Instructional Para III - Itinerant @ SPED

Instructional Paraprofessional III

Under the direction of an assigned supervisor, assist a certificated teacher in providing instruction to individual or small groups of severely handicapped students in a classroom; monitor and report student progress regarding behavior and performance; assist students in developing various self-help, social and community skills. By state definition, students who fall under the category of severely handicapped include:
Intellectually Disabled, Orthopedically Impaired (Physically Handicapped), Visually Impaired, Deaf-Blind, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Emotionally Disturbed, Autistic, Multiply Handicapped, Traumatic Brain Injury.

Representative duties include tutoring individual or small groups of severely handicapped students, conferring with teachers concerning programs and materials to meet student needs, providing instruction and assistance to severely handicapped students in social, gross motor, fine motor, and self-help skills, assisting students on and off the bus, observing and controlling behavior and interaction of students, operating various exercise, therapeutic, instructional and office equipment, preparing lessons and instructional materials for individual students, providing support to the teacher, providing emotional and physical support to students, preparing students for and assisting students in main-streamed classes, assuring the health and safety of students, overseeing student activities, translating and serving as interpreter, participating in meetings and in-service training programs, and performing other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge and abilities include special needs, problems and requirements of severely handicapped students, child guidance principles and practices, safe practices in classroom and playground activities, correct English usage, grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary, oral and written communication skills, interpersonal relations skills using tact, patience and courtesy, record-keeping techniques, assisting certificated staff with instructional and related activities, assisting students in developing self-help and social skills, making arithmetic calculations quickly and accurately, understanding and following oral and written directions, learning the procedures, functions and limitation of assigned duties, communicating effectively with physically and developmentally handicapped children, establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with others, communicating effectively both orally and in writing, restraining and disciplining students according to approved policies and procedures, and operating various instructional, therapeutic and office equipment.

Education and experience requirements include a high school diploma or equivalent, two years experience working with school age students, and under general supervision, reports to the site administrator.

Physical demands include lifting moderately heavy equipment and students, standing, walking, sitting, moving, running, exercising including stretching, bending, stooping or kicking, performing other active movements, using dexterity of hands and fingers to manipulate specialized apparatus and standard office and classroom equipment, climbing or balancing, crawling, tasting or smelling, bending at the waist, kneeling or crouching to assist students, close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, the ability to adjust focus, hearing and speaking to exchange information.

Hazards include contact with dissatisfied or abusive individuals, exposure to bodily fluids and infectious diseases, working in outside weather conditions, exposure to toxic or caustic chemicals, and a specialized classroom environment for the severely learning challenged.