Debbie: My 3rd grade autistic son has a full-time Staff Assistant with him. In 2nd grade, it was the same Staff Assistant all day. In 3rd grade, he had a new Staff Assistant every hour. So that’s 6 different Staff Assistants with him each day. He has struggled with the inconsistent assistance. I know I can’t dictate which Staff Assistant(s) work with him but 6/day seems REALLY excessive to me. Can I do anything to limit the number of Staff Assistants/day?
Of course you can try to influence this! You can work on it informally through the principal or any ally you may have found in the school; you can try to introduce some parameters in his IEP. Based on your experience with your son’s school, you should decide which approach to try first.