Terry: Can a person other than a social worker or counselor provide social and emotional service hours for a students IEP? Are there IDEA regs that state a social worker needs a certain level of license to fulfill IEP hours? I know many school districts require social workers to be licensed but I am wondering if IDEA requires this as well. If not, can any behavioral aide complete social and emotional IEP hours as long as that person is listed on the IEP?
I have a 17 year old daughter diagnosed with Autism. She is mainstreamed, and continues to have Social/Emotional Deficits, along with Pragmatic Speech and Language Deficits. Is the school responsible/obligated to provide social/emotional skills training? If so, how? Is the school obligated to assist this mainstream teenager with establishing authentic relationship as our pleas have fell upon deaf ears, since she first attended school? If she is on track to graduate in 2023, how could we keep her in school a few more years to hopefully benefit from the gift of maturity over time (we pray)? She is academically sharp, but socially and emotionally not close to her typical peers, despite having splinter skills as a high functioning teenager with autism?
Courts have ruled that social skills can be an educational need for a child with a disability. Your state parent training & information project can assist you with information & help in working with your district. http://www.parentcenterhub.org
Terry please clarify this for me if you can.
I am a Sp Ed TA from Virginia. I have a third grade Autistic Student who is supposed to come out of self contain placement for 30 minutes a day. It is during Math class but there are other periods that could have been considered. For the first three plus months she didn’t work with him. The gen ed teacher, bless her heart would work on some math problems with him. Of course that did not help with social/emotional skills but she refused to ignore him. Now the sp ed teacher has changed her schedule so she is not even in the room with him. Our Assistant Principal is trying to find out if I, as a Teacher Assistant, can just administer his services on my own with just the general ed teacher in the room.
He has been in the building for three years, he used to run out of class, around the building. He used to spit, kick and hit. He had been doing great. Now he is regressing and the new AP who is a new Ap and new to SP ED seems to think that I can fulfill the same role as a teacher.
Part 1 of 2.
Terry, you don’t mention your role, your state or info about the child you work with, so I’ll explain what the law requires. Eligible children with disabilities are entitled to special education & related services. Related services are intended to enable the child to receive a free appropriate public education as described in the child’s IEP.
Counseling services & social work services are related services. IDEA defines counseling services as “services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, or other qualified personnel.”
Part 2
Does the behavioral aide meet the criteria as “qualified personnel”?
I don’t know where you work. Suggest that you check your state special ed regulations. You may get a more helpful answer to your question if you contact your state PTI – the staff are an excellent resource. http://www.parentcenterhub.org