A brief introduction to this important issue:

The Role of Paraprofessionals in the Classroom

"May this issue applaud your efforts and support you with new resources and ideas. " -

Carol Gray, Editor

Change can be relied upon to teach that which is very obvious with speed and precision. Inclusion, for example, taught us that a special education teacher couldn't be in four classrooms at once. This, of course, was a disappointment; the special education teacher was busy in the second grade and needed at the same time by students in three other classrooms. School districts responded by employing instructional assistants to help: paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals make it possible for teachers, speech therapists, and other professionals to be many places at once. Specifically, it enables them to be in the one place that is ultimately the most important: directly assisting a student with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).

Even a teacher's most detailed objectives and lesson plans cannot predict the challenges, successes, situations, and dilemmas of each student's day. On the front lines of a student's educational program, paraprofessionals frequently rely on their own creativity, common sense, problem solving, and empathy. Herein change holds another lesson: paraprofessionals need background information and training to effectively "think on their feet" to foster a student's learning and successfully meet the challenges of their multifaceted role.

In the effort to quickly provide a student with needed support in the classroom, a school district may interview applicants for a position one day - and employ the new paraprofessional in the classroom the next. There is little time, opportunity, or resources for training - resulting in teachers who are frustrated, paraprofessionals who feel unprepared and uncertain, and parents who feel understandably apprehensive, or at very best, hopeful. Jennifer Twachtman-Reilly's article. Paraprofessionals: A View from Both Sides of the Millennium, on pages 2-4 of this issue, highlights the frustration and possible situations that can occur when information and training follows - rather than precedes - employment of a paraprofessional in the classroom.

Students with ASD need paraprofessionals who understand their disorder and individual needs. There is perhaps no disorder more prone to be misunderstood than ASD. This can result in responses to a student's behavior that from the student's perspective are illogical and confusing, and ultimately ineffective and counterproductive. Until recently, training materials designed specifically for paraprofessionals working with students with ASD have been non-existent. In the second article in this issue (pages 5-9), I have the pleasure of reviewing a valuable new resource, How to be a ParaPro: A Comprehensive Training Manual for Paraprofessionals, by Dr. Diane Twachtman-Cullen. This review is a "tour" of this wonderful manual that shares an applicable understanding of ASD, a review of basic instructional strategies, and a discussion of the role of the paraprofessional in the classroom.

The issue closes with two articles by Dr. Diane Twachtman-Cullen that highlight the efforts of two important people. First, she introduces us to David A. DeLorenzo, the illustrator of her new manual. David is a talented young man with autism. The issue closes with a look at the impact of one paraprofessional, Joyce Suffish, on Brandon, the student she supported for several years.

If you are a paraprofessional, this issue recognizes the importance of your position and the lasting impact you have on the lives of the students you serve and their families. May this issue applaud your efforts and support you with new resources and ideas.

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