Who We Are & What We Do



Special Education Staff Descriptions

Special Education Teacher: This person works directly with students with disabilities to provide support so that they may achieve the learning standards. Special education teachers act as case managers for the students to which they are assigned. He/she is responsible for ensuring that all staff who work with students on their caseload understand the contents of each child’s IEP and implement test accommodations and program modifications. They also collect data used to report progress toward annual goals and complete most sections of the IEP prior to review meetings. They are responsible to maintain regular and consistent communication with parents.


Occupational Therapist: School-based occupational therapy (OT) assists students in their ability to function successfully in the educational environment. Occupational therapy addresses physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and sensory challenges that impede the student's performance in the learning environment. Areas of intervention can include:

  • Organizational skills (e.g. workspace organization, time management, planning skills)

  • Fine motor skills (e.g. dexterity, fine motor strength, fine motor coordination, scissor skills)

  • Handwriting skills (e.g. letter formation and legibility)

  • Gross motor skills (e.g. proximal/upper extremity strength and motor planning)

  • Self-help skills (e.g. manipulating fasteners on clothing, shoe tying, feeding)

  • Vision skills (e.g. visual fixation, visual scanning, convergence for near/far point copy tasks)

  • Visual perceptual skills (e.g. visual discrimination, visual memory, visual closure, spatial relations

  • Sensory integration/processing skills (e.g. spatial awareness, attention, sensory seeking or sensory avoidance behaviors)

Physical Therapist: A PT works to improve a child’s physical abilities through activities designed to strengthen muscular control and motor coordination. PT is provided for students who have difficulty with gross motor skills and mobility in the school environment. Evaluations look at the child’s overall strength, muscle tone, range of motion, balance, gait, endurance, skill levels and general physical coordination. After an evaluation, a determination is made to see if the student meets the criteria to receive PT services and at what frequency level. Physical therapists also provide consultations and recommendations when needed to teaching staff and complete PT screenings based on AIS referrals, offering guidance and support per each child’s individual needs.


Psychologist: A school psychologist is trained to give standardized tests in order to evaluate students suspected of having a disability. They counsel students in the development of learning strategies, self awareness, management of learning needs, and social skills according to the recommendations of the student’s IEP. Psychologists are critical in assisting teachers to develop classroom and individual positive behavior incentive plans. School psychologists are an important part of the building instructional support team. They are available for consultation to staff and family. They provide a broad range of assistance to families, including connecting them with a variety of community agencies, services and support.


Speech/Language Pathologist (SLP): SLP’s identify, evaluate, treat and diagnose communication disorders. SLPs in the school setting assist students with identified communication disorders as they pertain to academic and social achievement. SLPs can provide remediation for both articulation and language delays and disorders.


Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (ToD): A teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing provides academic instruction and social and emotional support for students who are deaf or have a hearing loss. These services are sometimes referred to as hearing services, hearing support, or TOD services. A ToD provides direct instruction and staff consultation about the unique needs of each student and the population, as well as support teachers in best practices in the classroom. Hearing Services can be broken down into three areas: accessibility, language and auditory development, and self-advocacy. It is the role of the teacher of the deaf to educate and consult with the classroom teachers to provide an accessible learning environment for the student with a hearing loss. This includes making auditory input accessible through classroom acoustics and hearing equipment, as well as making the educational content accessible by supporting the classroom teacher and previewing and reviewing vocabulary. Additionally, the ToD teaches self-advocacy skills. Students with hearing loss will typically live with a hearing loss their whole lives and will be required to advocate for themselves in life and educate others about their hearing loss and assistive equipment.


Teacher of the Visually Impaired: A teacher of the visually impaired provides instruction to students with significant vision loss, certain visual processing deficits and blindness. Typically they serve low-vision students in a general education curriculum through provision of multi-sensory based instruction (tactile, auditory, and visual) as well as use of appropriate technologies, Braille and other vision-related supports. Instruction and staff/parent consultation focus on the core curriculum (ELA, Math, Science, SS, Arts, PE), career education, independent living skills, recreation and leisure, and support maximum integration in the classroom and general school and community setting. Sometimes additional orientation and mobility training may be warranted, and the TVI would be instrumental in recommending this evaluation via the CSE. For a student whose primary disability is visual, the TVI might be assigned and fill the role of case manager.


Senior Crisis Intervention Counselor: The Sr. Crisis Intervention Counselor provides social and emotional support to students and staff with a focus on the Special Education needs, but is available for any student in need. We use various techniques to help students be able to transition through their day so they may receive the best educational experience possible. Some of the techniques we use are, TCIS – Therapeutic Crisis Intervention which we are certified instructors, Peer Mediation to help students express themselves in a positive manner, SEL – which helps students identify and label their feelings. We work with students to help overcome fears or anxiety that can be seen as defiant or irrational behavior, when in reality it is just the students way to express their feelings, so we assist the students in developing coping skills to help them handle and express themselves during stressful or crisis situations. We help to ensure that our schools are a safe and nurturing environment for all our students, we pride ourselves on working collaboratively with families and teachers to recognize obstacles students may have. As certified TCIS instructors we train staff how to safely and successfully handle dangerous situations, we also work closely with our colleagues and families to assist in developing Behavior Plans, IEP’S and other assessments. Every student goes through crisis situations in their lives, our main focus is to help students overcome the situations so that they can maintain in the school environment.


*All services can be provided directly to the student, 1:1, or in small groups up to five, generally in a therapy room, but may also include push-in services in the classroom or other flexible settings, as a co-treat with another provider, and/or consultation to the staff and parents.

* Each service can be provided as a consultation to teachers and families for strategies and materials that can facilitate the student’s participation in learning.