Personal Assistants for Studentsby Lyn Newton | More from this Blogger 20 Dec 2007 04:49 PM The public school system provides many services for its students. Some of these services are academic related and some are not. Some services provided by the public school system are home related. Others are health related. The public schools can provide free lunch for students, hearing and vision exams, and in some cases even medication. In addition to having different services in the public school system, there are also different levels of students. Some students are in a regular classroom and receive a regular education. Other students receive what we normally call "special services". In most cases, people think of special services only going to children who are falling behind academically. They remember how the children were once pulled from the classroom to attend another class where special help was given. However, these are not the only children who receive services. One service that is occasionally provided to children is the aide of a personal assistant. Some children have a staff member that stay with them all day long. These assistants sit with them in the classroom, attend special activities with the students, and even eat lunch with them. I feel that personal assistants for students are becoming much more common now than they were in the past. Schools are now using personal assistants to meet IEP requirements and goals. Parents are now aware that an assistant is a possibility and they are more commonly asking for one for their children. I know of several schools in which two or even three staff members were hired as personal assistants for children. The assistants may begin with children as young as kindergarten and can possibility continue through high school. Each year the need of the assistant is revaluated for the child. In some cases, it is decided that the child no longer needs an assistant. Learn more about Lyn Newton  Lyn is a kindergarten teacher and mommy to a girl and a boy. In her spare time, she enjoys informative and creative writing. Relevanteducation tags User Comments rajesh (25) 12 Sep 2008 10:32 AMYes, it is a good idea. Can take cue from www.K5Stars.com also. Lauronimo (5) 02 Feb 2009 05:36 PMI do agree with you 100%. The use of TA's (teacher assistants) or personal assistance has definitly increased over the past several years, and this could be do to several difference reasons. I for one am a TA for a child who is classified "other health impaired". Although he has not been officially diagnosed with a specific disability, I can tell you he has ADHD and oppositional difiance. My issues with what I have seen in my years of doing this is two fold. The first is whether or not more children have learning difficulties than in previous year, or if more children are being diagnosed then in previous years. My concern is that these "diagnosis" much being over used. I am more than sure that a vast majority of students are fully deserving of the assistance they receive, however there are also many who do not. I have seen children classified that do not need to be. I don't know if it a lack of assistance at home from parents but children who seem to have no work ethic and lack the desire to do work are being diagnosed with ADHD at a rapid rate. I have seen several students, a few of whom I worked with, who do not need the personal assistance they are receiving, they just lack motivation and work ethic. It is said to say but I believe parents are using ADHD and other issues as excuses for their children. Community Tags special services for students, students with special needs, students with assistants Discuss this article
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