Education Specialist Bridge Authorization- Extensive Support Needs

• Demonstrate the ability to support the movement, mobility, sensory and specialized health care needs required for students to participate fully in classrooms, schools and the community
• Organize a safe environment for all students that include barrier free space for independent mobility, adequate storage and operation of medical equipment (as appropriate) and other mobility and sensory accommodations
• Utilize assessment data to:

1) identify effective intervention and support techniques

2) develop needed augmentative and alternative systems

3) implement instruction of communication and social skills

4) create and facilitate opportunities for interaction

5) develop communication methods to demonstrate student academic knowledge; and

6) address the unique learning, sensory and access needs of students with physical/orthopedic disabilities, other health impairments, and multiple disabilities

• Demonstrate the ability to address functional limitations of movement and/or sensation for students with orthopedic impairments who may have a co-existing health impairment and/or intellectual disability but have difficulty accessing their education due to physical limitations
• Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of atypical development associated with various disabilities and risk conditions (e.g. orthopedic impairment, autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy), as well as resilience and protective factors (e.g. attachment, temperament), and their implications for learning
• Demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities to understand and address the needs of the peers and family members of students who have sustained a traumatic brain injury as they transition to school and present with a change in function
• Demonstrate knowledge of core challenges associated with the neurology of open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments and adjust teaching strategies based upon the unique profile of students who present with physical/medical access issues or who retain a general fund of knowledge, but demonstrate difficulty acquiring and retaining new information due to poor memory processing, as well as neuro behavioral issues
• Possess the knowledge that the diminishment or loss of previous abilities (learning, social, physical) may have significant, long-term effects on the self-concept and emotional well-being of the student who acquires a traumatic brain injury as well as on their family members, requiring the provision of appropriate supports and services to address these issues