Para eLink: Where Minnesota's Paraprofessionals Learn Online

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K9: Understanding the paraprofessional's role regarding communication with students, students' families, and the community that supports learning and well-being for student with Other Health Disabilities.

K10: Understanding the paraprofessional's role within the educational roles and responsibilities of teachers and support personnel in providing educational services to students with OHD.

S4: Demonstrating the understanding to utilize opportunities for students with OHD to participate, interact, and learn with all students.

Summary

In this unit, paraprofessionals learned more about their role generally and specifically in supporting students with OHD in educational and community settings. The paraprofessional reviewed his/her roles and responsibilities in supporting students with OHD as well as teachers, parents, and other school professionals.

This unit covered the importance of good communication skills needed to develop working relationships with all educational team and community support members. This included developing skills in cultural competency by learning about the diverse ethnic and cultural affiliations of the students whom paraprofessionals support.

In this unit, paraprofessionals learned about the importance of including students with OHD in activities with all students in a variety of social and learning opportunities. You reviewed some basic principles about inclusive education, including several key definitions, how these definitions apply to real situations in education settings, what accommodations and services best promote inclusion for all students (especially those with significant health conditions), and what resources are available to paraprofessionals for including all students in education settings, social situations, and community environments. With this knowledge, the paraprofessional will be able to identify, advocate for, and use unique learning opportunities to include students, especially those with OHD, in a variety of activities and events and in diverse geographic, educational, social, and community situations.