Skills & Knowledge You'll Develop

As a Special Needs Educational Assistant, you have the chance to be a positive part of a child’s life. We know it takes someone truly special to take on the task, but we’re here to help. Upon successful completion of the program, you will possess a basic understanding of:

• children with special needs who have developmental disabilities
• speech and language development
• educational trends
• applied behavioural analysis and observation
• assessment and reporting methods.

You will be able to:

• work under the supervision of one or several teachers
• work with students who have special needs, both in the classroom and other settings
• work as part of a multidisciplinary team
• supervise students in structured (classroom) and unstructured (hallways, recess, lunch hour) settings
• assist students to integrate into the classroom and school
• implement lesson and behavioural plans and learning outcomes for individual students with special needs 
• motivate and encourage students to participate in learning activities
• use effective instructional strategies to help students with lessons and assignments
• observe and report student behaviour and progress
• facilitate and encourage positive student behaviours
• correct homework and tests, administer oral tests or act as a scribe for students
• collect and prepare learning materials and use technology to support student learning
• supervise children during lunch and recess breaks or field trips.