • Seek an intervention by the teacher or aide to compel the group to do things their way rather than trying to negotiate a compromise or make a concession to the group
  • Refuse altogether to work on the project

The teacher rarely has the luxury of spending much time monitoring any  particular partnership or group to be the moderator, make the  suggestions, resolve the disputes, calm the frayed nerves, etc.  This is where the classroom or one-on-one aide  can step in to facilitate.

As I’ve said before, I very rarely sit elbow to elbow with a child with autism to which I am assigned.  I will, however, stay within earshot when group or partner work is taking place.  When cooperation is occurring, I step far back and let it happen.  When it isn’t, I give them a few minutes to see if they will resolve the issue.  If not, then I will step in, make a suggestion, and step out again.

This won’t always work, but you must give the child with autism a chance to learn cooperation skills.  You don’t help the child who has social interation difficulties by imposing a resolution on every partner or group dispute in which you find them.

When the activity is over, you should make time to debrief with the student:

  • How did that go?
  • Were you able to resolve the issue about ___?
  • How?
  • Will you try that solution again the next time you work in a group?
  • Can you think of a way to avoid that kind of disagreement?

lightbulb_dramaticOne related tip: Many kids with autism will NOT choose a partner or a group they are not assigned to.  When asked to form groups of a particular size, or to choose a partner, they will stand up and wander around aimlessly until an adult asks if they have a partner or have joined a group and then assign them to it.

My impulse (as an advocate for my students with autism) is always to assign groups or partners.  But this, of course, is not helping the child learn to create social cooperative groups.  And I have found that there is a correlation between how confident a child is about the activity and his or her willingness to initiate a partnership.

On a new activity, the child may need help.  On an activity the child understands well, stand back and see if a partnership or group forms naturally before stepping up and helping him or her join a group.

We would love to hear from other paraprofessionals willing to share what does and doesn’t work when working with a child with autism. There is room below for your Comments.