_Click here: The Changing Role Of The One To One Aide - Autism
Spectrum
Disorders_ (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48473.asp)


The Changing Role Of The One To One Aide
_Bonnie Sayers_
(http://www.bellaonline.com/about/AutismSpectrumDisorders)


My son Matthew has had the same aide for five years now. The term
and
meaning of this service personnel has changed over the years within
the Los Angeles
Unified School District (LAUSD). For two years he was in a special
day class
(SDC) which has a variety of disabled students and now in his third
year of
an autism class at another Elementary school.

At one time they were called one to one aides or one on one aides.
Then it
changed to temporary support assistant (TSA) with the title now
referred to as
Additional Adult Assistance (AAA). There is also the term health
care
assistant (HCA), which performs authorized medical procedures in
addition to those
of a special education assistant. They require training certificates
as well
like first aid and CPR.

Positions can range in hours from 4, 6 or 8, depending on the length
of the
school day and if the student rides the bus. It will need to be
written into
the IEP that the student needs the assistant for the bus rides. The
transportation page of the IEP has a section for related services and
codes for health
care assistant on bus, assistant for bus or a licensed vocational
nurse for
the bus.

There are sections of the behavior support plan that is also part of
the IEP
that are listing who reports and observes the behavior. The
assistant can be
listed here as the person responsible. For establishing and
maintaining the
plan the assistant is also listed as another professional who will
utilize
the reinforcer.


Special Education classes have classroom assistants that are not
assigned to
any children, but work with everyone in the class. This can be
called a
baseline assistant, classroom aide or teacher's assistant. Depending
on the
number of students there may be more than one of these assistants,
as is the case
for Matthew's classroom.

Another issue to consider and add into the IEP is the policy for
when the
assistant is absent or on vacation and the need for a substitute
assistant.
This is an example of the _substitute policy for LAUSD_
(http://sped.lausd.net/sepg2s/pdf/referenceguides/REF-1253.2.pdf) .
This is the reference guide for
documenting the need for _additional assistance_
(http://sped.lausd.net/sepg2s/pdf/referenceguides/REF-2481.0.pdf)
for students with behavioral and/or
health concerns.

A parent wanting to request an aide should read this five page pdf
document
to gain insights into what should be written into the IEP and
discuss ahead
of time with the teacher on how this process works. The major
difference from
years ago is that this is meant to be a service for the student and
not a
specific person assigned to them. You will need to specify what
portions of the
day the assistance is needed and what supports are needed. An
alternate plan
for when the assistant is absent needs to be noted.

The nurse sends home notes that refer to the AAA as a health
assistant and
she verbally uses this term when speaking to me. At the last IEP
meeting I
inquired to whether the AAA was also a health assistant, which is
not the case.

Matthew's current IEP states the following:

Additional Support - Additional Assistance for behaviors that
including,
fleeing from the classroom, scratching others, pulling on others
hair, pulling
on others clothes, scratching himself and lack of communication.

An AA will provide services throughout the instructionalday
including lunch
and recess. The AA will continually work with Matthew to work
independently
on tasks that he can master without prompting and cueing.

AA to inform Matthew when AA will take a break and leave an activity
for him
to work on. Additional assistance to cover when AA goes on her
breaks or is
absent from work.

AA to assist with behavioral, toileting and academic needs.

This was an amended IEP done in November of 2006 since Matthew was
running
out of the classroom when the assistant was on break or absent and I
wanted
that to be reflected in his _behavior support plan_
(http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art34699.asp) . The annual IEP
held in June of 2006 stated the
following:

Supports - recess, lunch, fieldtrips, assemblies, library, computer
lab

Responsible staff - special day program/AUT teacher, AA, baseline
assistant

Additional supports - appropriate trained staff for behavioral
support

The annual 2005 IEP stated the following:

Supports - Matthew needs a AAA who is closely focused on Matthew's
growth
and ability to succeed in a new environment. He needs visual support
systems in
place so that he can benefit from different experiences.

Responsible Staff - General Education Teacher, Special Education
Teacher, AAA

Additional Supports - AAA to support desired behaviors at school and
implementation of communication system, visual schedule and picture
cues for
requesting.

Teacher and AAA to review program on a daily basis.

Give Matthew opportunities to rerquest assistance from more staff
throughout
the school day.

Modifications - AAA to support desired behaviors at school and
implementation of communication system including ESY

The 2004 IEP mentioned the following:

Supports - to mainstream into general education classes, Matthew
needs a
1-on-1 support assistant who is closely focused on Matthew's growth
and ability
to succeed in a new environment. He needs visual support system in
place so
that he can benefit from different experiences.

Responsible Staff - general education teacher, special education
teacher,
TSA assistant

Instructional Accommodations - repetition of instruction, rephrasing
questions, redirection to activities, modeling of task,
reinforcement and visual
cues to modify behavior. Visual learning strategies and sensory
input (sensory
diet) with support from TSA.

Additional Supports - TSA - bus, school and playground - PECS cards
and
communication system.

He will have the support of a consistent TSA who will assist
throughout the
school day. The assistant will help with self-help skills, insure
safety and
help Matthew to access all areas of the curriculum.

The behavior support plan back then was a different format.
Modifications
and suopport in the school/classroom environment - Temporary Support
Assistant
in all areas of the school, on the bus, on field trips and in the
bathroom
and cafeteria. Use of visual supports for transitioning and choice
making.
Modeling, quiet environment. Use of verbal visual and physical
prompts.
Redirection to task. Repetition.

As you can see from these past IEPs the terminology and descriptions
has
changed a lot over the years. After looking over these past IEPs I
tend to like
the way things were before these changes as it spelled everything
out more
clearly.

Some of the pros for having an assistant for your child is the
personal care
for toileting, they can facilitate peer interaction, promoting
social
skills, can provide supervision at recess time.

The negatives are that the assistant becomes the tutor and can end
up doing
their own curriculum, an unnecessary dependence on the assistant
that can
interfere with peer interactions. Many of them are not properly
trained, can
have detrimental effects, as the goal is for the student/child to
achieve
independence. In many cases the least qualified staff member is
assisting the most
complex person. This also can result in lower levels of teacher
involvement,
which should be the same level of attention for everyone in the
classroom.

An assistant should be there to support the child and not to teach
the
child. The teacher is the one who fills out the communication
notebook between
parent and school. I personally feel that after a few years the
assistant should
be changed. I have been trying to accomplish this for over a year
now with
no result as there is a lack of available assistants to fill the
position.

Last school year as I arrived at the classroom with both my sons for
the
parent-teacher conference I was informed that the assistant wanted
to be there
as well. Instead of this being a conference about my child it was a
teaching
session to the assistant on how to handle Matthew's behaviors. I
have
repeatedly suggested using short, simple commands of only a few words
and to do one
direction at a time. This is even mentioned in one of the guidelines
through
LAUSD. I called the Assistant Principal to complain about this
ambush and felt
that I should have been consulted beforehand.

While attending a meeting where the presentation was on the role of
the AAA
I asked the speaker about that incident and she said it should not
have taken
place. When I repeated this feedback to the Assistant Principal in
November
I was told to put in writing to the teacher on the parent-teacher
conference
form that I did not want the assistant there. She missed the point I
was
making that I should not have to take that step since it is a parent-
teacher
conference.

Consider whether you want the assistant to be part of the therapies
at
school. I prefer Matthew to work with the OT and SLP without the
assistant and
feel it is not necessary. For Adaptive PE they have combined the
sessions with
an MR class and the aide is needed as there is some waiting to be
done and
they are not in the classroom but outside.

A few years ago at the other Elementary school this same assistant
was used
to help with the state testing of the general education students.
This caused
a change in his routine with no advance warning or visual support to
comprehend why his assistant showed up at lunchtime. Luckily it only
happened for
two days, otherwise I would have sent a letter with my complaint to
the school
district. The next year they did not utilize the assistant.

There is a book that will help guide you in what the
paraprofessional can do
in the classroom with examples, forms and a listing of common errors
that
take place. This is a training manual for professionals and a useful
tool for
parents.





_LAUSD Paraprofessional Handbook_
(http://sped.lausd.net/sepg2s/pdf/guides/paraprohandbook0607.pdf) -
a 38 page pdf file that is worth perusing and
printing specific pages.

_Required Paraprofessional Institute, LAUSD_
(http://dse-web.lausd.k12.ca.us/sepg2s/pd/crupp/cmncita/index.htm)

_One to One Aides in the Classroom_
(http://www.woodsmalllawgroup.com/articles-onetoneaide.html) -
Woodsmall Law Group

_Education Assistant, Santa Clara County Office of Education_
(http://www.sccoe.k12.ca.us/jobopps/jobdescriptions/06EducationAssista
nt_SpecialEd.htm) -
this is a good example of the job description and duties for this
professional.


_Teacher Assistants_
(http://www.gov.pe.ca/educ/index.php3?number=80808&lang=E) - this is
in Prince Edward Island, Canada


_LAUSD Job openings_ (http://www.seiu99.net/clearinghouse/view.asp)


_Teacher Assistant and Aide Career Overview_
(http://www.careeroverview.com/teachers-assistant-careers.html)

_Safety In The Autism Classroom_
(http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46053.asp)


_Click here: Sabersfun!_ (http://sabersfun.tripod.com/)


_Click here: Join Us_
(http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?
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"truly wonderful, the mind of a child is"
Yoda
"A son is a boy that bears a striking resemblance
to a dream come true"
L.N. Mallory

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