It is important for service providers and teachers of students with moderate to severe disabilities to collaborate and communicate clearly with one another to ensure the needs of the students are being met. Service providers such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers of the visually impaired, orientation and mobility specialists, and hearing specialists often service a large number of students with a range of disabilities throughout several schools or an entire school district. Understanding the roles of each in providing services in the educational setting and establishing clear procedures related to communication, collaboration, and the delivery of services is an essential part of professional practice.

Allocate at least 1.5 hours in the field to support this field experience.

For this assignment, interview and observe in a Grade K-12 classroom students with moderate to severe disabilities taught by a certified special education teacher. Discuss the importance of collaboration and communication between the classroom teacher and service providers by addressing the following with a service provider who works with students in the mentor teacher's classroom.

Address each of the following during your conversation:

• Explain the difference between clinical and educational therapies.
• Describe the collaborative relationship between special education teachers and related service providers. Include discussion of the types of data that you collect and how you record and communicate this information with the teacher, support staff, and other service providers.
• Discuss challenges related service providers may encounter when assigned to work with students in multiple schools.
• Describe strategies you have used to ensure consistent communication between yourself, teachers, parents, school personnel, and other related services providers.
• Explain the type of assessments you use to identify the student's needs.
• Describe the typical length of a student session and the skills you work to develop in students with moderate to severe disabilities. Include discussion of your role in helping students achieve IEP goals.
• Explain how you collaborate with the parents of students with moderate to severe disabilities.
• Discuss strategies/activities that related service providers can provide for the teacher to do with the students when the providers are not present in the classroom.
• Describe the biggest obstacles you encounter with students making progress in the specific area for which you provide service and explain how you try to overcome these obstacles.

Observe the service provider as he/she provides services to assigned students with moderate to severe disabilities in the mentor teacher's classroom. Pay special attention to the following:

• Observe whether specific information/data is collected and recorded and the procedures used for measuring and recording the information.
• Observe the communication and collaboration that takes place between the service provider, support staff, teacher, and other individuals who are working with the student receiving services.

Following the observation, meet again briefly with the service provider and/or mentor teacher to ask clarifying questions related to the services provided, and strategies for collaborating, communicating, and helping students achieve IEP goals.

Use any remaining field experience hours to assist the teacher in providing instruction and support to the class.

In (250-500) words, reflect on the following. Remember to use pseudonyms when identifying students in the class.

• Describe the collaborative relationships that are necessary between service providers, teachers, parents, support staff, and other service providers to ensure the needs of each student are being met. Provide specific examples to illustrate your ideas.
• Discuss whether the collaboration and communication between the teacher and service provider allowed the students receiving services to be engaged in a way that resulted in minimal disruption of the learning environment while allowing the student a maximum level of engagement in the services and related learning taking place with the provider. Include specific examples to justify your ideas.
• Explain how you will use what you learned from the discussion and observation to ensure related service providers are valued and utilized members of the IEP team as part of your professional practice.