Recently, I was hired by the school district as para to a 6 yr. old male child who has SBS, TBI, impaired vision in one eye, etc. His behavior is out of control. His mom insists on mainstreaming. This child is disturbing the learning of the class several times a day due to his outrageous behavior.
I need direction and am not getting it from my employer!
Please help me so I may help this child.
mamabss
Re: New Para In Need of Assistance!
Thank you for your input, Connie. I do appreciate it! There was an IEP meeting this afternoon, but I wasn’t invited to attend. Therefore, I have no knowledge as to what was going on.
I have read one previous IEP file and do not recall mention of any sort of behaviorial assessment. I shall certainly look into this matter tomorrow morning.
From what I understand, this child’s behavior was worse (for lack of a better term) last year in kindergarten. My concern is indeed for the child and his education. I have not received any sort of formal training per se’ for this position, although I did receive IEP training several years ago in regard to my grandson. I do know that this child does not like the word “no” and try to speak to him in a way that he has choices rather than use that word.
I have been informed that I am not to build a relationship with the parent(s). Apparently the para prior to me had done so and this had caused problems for the school officials.
Quite honestly, Connie, I am very aware that this school is in violation of the law regarding treatment of this child. I am somewhat aware of the IDEA law and the No Child Left Behind.
Any assistance I can receive from this forum is greatly appreciated. This child (along with others at this school that I am familiar with) is in need of advocacy.
Again, thank you.
Brenda
mamabss
First and foremost this child needs to have a functional behaviorial assessment done by a qualified behaviorist who is certified to assess and evaluate and produce a positive behavioral plan. The child is communicating his frustration, tiredness, boredom (fill in the blank) thru a behavior. This behavior just happens to be negative. What a behaviorist would do is observe the child over the course of his natural school day, this would include recess, lunch, social situation, class room, adult interactions etc. Then thru the observations the behaviorist would collect data to determine the antecedent (trigger) of the behavior. It is very important the behaviorist observe this child no less than one week in order to produce a comprehensive assessment. No disrespect but you also indicated that you have not received any training in helping this child. It is possible that you are triggering some behaviors. I would suggest to the teacher/parent that they request a functional behavioral assessment. You can do it too as a member of the IEP team, but the reality of the situation in school districts is that school staff are usually told to grin and bear it, as indicated by your last statement that your employer is not assisting you. I would talk with the parent and advise them of the situation and ask them to follow thru.