PARAEDUCATORS IMPACT ON INDEPENDENT LIVING

Schooling is a big part of a person's independence. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires schools to provide needed accommodations and modifications to students with disabilities to enable equal access to education. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students with disabilities receive free appropriate public education specific to their needs.

Disabilities that students have vary and can include learning disabilities, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, communication disorders, emotional disabilities, developmental disabilities, etc.

It's important to understand that not everyone with a disability requires the same accommodations. For example, not everyone with a learning needs the same accommodations, not everyone with a physical disability (for example spina bifida) needs the same accommodations and not everyone with autism needs the same accommodations etc.

Often times enabling a student with a disability to have equal access to education requires having a Paraeducator in the student's classrooms. Paraeducators can be a crucial part of a student's education. They don't just provide one on one service to their student(s) teaching a specific subject. Paraeducators have many different roles. A paraeducator may work in special education classrooms, resource rooms or in mainstream classrooms.

Each student has different goals. Their goals are identified in their IEP’s (Individualized Education Program). The assistance that the paraeducator provides varies from student to student based upon those goals. The goals often times include adjusting lesson plans to meet the student's needs, providing social and emotional support, providing physical assistance as well as many other things.

When paraeducators work with their student(s) in the mainstream classes they often times work with students who don't have disabilities. They may need to work with other students to redirect them and keep them on task at the same time they are working with their student(s) on de-escalation when they are upset.