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Orienting Consultants
 

Consultants hired to enhance program and service accessibility need an orientation in order to enter the classrooms they will be serving in an informed way. The following fact sheet lists points of discussion for disabilities coordinators, teachers, and staff meeting with those consultants. It includes schedules, rules and procedures in the classroom, and established communication protocols with children and adults.
The following is an excerpt from Including Children with Significant Disabilities in Head Start.


Orienting Consultants

Below are some points to discuss before the consultant begins working in a classroom:

  • Typical schedule for the day

  • Rules and procedures of the classroom:
  • Sharing
  • Eating/cleaning up
  • Choosing activities
  • Putting toys away
  • Responding to unacceptable language and behavior
  • Using "please" and "thank you"
  • Greeting visitors to the classroom
  • Other:
  • Communication with children:
  • Recognizing a job well done
  • Intervening when a child is aggressive
  • Intervening when a child says or does something unacceptable
  • Other:
  • Communication among adults (teacher, specialists, parents):
  • Best time to discuss progress/problems (remember confidentiality!)
  • Circumstances when in-class discussion is acceptable
  • Types of conversation appropriate and inappropriate with children and/or other adults present
  • How and when the specialist will deliver written progress reports to the teacher
  • Availability of the specialist for phone calls
  • Other:
  • Scheduling:
  • Handling child absences and rescheduling
  • Handling specialist absences and rescheduling
  • Other:
  • Other:
* Adapted with permission from M. Enright, M. Antes, and J. Brophy. 1992. Making the Most of Consultants. Newton, MA: Education Development Center, Inc.

"Orienting Consultants." Including Children with Significant Disabilities in Head Start. Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community. HHS/ACF/ACYF/HSB. 1998. English.