Transcript School Counselors’ Role in Special Education

School Counselors’ Role in
Special Education
Julie Vazquez Dixon
Branden Hackney
Megan Kingsley
IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Ensures individuals suffering from
disabilities receive appropriate
education in least restrictive
environment
 Requires public schools to develop
Individualized Education Plans (IEP)
that outline specific special
education and related services to
meet needs of individual students
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IEP
Must be developed by team of
knowledgeable persons and
reviewed annually
 If parent disagrees with IEP, they
can request a due process hearing
or appeal a state’s decision
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504
States that no individual in US with
a disability should be excluded from,
denied benefits of, or subjected to
discrimination under any program or
activity receiving federal funding
 Considers child as having a disability
if that child functions as though
disabled
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Differences between
IDEA and 504
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504 is a civil rights statue; IDEA is federal
programmatic statue
IDEA receives federal funds; 504 does not
All students who qualify for IDEA are
automatically covered under 504
Some students do not qualify for IDEA
but do qualify for 504
Students who qualify for 504 receive
accommodations in regular classroom
IDEA Eligibility
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Autism
Deaf-blindness
Developmental Delay
Emotional Disturbance
Hearing Impairments
Learning Disabilities
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Mental Retardation
Multiple Disabilities
Orthopedic Impairments
Other Health Impairments
Speech or Language
Impairments
Traumatic Brain Injury
504 Eligibility
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Child must have identified physical
or mental condition that
substantially limits major life
activity:
Walking
 Seeing
 Hearing
 Speaking
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 Breathing
 Learning
 Working
 Caring for self
504 Examples
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Includes:
communicable diseases
 temporary disabilities
 allergies
 asthma
 illness due to the environment
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School Counselor’s Role
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Defined by ASCA:
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Advocacy
Transition planning
Behavior modification
Counseling parents
Making referrals to specialists
Improving self-esteem
Working as part of the school multidisciplinary team
Teaching social skills
Serving as consultants to parents and school staff
Consultation Role
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Multidisciplinary team approach
Mandated by IDEA when identifying students
with special needs
Team members must include:
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parents, classroom teacher(s), the special education
teacher, a school psychologist (or an individual who can
interpret evaluation results), an administrator with the
authority to make decisions
may include:
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speech and language clinician, a physical and/or
occupational therapist, a school counselor, and other
professionals.
Offering “Related Services”
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Example: If social skills are inhibiting
academic progress, then social skills
should be identified on the Individualized
Education Program (IEP) as the skill area
affected by the disability.
IDEA does not require that a student
obtain a psychiatric diagnosis to be
eligible to receive related services.
Counseling is referred to as a related
service under IDEA
Duplication of Services
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Students with disabilities who are
involved in counseling activities are
getting double services, once from special
education and another time from the
counselor.
Some school counselors make it a point
not to actively counsel students with
disabilities because they feel that they
are already getting services from special
education and that special education
students are not on their caseload
Case Study- ADHD
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A first year teacher comes to you in
despair because of the behaviors of an
extremely hyperactive student in her
classroom. She has tried to be patient
with the student but is at her whit’s end.
She has not contacted parents yet and
the student has not been tested for ADHD
but you think it might be a good idea.
What do you do? What strategies do you
suggest for the teacher?
Working with ADHD
Students
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Remember, you can NOT suggest
that the child be tested for ADHD…
you and your school could be sued
and have to pay for the
testing/treatment
Functions of ADHD related
behaviors
Avoid/escape tasks
 Gain adult or peer attention
 Gain access to an object or activity
 Sensory stimulation
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DePaul, G & Eckert, T. (1997). Interventions for students with attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder: One size does not fit all. School Psychology
Review, 26, 369-382.
Strategies for ADHD
Students
Establish clear rules
 1-2-3 Warnings
 2 minute notices
 Behavior Picture
 Catch good behavior
 Time Limits
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http://www.familyeducation.com/whatworks/item/groupindex/0,2554,1-9126,00.html?detoured=1
Case Study- Autism
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Michael is a high-functioning student with autism in the
7th grade. He is currently being mainstreamed and
receives resource services through his Language Arts class
(a resource teacher in addition to the regular ed. teacher).
Recently, the regular ed. teacher Ms. Kingsley reported to
you that Michael has been retreating into his own world
more and more. This is not new behavior but it seems to
be occurring more often and it is starting to affect his
performance in class. The resource teacher Ms. Dixon
reports that he is a very bright student, but has difficulty
making friends because he is lacking in social skills. In
fact, the science teacher Mr. Hackney reports that Michael
eats lunch with him every day.
What do you do? What strategies do you suggest for all of
the teachers involved with Michael?
Suggestions for Social
Stories
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Social Stories should…
Be in the first person, and if possible,
use the client as the main character.
 Be specific to the situation a child is
facing.
 Be succinct
 Include what not to do (behavior that is
occurring) and options for what they
can do instead.
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Social Stories
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The use of social stories was developed
by Carol Gray for use with children with
autism spectrum disorders including
Asperger’s Syndrome. These stories
are used to teach children appropriate
social behaviors (safety, self-care,
manners, behavior in specific settings,
sharing, etc.) by providing them with real
life social situations and appropriate
responses.
Case Study- Transitions
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Branden is beginning his senior of high school.
Since 4th grade he has been attributed
accommodations do to an IEP. As he grew in
the educational system, his accommodations
also progressed to reflect new needs. Entering
high school, a meeting was set up to once again
assess his IEP.
Now in his senior year, Branden is preparing for
college and is concerned about his disability. He
and his parents have scheduled an appointment
to speak with one of his teachers, Mrs. Vasquez,
and his school counselor, Ms. Kingsley. What
should they do?
Important Aspects
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Facilitate the development of a plan of
action
Help with understanding the disability
Empowering the student to seek help and
to advocate for himself
Be accessible to advocate or facilitate
understanding between all involved
parties (family, student, the future place
of higher education).