Do 1on1 aides cause dependency--(another) bogus SD argument?

pepperidge

New Member
Hi

Just doing some further thinking for my 504 vs. IEP meeting coming up on Thursday (see previous posts, Martie and Sheila, thanks alot!) . One of the arguments the SD director trots out for not having 1 on 1 aides is that they lead to dependency.

I see that the regs called for interventions supported by research. Now I bet there is no research one way or the other on this topic. And I would think that the easiest comeback to give is well, not if you have properly trained aides who are given instruction on how to assist children with LDs. In addition the aides who worked with my other son last year would often incorporate another child or two into the small group work so that it would be less like my son was being singled out.

Have any of you run into this argument? Any snappy answers?

Fed up.

Thanks
Chris
 

dreamer

New Member
If they get a 1-1 like they gave my dtr, I doubt it would cause dependance.
If you DO get one, watch for antagonistic ones. Seems the 1-1 my dtr had pushed every single trigger possible on a daily basis for my dtr. And was late coming to school every morning, often not arriving till the day was already in a downward spiral. And then my dtr got excluded by the school for any events her 1-1 could not be there for. (field trips, sport events, dances etc) becuz the school said if she needed 1-1 for class, she needed one for lunch, bathroom etc and if the aide could not be there, then neither could my dtr.

So, IF you DO get one, make sure to have it spelled out very specifically exactly what you want/expect.
 

Sheila

Moderator
It's a common statement from the sd usually because of the cost. Dependancy can occur if the aide isn't appropriately trained. Ask for a paraprofessional instead.

So yea, when they say "no" to an aide, agree. What difficult child needs is a paraprofessional.
 

FlowerGarden

Active Member
I don't have any comebacks for you but I do want to explain about aides/paraprofessionals.

I was a 1 on 1 aide for a girl for a year. This was way before the No Child Left Behind Act. It did not cause dependency. She only had the aide for one year before moving to another program. The teacher did ask me if it was ok to put a couple of the other kids that needed guidance at my table even though it wasn't my responsibility. I agreed and it was nice for the girl that I was assigned. Since my job was no longer, I took a job working as a lunch aide. I put my name on the substitute list for instructional aide and have subbed quite often.

Now I am looking for a paraprofessional position. I took the paraprofessional test which, as long as you pass, you are a paraprofessional. Being a paraprofessional DOESN'T mean that a person is qualified to deal with a child that has learning disabilities or behavioral problems. It only means that the person has knowledge of your basic math and language skills, and some knowledge of asking children the proper questions about what they are studying.

We have many 1 on 1 paraprofessionals in our school. I have never seen any of the kids become dependent on them. We have some classroom paraprofessionals also. They help the teacher because there are many kids in the class and the teacher needs help in keeping everyone on track.

We have ABA therapists that work 1 on 1 with the autistic children. They rotate every few days so that every child gets used to dealing with different people and that the ABA therapist does not get too stressed out. Rotating is the best situation I have seen. To me, it takes away the issue of dependency & the problem of having your child "stuck" with someone you don't think is work out.

If you do get an aide, the school should have a substitute list so that your child does not miss out on things.
 

Martie

Moderator
Chris,

I did a quick search of scholarly journals.

The search terms I used were paraprofessionals X student dependency.

Only the article below came up. Teaching Exceptional Children is NOT scholarly but it can be practical. The citation list includes several textbooks (which is bad). This is probably a report on a "how to do something" It is not a research study in my opinion that is what is meant by "evidence based practices."

By crossing two terms, one doesn't "prove" nothing exists but if I crossed Learning Disability (LD) with reading, thousands of articles would come up. Getting only one suggests there s not a lot out there.

by the way, "proving" dependency or not would be very difficult to do ethically. An IRB would be unlikely to approve any study I can think of off the top of my head.

Martie

Title: TREK to Student Independence.
Authors: Abernathy, Tammy V.1 [email protected]
Cheney, Christine O.1
Source: Teaching Exceptional Children; Jan/Feb2005, Vol. 37 Issue 3, p52-57, 6p, 6 diagrams
 

'Chelle

Active Member
From the standpoint of a parent with a difficult child with an aide in class, it does anything but create dependency. The one who gets dependent is the teacher in my opinion, because in my difficult child's case they use the aide's assistance for other classroom reasons as well. My difficult child hates having an aide, and if you ask him he does NOT want one. Having one makes him different, and the last thing kids want is to be seen to be even more different when they already have problems. He doesn't use the aide, last year he didn't like her making him even less likely to use her help, so the aide has little to do in the class and thus is available to help the teacher. He automatically qualifies for one here because of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis. As dreamer said, if you do get one watch for signs that the aide is a good one, and push for a change if they don't seem to get along. My difficult child was going to get the same one as last year, and I said please NO at the spring meeting and then just before school started and YAY it worked and he's gotten one that he had 2 years ago and he just loves this guy and likes his new teacher, hence so far he's having a great year.
 

dreamer

New Member
my dtrs aide was for social-emotional reasons not academic help- but sadly my dtrs aide was instigating, intrusive, adversarial to my dtr. The reason for the aide for my dtr was to help calm her....but instead the aide triggered her- OFTEN and was verbally abusive. even bully-ish.- if and when she was there.

It is good and wise to make sure everyone has the same expectations and reasons for having the aide, that it is all spelled out- in writing.....make sure parental expectations and childs needs are clearly spelled out. Our 1-1 did not go thru halls with my dtr nor to lunch, BUT then school decided aide HAD to go to BATHROOM with my dtr- and then they progressed to even being IN the stall with my dtr....even tho my dtr had never um...had a problem in bathroom. I argued if my dtr needed a 1-1 in bathroom, then why did she NOT need one in halls or during lunch?
Also have some kind of "plan" to follow up to make certain the aide is working out. a way to check on if it is helping or not.
For my dtr I still do think a mentor type 1-1 would have been a huge help- but the final straw for my dtr was when her 1-1 stood up in middle of HS classroom and screamed very loud, BUFFY YOU HAVE BUGS< OMG< LICE for everyone to hear.
(and 1-1 took her to nurse and ........nope- dtr did NOT have lice, BUT the damage was done)
 
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