How are services provided for children? The two models in Mexico for service delivery are:
- Regular Education Support Services Unit (Unidades de Servicios de Apoyo a la Educación Regular or USAER)
- Multiple Attention Centers (Centros de Atención Múltiple or CAM).
According to Todd Fletcher of the
University of Arizona, USAER and CAM serve children with and without
disabilities who have special learning needs, akin to combining 504
plans with disability categories. A student, therefore, may not be
assigned a disability category, but may receive services for special learning
needs that teachers and USAERs have identified, but have not specifically
labeled. For example, hyperactivity (ADHD) is not considered a disability, but
special education professionals are aware of it and any intervention associated
with hyperactivity would be provided by mental health professionals such as
psychologists or psychiatrists. There are educational associations that focus
on ADHD-type conditions, but teachers generally do not have knowledge or
training in how to deal with it in the classroom (email communication, Todd
Fletcher, 2007).
The USAERs conduct psychopedagogical
evaluations similar to holistic assessments in which they gather information,
such as student history, educational experience, and student work samples.
Special education personnel conduct informal non-standardized assessments to
determine learning needs (email communication, Fletcher, 2007). USAERs usually
consist of a social worker, a psychologist, a speech and language therapist,
and a special education teacher. They serve four or five schools, spending one
day per week in each. USAERs conduct studies of the school operations and
environment, and of the community the school serves as well.
USAERs are designed to integrate
special needs students into regular classrooms. Special education teachers in
these units collaborate with regular classroom teachers to help build success
among special needs students in the classrooms. Primary objectives of USAER
are: initial evaluations, intervention planning, intervention, and ongoing
assessment, and monitoring. The USAER uses curriculum-based assessments to
determine progress. Students are provided with curriculum adaptations in the
regular classrooms according to their needs.
CAMs are alternative settings or
special schools designed to provide education to preschool through high school
students who are unable to integrate successfully into regular classrooms and
need additional accommodations. The centers are organized by group and age and
work to provide instruction to students with diverse disabilities in the same
group. Each center maintains autonomy in organizing, planning and instruction
of their students.
Reverences
I have noticed some similarities in USAER with our special education system here in United States. The collaboration between the General Education teachers and the Special Education is also being done in the US public schools today. Their evaluations and testing procedures are also similar as well. You mentioned that despite not having a specific diagnosed disability, children still receive services needed. Does not labeling the child’s disability provide a better collaboration between the parents and the child’s school?
ReplyDeleteVery informative! Children with ADHD are not labeled? What happens in the classroom when they misbehave? I think I would be a little terrified of the lack of support. I mean I understand the labeling issue, but at the same time, I need some help- more than just tests and diagnoses.
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