Including Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Your Comprehensive Counseling Program

By Tunisia Williams tunisia.william@ccboe.net

1.At the beginning of the school year, schedule a visit to the special education classes. A brief introduction with a few special treats for the students is always appreciated. Be sure to check with the teachers to find out what is appropriate for the students.

There has always been a special place in my heart for students with intellectual disabilities. I have often said that if I wasn’t a school counselor, I would have been a special education teacher. I have discovered being in my position as a school counselor gives me the opportunity to experience the best of both worlds.

Over the past 5 years, I have begun to develop relationships with the ASD, SID/PID, and MOID teachers and students in our building. Interacting with these students has become the highlight of my day. After speaking with one of our teachers, she informed me at her last school the school counselor had little to no interaction with her students. I understand our schedules are busy; however, it is important to serve all students in our buildings.

Let’s first start off with some basic information about intellectual disabilities or ID. An ID is a broad category and diagnosis that includes various skills and support requirements. It can manifest with an individual functioning intellectually and/or adaptively as expected. ID is not a disease or a mental health problem. Students with an ID can have an IQ range up to 70 and different levels of ID may require different levels of support. Also, the effects of ID can affect many areas of life are affected, including the role the person with ID in their family, relationship with friends, non-academic functioning, and self-confidence.

Now that you know the basics, here are a few ways to include students with intellectual disabilities into your comprehensive counseling program: a.Keep expectations high but not out of reach. b.Use small steps. Break directions and tasks down into small, easy to follow steps. Use visuals with directions when possible. c.Teach social skills. Direct instruction is highly recommended to help students learn and understand how to interpret social situations. a.Students with an intellectual disability know when people care about and respect them. Positive relationships are critical in their development.

2.Conduct a simple classroom guidance lesson. This is a time where you can collaborate with the teacher to plan an appropriate lesson that matches the intellectual abilities of the students.

3.Schedule classroom visits to interact with students. If they are participating in a special activity, drop by to play a game or assist students.

4.Create opportunities for students to engage with and build relationships with other adults and students in the building. Our MOID students assist with the school store which is part of our PBIS program.

These are just a few of the ways I actively engage and interact with the students in our building. The following resources have lessons and activities you can use when working with secondary students:

Life Skill Activities for Secondary Students with Special Needs by Darlene Mannix

Social Skills Activities for Secondary Students with Special Needs by Darlene Mannix

How Do We ELEVATE Ourselves When Dealing with Loss?

Kathryn Sadowski, Ed.S. ksadowski@glynn.k12.ga.us

Death is never easy. Losing someone is one of the many heartaches of life. Whether it be a family member or a close friend, we struggle to live the “new normal” without them. We all know that we spend more of our waking hours with the people we work with than with our own families. This results in, whether we like it or not, having an extended family at work. So, what is it like when we lose a colleague at work? Or more specifically (as in my case) a school counselor in your department?

My work “bestie” was diagnosed with cancer the week after Thanksgiving 2022. He was told it was an aggressive cancer, but that the treatment they wanted to put him on showed a good success rate, whether at beating the cancer or, at least for buying some quality time. We were all so positive that he was going to beat this, that our hope was not going to be shattered. Fast forward to February, our hope was shattered. He never had a chance to fight. Chris passed away on 15 February, leaving behind his wife, two children, parents, brother and countless friends and family that loved him.

Chris was the life of our department, always keeping us entertained and on our toes. He played the best music. He was the ultimate team player and a whiz on the computer. He was the one that would let me vent and then calm me down. He was the one that I could get so angry with and then end up laughing hysterically with by the end of the conversation. The staff loved him and the students thought he was the coolest of the bunch.

A huge void can now be felt in the counseling department. We are all going through the motions of everyday work and just trying to survive until the end of the school year. We too are having to learn the new normal at work. Little things will pop up every now and then that will remind us of Chris making us laugh and/or cry

We are in the process right now of holding interviews for the now vacant position. This is the hardest set of interviews I have ever had to participate in. I don’t want to hire somebody for the position, I just want Chris to come back. When a school suffers a loss, whether it be a student or faculty/staff, dealing with grief always fall on the school counselors. What happens when it is the counselors that need help? It is difficult to want to stay at work all day, every day. We are lucky that there are four of us remaining in this department. We have each other to share memories, tears, and laughter. We support each other. Our goal for the remainder of the year is to support our students and just make it successfully to the end of the year. One of the biggest supports we receive is when co-workers reach out and let us know they are checking up on us and/or thinking about us. Luckily, our county does offer employee assistance programs; an excellent resource to seek out our own counseling.

Death is not something you just “get over.” Grieving the death of a loved one is a lengthy process. It is a process that should not be ignored or pushed aside. A person you love and care about can never be replaced. Death is never easy.