When is a Classroom Aide not an Aide?
As parents, we strive to create opportunities for our children to think and problem-solve. We craft our communication to allow them opportunities to initiate and hold up their end of conversation. We help them to express their own ideas and participate fully in their social environment because we know that this is essential to their growth toward independence. But what happens when they go to school? What if your child is mainstreamed with an individual aide? An individual aide can sometimes prompt so much that students become 'prompt dependent' and miss opportunities to develop responsibility for their performance in the class. At worst, the aide can be a tangible symbol of the child's disability. If not handled skillfully by the teacher, this can be stigmatizing for the child. Have you experienced this with your child or witnessed it with others?
Recently I talked with a mother who thought of an inventive way to address this problem. She hired and personally trained an aide to shadow her child. She taught the aide to facilitate the "just right challenge". In other words, the aide doesn't overcompensate for the child, but also doesn't allow the child to become frustrated and overwhelmed. What is more, the aide assists all the children in the class. This child doesn't require an aide to be constantly at his side, so the aide circulates throughout the class. The mother has found that the peers in this class are more accepting and open to her son than the children had been in classes where the aide focused only on him.
This child goes to a private school that is open to new ideas. However, some elements of this arrangement can be requested in the public schools. Don't underestimate the importance of communicating your goals for your child's growing independence to the classroom aide.
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