The Connecting Link
Along with the enjoyment of watching young minds and personalities develop as children become young adults, educators have a huge responsibility that they accept when they take on the role of administrator or principal. At times, behavior or characteristics might manifest in a child's illnesses or challenges which are then exhibited in characteristics of obvious physical illness, ie, Cerebral Palsy or Multiple Dystrophy and some in behavior such as Autism or ADD. Others have hidden problems such as abuse or mental illness. As a result, the relationships between school and parents can be strained when parents of these children become overwhelmed by the child's safety, health and educational issues.
The very nature of your status, as school administrator or principal means that you must have the ability to recognize that situation and understand those dynamics. And, when you are an involved educator, you know that other outside influences and social relationships also affect the child and parents. An easy decision that eliminates the problem before it gets out of hand is enlisting the expertise of a Certified Pediatric Technician.
When you employ a CPT:
1) You are assuring the parents of these children that you are completely aware of their worries and want to help them.
2) You reduce that worry because you are providing their child with the assistant who understands their child's' illness, and all the interventions that improve the child's' potential outcome.
3) You are recognizing the child's' limitations or extenuating circumstances and providing them with professional help before something happens that is not easy to fix.
4) Older children, (especially those who are already under the "peer" pressures as emerging teenagers) benefit from someone on whom they can confide.
When a Certified Pediatric Technician works hand in hand, together with the educational staff:
1) The Teacher can actually return to her love of teaching while the Certified Pediatric Technician can assist the child (or children) with their daily living needs or other attention that is specific to the child.
2) The CPT becomes the liaison between the child's study team, including the entire school study team, such as the nurse, parent, teacher and child.
3) Utililzing CPT's also establishes preventive practices that educational attorney's look for as "intervention initiatives" and provision of management services for the developmental needs of the child.
4) You provide a job specific para professional that replaces the teachers aid with a multi-skilled/multi-task para pro.
5) The Social Worker becomes the supervisor of the emotional aspects of the child, overseeing the CPT performance by delegating responsibility to capable professionals. Overseeing rather than performing some tasks, the SW improves the quality of her day and has more time to promote better mental health to more children for whom she may have some concern.
6) The School Nurse, can be reassured that her responsibilities are reasonable and her position is secure. Under her direction, a CPT can follow a medical care plan.
7) The Team Member Job Descriptions become more defined and clearer, Communication is improved.
8) The Academic Level of the graduate improves because the long term investment of hiring a CPT has allowed the student to reach their full potential.
9) The School Stature in achievement is elevated in the educational arena.
10) The IEP becomes a reality.
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