School psychologists play essential roles in determining the provision of special education services. They work to improve the students’ lives across several fields, including assistance with academic performance, enhancing social skills, and conflict resolution behaviors. One might expect to see various disabilities, and the most common types include mobility, vision, behavior, and cognition. As part of this professional practice, many disabled individuals cannot walk well, and some have eye problems. These problems reduce the ability to carry out day-to-day activities, affecting these individuals in many ways. Some of these conditions occur at birth, while some develop in growth. Interacting with school psychologists helps one learn the various causes of these conditions, their characteristics, and the educational implications of these disabilities for students. This interchange helps one understand, explain, predict, control, and solve problems for persons with special needs. My association with the school psychologist made me realize that most physically disabled people also have a mental illness, and therefore they need counseling most of the time.
The school psychologist and the administrator are very special people in the lives of students with special needs. They provide services that support students and encourage healthy development (Crothers et al., 2020). However, there is an evident difference in the roles of a psychologist and an administrator. A school psychologist provides comprehensive mental health care services, especially to mentally ill students. A psychologist is more specialized in handling a specific problem, and it requires extensive education and training to become a school psychologist (Crothers et al., 2020). They improve students’ communication and social skill and provide emotional counseling. The administrators offer management roles, handle student records, and develop educational programs. They provide essential services to a broad range of students, including training and hiring staff. They can, however, give academic counseling to students and resolve issues between two or more students. An administrator does not possess the skills in health care for mentally ill students. Knowledge of these roles is essential throughout the IEP process. School psychologists and administrators help to develop the IEP through sharing of findings from psychological tests and academic tests done on students.
A school psychologist and administrators are significant individuals in developing working IEP. They monitor students’ progress and track the steps with the IEP (Crothers et al., 2020). Once the IEP is written and services have begun, I will use their support to conduct reviews of my IEP. The purpose of these reviews is to determine whether I meet my educational goals. If the plans are not completed, then I revise my IEP. However, if all goals of my IEP are met, I take a new milestone or move back to the traditional classroom setting. I will get support and guidance from the school administrator and the school psychologist during the process.
Ther are several perceptions one might have about special needs education. However, psychological and administration assistants still remain to be the best ways of taking acre of students with special needs. Special needs teachers are tasked to work with students who have learning, mental, emotional, or physical disabilities. These students have challenges in adapting to learning environments and attaining general education (Crothers et al., 2020). Teaching them various lessons and ensuring delivery of proper education is not an easy task. My main objective is to remove the mentality of being disabled from the student and make them feel like they are ordinary beings. My role as a teacher is to support the students in achieving their dreams. This can come in many ways through moral, physical, or even financial support. The most important thing as a teacher is to impact the lives of these students as I play a significant role in shaping the future of the students to become better people in society.
The school administrator or school psychologist plays a critical role in supporting other staff and faculty to understand their roles in the unique education process. The other staff members perform extensive tasks, from helping with academic program activities, reinforcing social/behavioral plans, and providing personal care support. These other staff act as a support team to administers and psychologists when handling students (Crothers et al., 2020). Therefore, they need to have the same perception as their seniors about the provision of special education. They need to learn how to handle and manage special education. I can help the school administrator or school psychologist educate the other staff members on the measures to ensure the delivery of efficient special education. I can collaborate with school administrators and psychologists in creating teaching plans to be used by staff, training, and advising other teams on the best practices.
In conclusion, special education is an essential topic of study for psychology students. Through my interviews and the experience with school teachers, psychologists, and administrators, I have learned several lessons in handling special needs students. I can use the experiences shared by the teachers, psychologist, and administrator to ensure efficient delivery of special needs education to students with these conditions in my class. I can also use the information to provide instruction and support to students with disabilities. Finally, I would use the experience gained to design curriculum, develop schedules and supervise plans for paraeducators. The experience has helped me better understand inclusive learning and other progressive teaching methods.
Reference
Crothers, L. M., Hughes, T. L., Kolbert, J. B., & Schmitt, A. J. (2020). Theory and cases in school-based consultation: A resource for school psychologists, school counselors, special educators, and other mental health professionals. Routledge.