Our year thirteen starts at the start of what we can only assume is the flurry of chaos before chaos unlocks all the doors. We are prepared to answer the stand for the students with disabilities and students in public education in general.
To be clear, we will always advocate for students with disabilities. We advocate for students to get access to information like their general education peers. We advocate for opportunities at their campuses to be included with their general education peers. We advocate for education for students with disabilities. We advocate for all students because one day they will inherit the community where we live. We advocate for education because, without education, the knowledge that has existed for years goes away and becomes mystical and only known to a select few. Education is not an equalizer as much as a reminder of all the good we have the potential to create in the world.
We advocate for all students because one day they will inherit the community where we live.
ParaEducate
Students with disabilities are not an afterthought nor are they just to be left to situations that are not of their own making. Education is not the least we can do, it is the expectation that every educator moves to provide for each student.
Education is not the least we can do, it is the expectation that every educator moves to provide for each student.
Curriculum and Expectations
The issues that special educators face are mildly different and yet equally demanding compared to the demands within general education.
There was a question at the last SIP program we heard, “Who is responsible for knowing the standards in a grade-level classroom?” The only correct answer is: both the special educator and the general education teacher. The challenge is that the Special education teacher must know all the standards of the grade levels taught at the campus. The good news is that, within most standards, at least following Common Core State Standards, it is entirely possible to know all of the standards. But the magic of special education and what always drew Renay to special education, was knowing how to build in more scaffolds to make part of the lessons accessible.
Well, why would this matter? Knowing how to get to a place and what that outcome can be matters to the eventual outcomes for most students with disabilities. It is the indirect communication that a student is capable of a skill, especially essential basic skills like reading and counting.
For most students, not believing they can is both an internal struggle and one that school adults sometimes believe they are not ready for. And it can be a vicious cycle.
Where Do We Go From Here?
First, we would like to return to our weekly school year blog post starting for the 2025-2026 academic year. Since 2021, Renay has pushed us to a monthly schedule mostly to accommodate her completion of a Master’s Degree. This also gave Renay the space to move into the changes that can happen while one has a new career path. Returning us to the weekly blog post will allow us to address more of our common issues as we go across the academic year and not just deal with the big bandaids to keep folks through the year.
We also want to spend a little more time thinking about the places where we do not think about academics—PE, Arts, social opportunities, and some other things that kids with disabilities typically struggle with or shine with. Because the range is not a line but a target for each skill. Giving those opportunities means that someone else can see the student’s best moments.
Just A Final Word
If you have never had the opportunity to consider what it is like those first few hours when you get a student a more complex AAC device, consider something more like iPads and Dynovox, and that first time the student goes through and chooses a phrase independently. Renay has had several different AAC systems taught to her, but a week ago, a student got his first set of high-tech words and Renay showed him a few familiar vocabulary cues, but introduced him to the place where the student could introduce himself. Renay helped the class transition to a social activity. The first thing this student did, was run up to a trusted peer and tell them his name. The peer did the only thing a kid could do—hug their friend.
Sure, the peer knew the student’s name already. But now, the students could state it for themselves and the peer knew what that little independence was showing them. That minute the student had was just as important as the first time these two students met back when the school year began.
As we should remember…
ParaEducate is a company training paraeducators to work with students with disabilities in TK-12 inclusive settings. We provide information, materials, and strategies to people working in special education. Our blog is published during the academic school year. We share our findings at conferences, through books, and our academic adaptations.
We have been trusted for the last thirteen years. Thank you for your continued support, and we hope for the best for the next thirteen years.
Do you have any comments about this month’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, and on our website. ParaEducate is a company providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published once a month during the academic school year. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
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