Promoting Student's Independence
A Special Circumstance Instructional Assistance (SCIA) or one to one aide is a related service that is indicated in the IEP when necessary for the student to benefit from special education. A student's independence or need for a SCIA should be reviewed regularly, especially when reviewing progress on goals at each reporting period. The IEP team should consider opportunities to promote independence, or reevaluate the need of a SCIA, at least once a year.
When a SCIA is determined to be necessary by the IEP, the team should also develop a fade plan to promote the student's independence. Within the fade plan, the IEP team should develop goals to address the need to develop independence. A SCIA should be gradually faded based on student progress and growth towards independence.
The IEP team should collect and review data regularly to see how the student is progressing. The IEP team should consider fading the SCIA based on the student's progress. Fading can occur by reducing the number of minutes of SCIA support, by changing the proximity, by decreasing number of prompts, by the type of prompts, etc.
It is important to utilize the data and progress on goals to determine if any changes need to be made and if the fade plan needs to be updated. It is important to remember that when fading occurs, the student may regress initially, but then show progress. Observe the student in over time in multiple settings and situations as the SCIA support is faded to get a clear picture of what is happening.
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