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1:1 learning assistants: useful or limiting?

NAS88964

Hi there,

I would like to hear your opinions on 1:1 learning assistants.

Do you think our children benefit more from the help of 1 main LA  (along with their class teacher)

Or

multiple LAs during the school day?

I am a mum of neurodiverse kids and believe I'm ND too.  I'm also a LA to a ND child with complex needs. I have been their main LA for 2years and know/understand them very well. I absolutely love my job working with them. 

My place of work (mainstream primary) wish to have the child work with other LAs so they are not reliant on me. I do understand but also feel the need for a safe, regular adult is important too. I will still be working with them, just not for whole school day as before. 

What are your experiences? 

Parents
  • NAS88964 said:
    Do you think our children benefit more from the help of 1 main LA  (along with their class teacher)

    This is going to depend very much on the child and their ability to bond with more than one LA.

    I would think that more than 2 LAs would begin to be a challenge for some kids due to differences in routines / behaviours / personalities causing too much change. Change is a bit issue for some so keeping a simpler routine would be better, just one main LA and a second one (who has some time spent with the child) able to fill in when needed.

    There won't be a one size fits all solution here as the spectrum nature of autism means all the kids are different.

    This is only my opinion and I'm not involved in the teaching profession so a big pinch of salt is needed.

Reply
  • NAS88964 said:
    Do you think our children benefit more from the help of 1 main LA  (along with their class teacher)

    This is going to depend very much on the child and their ability to bond with more than one LA.

    I would think that more than 2 LAs would begin to be a challenge for some kids due to differences in routines / behaviours / personalities causing too much change. Change is a bit issue for some so keeping a simpler routine would be better, just one main LA and a second one (who has some time spent with the child) able to fill in when needed.

    There won't be a one size fits all solution here as the spectrum nature of autism means all the kids are different.

    This is only my opinion and I'm not involved in the teaching profession so a big pinch of salt is needed.

Children
  • in reply to Iain

    Thank you for your reply, Iain.

    The child is very social, loves other adults.

    However, not all LAs in our school are good at understanding the ND. 

    Anyway, I like your idea of 2 LAs. I agree that more than that is too much change. Last year there were days when the child was dealing with 5 LAs and regressed with their learning.