Supports

Building principals, special education supervisors, and other administrative staff are the experts about the district and school at large. Here are a few examples of what they can do or influence:

• Staffing decisions

  • Special education teachers

  • Paraprofessionals

  • Emergency/temporary support staff

• Budget considerations

  • Knowledge of funding available for purchases

  • Authorize AT purchases

• Help problem-solve and facilitate challenging situations

  • Mediate parent/staff disagreements

  • Suggest accommodations for students

The special education case manager can be your primary contact during school hours. Here are some of the roles and responsibilities of this teacher:

• Ensuring due process compliance

  • Following IEP timelines

  • Coordinating/supervising IEP services

  • Tracking IEP goals and objectives

  • Ensuring the student is receiving the accommodations and assistive technology supports specified in the IEP

• Facilitating conversation between team members

  • Making sure the team is on the same page

The role of the DAPE teacher focuses on the student's participation in physical education.

• Promote strength and endurance

• Teach coordination skills

• Encourage participation and sportsmanship

  • Adapt physical education lessons to be more practical for students with disabilities

  • Social skills and modeling around winning/losing

The nurse is the medical expert on the team.

• Conduct, supervise, train, or coordinate medical procedures at school

  • Medication administration

  • G-tube feedings

  • Toileting procedures

• Understand student's health condition

  • Coordinate with outside medical teams

  • Consult with the team on medical concerns

The OT's role can vary from student to student, but the ultimate goal of the OT is to promote the physical functioning of the student. Roles may include:

• Fine motor skills

  • Writing (including AT)

  • Functional skills (buttoning, zipping, etc.)

• Visual-motor skills

  • Eye-tracking

  • Attending to tasks

• Gross motor skills (sometimes deferred to PT, DAPE, or other service providers)

Paraprofessionals work under the direction of licensed staff (classroom teachers, special education teachers, etc.). They have a crucial role in assisting students with daily routines and activities. Some students may need very little (if any) paraprofessional support while others will have a paraprofessional with them throughout the school day. Here are some of their roles:

• Provide physical assistance to the student as needed

  • Bathroom cares

  • Feeding

  • Dressing

  • Mobility

• Help the student access (or help the student learn to advocate for access to) materials

  • Reaching items physically inaccessible to the student

  • Helping the student learn how to phrase requests for assistance

• Facilitate peer interactions if ever necessary

  • Teasing or bullying situations, etc.

• Observe and take data as instructed by licensed staff

• Report to licensed staff

  • Problems, suggestions, etc.

Although often overlooked, parents or guardians are the true experts of their children.

• Knowledge of the student's disability and medical history

• Insight into student behaviors

• Have the most "at stake" regarding the future of the student

This is a licensed teacher who is likely in an itinerant position. He or she may be contracted through an intermediate school district. Here are some of the rolls:

• Collaborate with general education teachers, special education teachers, and other members of the team to see what is going well and what may be interfering with student learning

• Conduct observations and check-ins with students with physical or health impairments

• Provide AT or accommodation suggestions as necessary

The PT's role is to work on gross motor, positioning, and other skills to mitigate the physical impact of the student's disability.

• Gross motor skills

  • Mobility (including AT and other adaptations)

  • Flexibility/range of motion

  • Promoting independence in

• Activities of daily living

  • Promoting student independence

  • Training staff for identified procedures (toileting, feeding, range of motion, etc.).

The school psychologist may only play a very limited role in the student's team (such as facilitating the evaluation process). Here are some of the psychologist's general duties:

• Assess the student (as required)

• Write evaluation reports (as required)

• Communicate with the family regarding educational evaluations

• Interpret assessment results for the IEP team (as needed)

• Help brainstorm solutions to frequently occurring problems

The social worker serves as the link between the family, school, and community resources. The social worker may:

• Provide families with referrals to community resources

• Collaborate with families and staff to help problem-solve any roadblocks encountered by the team

• In some instances, the social worker may also provide social skills lessons to a student, group of students, or an entire class.

The SLP helps with any aspect of communication, including receptive or expressive language.

• Expressive language

  • Programming and training on AAC devices

  • Articulation therapy

• Receptive language

  • Verbal and non-verbal pragmatics

The student can be an invaluable contributor to the IEP team.

• He or she knows his or her own strengths, weaknesses, and desires

• Consulting with the student may help his or her self-advocacy skills