Professionals in the field of special education have acknowledged the challenges that inclusive education brings concerning the practical implementation and implications. In response to these challenges, employment of paraprofessionals such as learning facilitators has grown tremendously (Riggs & Mueller, 2001; French & Pickett, 1997). Despite the proliferation of learner facilitators in supporting students with barriers to learning, it continues to remain one of the least researched and potentially a significant aspect of special education in the last decade (Giangreco, Edelman, Broer & Doyle, 2001). As the inclusion paradigm begins to take shape in classrooms across the country, the context and scope of learning facilitators have expanded beyond the special education classroom, and learning facilitators can now be seen assisting children with any barrier to learning, including the barrier of ASD.
Robertson, Chamberlain and Kasari (2003) support this by saying that children who face barriers to learning are being increasingly educated within the general classroom resulting in general education teachers becoming more involved as well as more responsible for the education of children with diverse educational needs. Furthermore, they deduce that, “of children with barriers to learning, children with ASD may pose particular challenges to the general education educator” (Robertson et al., 2003:123). Appropriate interventions to lessen the challenges for the child experiencing barriers to learning include services and programmes, as well as assistive devices, support strategies and modified structured environments that enable the child with special educational needs to participate as much as possible by removing barriers and catering for the child’s specific needs. All of these support strategies play a significant role in addressing the challenges of barriers to learning (Law, 2017).
Numerous children require additional support within the classroom to enable them to gain access to, and mastery of, the curriculum and stipulated tasks, including children with ASD. Additional resources may be “resources to assist mobility or to provide access to the language of learning” in order for the individual child to reach their full learning potential, however, the “calculus of equity is far more complex than this simple addition. It is a cultural calculus wherein we evaluate and question the relative values afforded to different people and groups of people through the culture of schools and classrooms” (Slee, 2001:116).
As educators in schools, it is important to focus on the strengths that children have, as well as acknowledge where the child needs support in their academic and social learning. Frequently a diagnosis can be critical in ensuring that the learner not only has access to appropriate services, but more importantly, receives the necessary support (Carrington & Harper-Hill, 2015).
“The reality is that it is the combination of an individual’s strengths, interests and motivation coupled with access to great educational opportunities which shape educational outcomes for all learners” (Carrington & Harper-Hill, 2015:3). Great educational opportunities, as highlighted here, may be expanded to an increasing number of children with barriers to learning if the education system, and all paraprofessionals involved, are committed to providing academic support to those in need; one such kind of support can take the form of trained learning facilitators. Giangreco et al. (2001:59) stresses the importance of training and supervision for learning facilitators; “it is paramount because employing learning facilitators to assist in the provision of special education and related services is an indirect service delivered under the close direct supervision of qualified personnel who are present in the classroom for all or most of the time (Giangreco et al., 2001; Smith & Littlejohn, 1991).
A learning facilitator may be utilised to support all learners, as well as the educator. “Inclusive educational opportunities have expanded steadily as school-aged students with increasingly severe disabilities are being provided with access to general education classes. Having learning facilitators accompany these students in general education classes is considered by many teachers to be an essential support” (Giangreco et al., 2001:58).
Through the transformation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 in America (IDEA, 1997), the role of the learning facilitator was formalised, “paraprofessionals and assistants who are appropriately trained and supervised can assist in
the provision of special education and related services to children with disabilities” (IDEA, 2004:109; Dybvik, 2004). If provided with the necessary support of trained individuals such as learning facilitators, then children with barriers to learning such as ASD can have access to the curriculum and social learning that takes place within schools. “Learners who are recognised for their strengths and interests, who are motivated by teachers and whose challenges are appropriately accommodated, can be successful at school (Carrington & Harper-Hill, 2015:3). Learning facilitators can assist the child with barriers to learning with individual instruction, one-on-one instruction and social modelling.
“Children who have a diagnosis of ASD are often challenged by the school due to the difficulties they have with social and communication skills that are required to participate in classrooms today” (Carrington & Harper-Hill, 2015:3). In situations where the learner can have a learning facilitator these challenges can be managed, perhaps even decreased as the learning facilitator models the social and communication skills to the child.