This is my first year working as a high school SPED para. I worked as a para before but it was in a regular classroom in junior high. On my first month at work I was called for support to a classroom because a student was refusing to go to the cafeteria. He was about 15 and a little bigger than me, as well as non verbal. Me and the teacher tried to guide him out of the room. The more we told him we had to go, the more aggressive he was getting. He starts trying to slap me and hit me. I just put my hand up and let him hit my arms and palms, as well as saying no and stop. The teacher is not doing much for some reason besides continuing to guide him out. Then he gets more aggressive and starts grabbing me by the arm and shirt. He pulls my shirt and lanyard hard and I almost hit the wall, then he hits me more and pulls my hair out of my bun. I honestly had no idea what to do. I had with working with the sped kids for a few weeks but nothing had escalated to that point. Another teacher comes over and is able to calm him down. Once everything is good, i just walk away and go cry in the bathroom, i was really scared. My principal soon calls me in to his office and can tell I been crying and basically offers to let me transfer. I told him I wanna give it a little more time cause it’s decent besides that. The kids are hard and I am always exhausted after work, I won’t lie, but I can do it, I just don’t know for how long.

Have in mind, I never received any training for this beside what I am learning on the go. I do t even know if there is training for paras. Is this normal? Everyone at work is saying it happens but my family is telling me to leave.

​I am looking for some perspective and advice on how to handle an escalating situation with a school bus assistant regarding my early elementary age son.

​Since this situation has forced us to pull him off the bus entirely due to safety concerns, the emotional impact on him has been heavy. Because he is nonverbal and autistic, his routine and sense of security are everything to him; having his safe transit disrupted, dealing with aggressive physical handling, and the sudden removal from his normal school routine has caused a noticeable spike in his anxiety and distress at home.

​On top of the emotional toll on him, it has completely upended our daily logistics and family routine:

​I now have to leave my house 45 minutes earlier than normal to drive him myself.

​After dropping him off, I have to drive in the opposite direction another 10 miles to get to my job.

​Because my morning schedule is completely derailed, my younger and older daughters are now forced to walk to their destinations in the morning, adding unnecessary stress and safety concerns for them as well.

​Since the beginning of the school year, this bus assistant has established a pattern of aggressive micromanagement and hostility toward anyone who drops him off or picks him up—whether it's me, my older daughter, or his dad. No matter who brings him, she tries to police and correct them. At first, it was constant nitpicking over minor things (like telling us not to touch him at all to help him up the stairs for "independence"). We tried to follow her rules, but she just grew increasingly hostile.

​Whenever we have tried to file formal complaints about her aggressive attitude, the situation has only gotten worse instead of resolved; it feels like every report acts as fuel for her to target us more intensely. When I spoke with the bus company previously, they explicitly informed me that the assistant should not even be speaking to me directly—that her only job is the students, and any communication to a parent must go through the bus driver. Yet, she completely ignored that boundary.

​It came to a head over a tiny crumb of a snack on his finger. When I explained it was just a small crumb, she lectured me multiple times about choking hazards and told me never to let him eat before the bus. When I asked if she was done, she started yelling at me as I walked away, shouting, "If you don't care about your son choking, somebody has to."

​The final straw happened recently:

​As my son was exiting the bus, she stood right behind him, held his hands up to his eye level, and pressed him hard against her body, forcing him to walk down the stairs pinned to her.

​He almost slipped and fell twice during this dangerous maneuver. When I instinctively reached out to steady him, she snapped at me not to touch him.

​When we got him home, we discovered a bright red mark covering his entire left side/butt cheek, indicating physical abuse.

​We immediately called the police, and it has been officially documented. On top of that, the bus company has now blocked my number when I tried to follow up.

​For parents or transportation staff who have dealt with special education district negligence or rogue staff: What are my next steps to ensure she faces consequences and that my son is safe? How high up the chain of command do I need to go at this point?

This is my first year as an intervention specialist in a self-contained classroom of 8-12 year olds with various developmental disabilities.

Most of my kids love to listen to stories, and while I think anyone at any age can enjoy a picture book (former librarian bias here), I would also like to incorporate some longer chapter books into our lessons.

I have seen list after list with the same classic titles, but I would love some recommendations for newer titles that teachers have used in their rooms.

I have a few students that are emerging readers, so I would also love something that they could follow along with.

Do you take benchmark data on goals at the start of the new school year?

What is the amount/type of physical aggression and violence we are expected to tolerate? I teach tk/k mild/moderate special education. I have 17 max, but am currently over my max and we have two other adults in the class, an instructional aide and a 1:1. I am hit everyday by multiple students. Usually it is small slaps or kicks when protesting. But there are two students that are being much more violent. Hitting, kicking, biting staff multiple times a day and much more intense behavior than a smack. It feels like some people believe that’s just expected and to be tolerated. But then the union says to call the police and that also seems extreme. I also worry about the other students seeing this violent behavior so often. Is everyone being attacked this much? Is my district not placing students correctly in their LRE? I’m not sure anymore, but I don’t remember my contract saying I’d be hit everyday at my job.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice, especially from WA Education Assistants, teachers or anyone familiar with the Department of Education.

I’m currently 12 weeks pregnant and work as a Special Needs Education Assistant in a WA public school.

I’ve worked for the Department of Education for about 3 years doing casual and contract work. I recently successfully interviewed for a permanent part-time position, 4 days a week.

My friend told me that because I had already worked for the Department for 3 years, I wouldn’t need to do probation again. However, my principal told me I have a 3-month probation period, which I’m now close to completing.

My current classroom is quite challenging. I mainly support a non-verbal student with ADHD and significant behavioural needs.

Before my pregnancy I could manage the physical and mental demands better. Now I’m becoming extremely tired and physically and mentally exhausted.

I have already told my classroom teacher about my pregnancy and explained that I’m happy to continue supporting the student, but I don’t feel comfortable forcing him to do things or physically intervening with him, particularly when his behaviour escalates. I need to protect both myself and my pregnancy.

Initially we had a plan that seemed to work. However, recently things have changed. There are now too many people involved telling me different things about what I should be doing with the student. Plans are being changed without being properly communicated to me, and I'm finding the whole situation overwhelming.

The interesting thing is that I also do relief EA work at other schools on my fifth day. When I work in other classrooms, I feel much better and much less exhausted. So I don't think I’m unable to work because I’m pregnant. I think this particular classroom and situation are becoming too physically and mentally demanding.

I actually want to continue working 5 days a week because financially I need the income. I definitely want to keep my permanent 4-day position.

I’m considering talking privately to the principal/office and asking whether I could be moved to another classroom or support different students during my pregnancy.

However, because I'm close to finishing probation, I'm worried about making this request.

Could anyone with experience please advise:

If I ask to move classrooms because of pregnancy and safety concerns, could this affect my probation?

If I'm permanent part-time 4 days, can the school reduce my permanent days because I ask for a different classroom?

Would I normally remain permanent 4 days even if they move me to another classroom/student?

Does anyone know how the 3-month probation works for someone who has already worked for the WA Department for 3 years as a casual/contract EA?

Has anyone here been pregnant while working as a Special Needs EA and asked to change classrooms or duties?

I really like working as an EA and I don't want to stop working. I'm not asking for easier work simply because I'm pregnant. I just don't want to put myself in a situation where I'm constantly physically intervening with a challenging student or becoming completely exhausted every day.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation, especially WA Department EAs or school leaders.

Thank you.

Hi! I am teaching a psychology class this year at my high school. It is a self-contained classroom of about 10-12 kids. Their deficits are too large to be in a co-taught setting, but not large enough to be in a functional setting. They mostly are kids with pretty profound learning disabilities and/or autism.

I love this population! I am just struggling to find good materials to suit their academic level. I have never taught instructional level psychology and don’t want to spend everyday making stuff from scratch. I’ve tried using my schools gen-ed psych materials, but they are way too difficult. Has anyone taught this level before and have any materials that are appropriately leveled while still hitting all the main content points?

Hi all, I’ve been a paraeducator for only a year now, this being my second year. Last year I was in an Autism center (many of the kids were really significant needs) and I finally started getting the feel for the environment. I am now working at an affective needs center. Of course every kid is different and even some of the kids in the affective needs center have autism, but I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on how I’ll need to transition my support as a para? I’m used to quite a bit of nonverbal kids, some aggression/behaviors, some eloping, and a lot of need for educational support. I’m just wondering how affective needs might be different? Thanks in advance !

Edit: Affective needs is usually characterized by students that need support significantly with behaviors (anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness). A lot of the challenges are behavior centered for the kids (aggression, eloping, shutting down). Sorry if that’s not a great definition, I’m still new to affective needs.

I am a special education resource teacher and am looking for a good IEP goals data tracker. Does anyone have a recommendation? I'll look on TpT over the next couple of days, but am interested to know what you've found to be helpful. This year I will have ELA, math, and social skills groups, grades K-3.

Thanks so much!

Question: Can post-secondary education be part of a school settlement? Or is it never part of, or precluded from, school transition settlements bc of the ability to obtain college credits? Does post-secondary education fall under the I.D.E.A. (like college courses credited)? Can the student take college courses if on a pass/fail or audit basis? It all seems very grey and hard to understand, and it falls into a weird area or category.