TSS • PCA • Psychologist • Psychiatrist

Therapeutic Staff Support

The TSS employee gives one-on-one support to children with autism, emotional disturbances and/or behavioral issues.

The main goals of the TSS are to 

• • follow a treatment plan covering social skills, behavioral rehabilitation, anger management, organizational abilities, speech, motor skills, etc.

• help the child/adolescent eliminate inappropriate, disruptive or dangerous behavior(s), 

• provide emotional support to the child, and 

• transfer skills to caregivers to help foster greater independence and socially responsible behavior. 

The TSS typically has a bachelor's degree in psychology and has passed background checks. The TSS is NOT a babysitter. The TSS does not administer medications.

Instructional paraprofessionals 

Work under the guidance of both general and special education teachers to support educational programming. Paraprofessionals may be called classroom aides, teacher assistants, instructional aides, or job coaches.

Instructional paraprofessionals have at least a high school degree and must pass all criminal and child abuse clearances.

Personal Care Assistants

PCAs provide one-to-one, non-instructional support to individual students for activities of daily living, health, behavior, etc.

PCAs have at least a high school degree and must pass all criminal and child abuse clearances.

Case Manager

The case manager is a teacher who is assigned your child.

School Psychologist

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, school psychologists are certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  Pennsylvania issues instructional certificates, educational specialist certificates, supervisory certificates, and administrative certificates. In order to be certified as a school psychologist in Pennsylvania, an individual must

• be a United States citizen, 

• attain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher as noted on a Bachelor’s or Master’s transcript, 

• pass the Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills (PPST) exam, 

• pass the School Psychology (K-12) Praxis exam (Code 0401) with a qualifying score of 150 or higher, 

• complete an approved internship experience consisting of at least 1,000 hours, 

• be recommended by an institution of higher education,

• submit appropriate application forms and fees, and

• and pass all criminal and child abuse clearances.

Difference between a psychologist and psychiatrist?

Psychiatrists are medical doctors (MDs) who graduate from medical school, have a year of medical internship, and have 3 years of residency in the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders. Because of their medical training, psychiatrists can prescribe medication.

Psychologists have a doctoral degree in an area of psychology, the study of the mind and human behavior. They’re not medical doctors. A psychologist can have a PhD in philosophy or a PsyD in clinical or counseling psychology. Typically, they do 1-2 years of internship. Unlike psychiatrists, psychologists are also trained in giving psychological tests (like IQ tests or personality tests). Psychologists in Pennsylvania cannot prescribe medications.

Both psychiatrists and psychologists are typically trained to practice psychotherapy -- talking with their patients about their problems. Psychologists look closely at your behavior. “Psychiatrists have a stronger sense of biology and neurochemistry,” says Ranna Parekh, MD, a director at the American Psychiatric Association. “Theirs is going to be a diagnosis of exclusion. For instance, before we call someone depressed, we’re going to make sure they don’t instead have some vitamin deficiency or thyroid problem.” Once they’ve made a mental health diagnosis, psychiatrists often prescribe you medicine.