Fred Arthur Fisher
COMS 5211.50 - Counseling in A Cross-Cultural Society
Week 2 Assignment 1
The majority of SLP's in the state of Texas work for the school system. Two of the
professions SLP's are most likely to work with in a school setting are Special Education
Instructors and classroom teachers.
Per the Texas Education Agency, Special Education Instructors rely on collaboration in
order to effectively help students reach their goals. The first item listed from the TEA about
special ed collaboration is that it must "educate stakeholders regarding interprofessional
education (IPE) and interprofessional practice". This is the exact wording of the ASHA
principles and competencies. TEA notes "both must have a common understanding of co-
teaching and share a vision for student achievement and collaboration." This mirrors the next
action item on ASHA's bullets points as well. When it comes to collaboration, the SLP and
Special Education Instructors have the same professional guidelines and goals, with only their
scope of practice separating them.
This is much the same with classroom teachers. Though, with classroom teachers, they
serve as a kind of centralized hub for all the various professionals on a child’s team. A child may
or may not have an OT or be in special ed, but they will always have a classroom teacher in a
school setting. This means they make special emphasis on facilitating information to all members
of a child’s team. They also see the child most often and can be more cognizant of the child’s
strength and weaknesses in their daily routine. An SLP may observe their client is making
excellent progress in session, but if the classroom instructor observes that progress isn’t
translating to their every day speech, the classroom teacher’s collaboration is crucial for helping
the SLP change their intervention to meet the child’s goals.
When it comes to counseling, there is very little Special Education is empowered to do by
the TEA. They can educate family members and students about their IEP and provide them with
their options. They can provide the Comprehensive, Developmental Guidance & Counseling
Program to students, respond to intervention and provide counseling services that are specifically
in a student's IEP. But they are not empowered to provide support or peer-to-peer groups. They
cannot enable them to be self-advocates or address negative thoughts related to special
education. These tasks are left to the school's counselor. The Special Education Instructor is to
refer students to them.
This is much the same for classroom teachers. The TEA strictly limits what they can and
cannot counsel students about. Most of their approach instructs classroom teachers to direct
students to the school’s licensed counselor for counseling.
When it comes to Prevention and Wellness, there is very little special education can do.
Most disorders which lead to a child being enrolled in special education are present at birth. So,
they are rarely assist in reducing the incidence of a new disorder or disease, except in cases of
t=preventable disorders such as fetal alcohol syndrome. They are empowered to identify
disorders at an early stage and decreasing the severity or impact of a disability associated with an
existing disorder or disease, the same as ASHA. Much like SLP's What they can engage in
educating parents, teachers and other school-based professionals about the disorders their
students have.
Classroom teachers are not qualified to make diagnosis about disorders to be prevented,
so they are limited in their scope in what they can educate to prevent. They are integral to
ensuring a child’s wellness, which often includes hygiene. They are also the first in a school
setting to notice is anything about a child seems unwell. Recognizing this and sending the child
to the appropriate form of intervention is one of the most vital services for prevention and
wellness a classroom teacher can provide.
When it comes to Populations and Systems, Special Education has the same
responsibilities to manage populations to improve overall health and education, improve the
experience of the students served, and reduce the cost of care that SLPs have. In many cases, the
pressure on special education to reduce the cost of care is much more than SLPs, especially when
it comes to transportation. Every single one of the ASHA bullet points on population and
systems is mirrored in the TEA guidelines for special education, from using plain language to
supporting and collaborating with classroom teachers.
The same is said for classroom teachers as well. When it comes to reducing costs, there is
very little a teacher can do. Though, in times of state austerity, such as the 2008 financial crises,
classroom instructors found they had to go without materials. Creative thinking to change
instruction was necessary to ensure student education did not suffer due to the cuts. For
everything else, classroom teachers are responsible for maintaining their student’s health and
education and improving the student’s experience the same as SLP’s.
These similar goals help collaboration and ensure SLP’s can work towards the same
outcome as those they collaborate with in education.
