How do I get an aide in the classroom?

I don’t think you are entitled to an aide, no matter where you are. My son has dyslexia and CAPD also and certianly could use one too (as could his teacher) but noone has so much as mentioned it. My impression is that it is only kids who are really severe who have them. We are going through the paper work to get a sound field system installed and one of the criteria was the amount of one on one help he requires. Perhaps an FM system or sound field system would help your son stay on track also.

We have two kids in parochial school and our LD son in public. He was very upset at first but has adjusted.

Beth

…beggars would ride….If he is not a “behavior” problem or has a “medical condition” of the magnitude of a severe impairment like autism…you won’t get an aide…I wanted someone like that for my daughter back in 3rd grade but they said NO she gets an FM device and speech services and that is it..no aide

Have you thought about ADD and CAPD co-morbidity? I have been doing lots of research lately into both of these disorders. There is a very strong correlation between them. i came across a study that showed the propermedication improved auditory attention in children in the Journal of Learning Disabilities volume 24 Number 10 December 1991 pp. 630-36.

A FM device will help with auditory attention and memory but will not keep him on task. I would look into his distractibility and inability to stay on task what is causing this behavior? Perhaps a continuous performance test would be beneficial to see how well he is able to focus for an extended period of time and perhaps he may need to see a specialist to see if he has both ADD and CAPD and provide behavior modification strategies.

Make sure that public school isn’t worse than no help at the parochial school. You may want todo something even more creative like doing some intensive tutoring in skills if that’s the issue, even taking out of school at least part of the day to do it (if he’s already working hard, adding intensive remediation doesn’t exactly make things easier). Or, can you be that “aide” if his needs are more organizational?

Receiving fed assistance simply means the school has to follow federal laws about things like disability access. Being a private school, they do not have to provide special ed services at their expense, and the public schools simply have to make that “free appropriate education” *available,* and it is at that public school (or at least on paper it is… the reality may well be different.)

Public schools are not required to provide an aide to students. Private schools aren’t even required to provide an special services to your child. Those come from your neighborhood public school. Where I teach aides are considered more restrictive than a self-contained classroom. I really thought that sounded insane until I fought long and hard to get one of my students an aide. Please, think long and hard before pressuring your school to provide an aide for your child. Having an aide impacts independence and social skills, which are most important skills to have in adult life. It makes a child stick out like a sore thumb in class, makes the classroom teacher less accountable to your child, and makes your childs peer interactions much less. The child becomes dependent of the aide and doesn’t need to rely on their peers or classroom teachers for anything. The parent in this situatioin very much wishes they would have never done it in the first place. It has made things a lot harder on their child.

If your child really protests changing schools, I would really look into specialized tutoring.