A.E.R.O Special Education Cooperative, besides providing quality special education programming for our 12 school districts, also provides a number of related services as well. The information below describes the related services that A.E.R.O. currently provides to district special education students.
School Nurses
School nurses provide many health related services that help to strengthen and assist the educational team in assessing and providing health related services to children. The school nurses contribute knowledge and expertise in regards to the medical needs to parents, children and staff members. The primary focus of the school health service is to provide nursing care to the children within the programs. In addition, the nurses provide health training, early prevention of illness and disability, health assessments and health referrals.
Adapted PE
Adapted Physical Education services exist to ensure that each child with a disability gets maximal benefits from their physical education experience. Based upon comprehensive assessment, the instructional program is designed, implemented, and monitored to each child's individualized educational objective, usually related to one of the following areas: physical and motor fitness, fundamental motor skills and patterns, health-related fitness, and/or increased independence and mobility.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy provides special assistance to eligible students so that he/she may overcome physical, sensory, and motor deficits that are interfering with their educational progress. Occupational therapy services are designed to help a student develop the underlying skills necessary for learning and the performance of specific tasks. Therapy also provides special equipment and adapted academic material to help a student function as independently as possible in an educational setting.
Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy provides services for students with developmental delays, physical disabilities, motor deficits, and/ or movement dysfunctions which may interfere with their functioning and safety in the educational setting. Physical Therapy services are used to improve mobility, motor functions, control postural deviations and facilitate gross motor development. In addition, therapy works toward strengthening muscles, minimizing the disability and adapting equipment to facilitate optimal performance given the student's capabilities.
Social Work
AERO Special Education Cooperative offers Social Work Services to the students in AERO classes as well as some students in the district classrooms. The Social Workers serve as an integral part of the multi-disciplinary team. The Social Workers provide a variety of services. Primarily, they are responsible for the social-emotional needs of our children. They provide individual and group counseling as indicated on the student's Individualized Education Plan. The Social Workers offer classroom groups on developing social skills. They are also responsible for completing a social history at times of evaluation and reevaluations. Social Workers provide crisis intervention, reporting child abuse, critical incidence debriefing, as well as mediation, teaching tolerance, and drug and alcohol awareness and abuse. They are responsible for assisting with behavior management in the classroom and collaborating with community agencies for resources for our families.
Speech Services
The AERO Special Education Cooperative Speech Department is comprised of approximately twenty seven Speech Language Pathologists and Speech Language Paraprofessionals. They are responsible for meeting the speech needs of the AERO students and some district students as indicated on the Individual Education Plans. The Speech Pathologists also provide evaluations and reevaluations for the students. The Speech Staff serve as an integral part of the multi-disciplinary team. They collaborate with community agencies and other professionals as needed. They provide groups for the entire class in order to facilitate communication in the classroom. The Speech Language Pathologists provide ongoing communication with families as to the progress of the students. The Speech Staff utilize a variety of techniques and materials needed to develop and execute therapy in an appropriate and beneficial manner, including augmentative communication systems and computer technology.
Assistive Technology
The Assistive Technology Department is responsible for providing on-going consultation to classroom staff/related service personnel on appropriate technology (both high and low) to be used throughout the day to enhance overall learning. The coordinator evaluates software needs of individual students and helps staff to acquire the needed software. She serves as an integral part of the multi-disciplinary team. The department offers training on the use of devices and software with our staff, our families, and our districts. The department keeps inventory of our hardware, software, and assistive technology devices and maintains a resource library.
