Special Education
How do the special education professionals in a school system interact with external social service organizations? This is a question that has become increasingly important as the demands on educational institutions have grown considerably over the past couple of decades and, in many cases, they do not have the financial or human resources required. I talked with the administration and special education professionals in a K-5 school to determine if they were using external services and, if so, which ones and why. Because special education covers so many areas, we decided to narrow it down to speech and language support. The school has 600 students total in all the grades. Two full-time and three part-time Speech/Language Therapists (shared between the three elementary schools) evaluate students, consult with parents and teachers, develop materials to enhance abilities and provide necessary services to those students who are identified as being dis
This diagnosis includes programmatic and therapeutic recommendations. The school has two counselors who help with normal school concerns as well as certain social problems, such as peer pressure, homework problems, disciplinary issues, etc. This improves the teachers' abilities as well as breakdown stereotypes. Also, sometimes the therapist and teacher will work closely together. These include: Psychological Services: To provide a holistic and comprehensive approach toward evaluation and program development, the psychologist provides evaluations for currently enrolled students where concerns go beyond speech and language difficulties. External consultants who give the teachers additional information through short seminars on the specific needs of the hearing/speech impaired and how to best provide services to these children. advantaged in speech/language capability. Each of the full-time therapists has a Master's Degree in their field and the part-time staff has at least a Bachelor's Degree plus experience in communication disorders. This can be for other support services, including food programs, housing, medical care, etc. In addition, the school collaborates with a team of outside services that meet as a group every two months and are called on by the Speech/Language professionals on as an-needed basis. The parents should also be a part of the educational process more than one time a year. The one area that needs additional support is in parent education and involvement. The students can potentially benefit from a more intensive level of service than is presently available in the present program. When required, additional counseling services by an area social worker. When the child is first evaluated and at regular intervals, the specialists also meet with parents.
Common topics in this essay:
Psychological Services,
,
Bachelor's Degree,
Speech/Language Therapists,
Master's Degree,
special education,
special education professionals,
education professionals,
additional information,
bi-monthly meetings,
provide services,
speech language,
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