Senior Instructional Assistant - Medical

About the role

This position assists a certificated teacher or specialist in providing instructional support to individuals or small groups of students with disabilities in a Special Education program. It also involves assisting in meeting specific student instructional needs, including feeding, toileting, positioning, and monitoring students with medical conditions.

Responsibilities

• Provide instructional support as directed by the teacher to individuals or small groups of students with disabilities in various areas such as cognitive, gross and fine motor skills, feeding skills, self-help skills, vocational skills, and behavior.
• Assist students using a wheelchair when arriving and leaving classrooms; position and reposition students with medical equipment as appropriate.
• Assist students getting on and off bus, including students in wheelchairs; accompany students with medical conditions on the bus, as assigned.
• Assist the teacher in maintaining the health and safety of students with severe and multiple disabilities by scanning the environment for potential hazards for each student; assist the teacher to implement medical, health, and safety procedures according to established guidelines.
• Serve lunch and feed students with mobility difficulties and monitor students who self-feed, as directed by a teacher; use gastronomy and suctioning equipment and take appropriate action when students have difficulty while eating.
• Assist students with personal hygiene; wash hands and faces; monitor individual toilet training schedules; toilet students and change diapers; and change clothing as needed.
• Maintain confidentially of sensitive and privileged information; assist in toileting feeding, and basic health procedures.
• Operate a variety of medical equipment including oral suctioning, gastronomy and orthopedic equipment; administer first aid and CPR, as needed, to students with chronic and acute medical conditions.
• Perform routine custodial duties to maintain assigned facility in a clean and sanitary condition; clean dishes, tables, mats and therapy equipment; wash aprons, towels and other used materials/equipment.
• Collaboratively work with Individual Educational Program (IEP) teams to support students’ growth and progress toward goals; assist teacher in monitoring and reporting behavior changes and seizure activity as directed.
• Assist teacher in maintaining a variety of records including student data sheets, medication records and data on student progress toward (IEP) goals; assist in monitoring and reporting behavior changes and seizure activity as directed.
• Provide support to the classroom teacher by setting up work areas, displays and exhibits, operating audio-visual equipment, operating educational training equipment, and distributing and collecting paper and supplies.
• Supervise and direct students at all times including lunch time, group activities, field trips, on the playground, and when mainstreamed into another class as needed; supervise the loading and unloading of students on school buses as assigned.
• Participate in meetings and in-service training programs as assigned.

Requirements

• Any combination equivalent to: graduation from high school and one year of paid or volunteer experience working with individuals with medical disabilities, or possession of Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certificate and experience working with individuals with severe disabilities.
• Valid First Aid and CPR Certificates issued by an authorized agency, as well as meeting requirements to keep certificates current.

Qualifications

Senior Instructional Assistant-Medical incumbents work with students with disabilities in a variety of settings which may include, but not limited to, a special day class, a resource program, or a general education classroom. SIA-Ms work within special education programs that work toward increasing the students’ academic, social-emotional, adaptive, and vocational independence. They perform a variety of support functions, including supporting students’ medical, self-care, toileting, and self-feeding needs.

Skills

Knowledge of basic child development practices as they relate to students with disabilities. Unique needs of students with severe and multiple medical conditions. Strategies and techniques of to assist in the instruction of medically fragile students. Reading, writing, and mathematics. Effective oral and written communications skills. Safe practices in classroom and playground activities. Basic instructional strategies. First Aid and CPR procedures.

Benefits

• Earn Up To 1 paid vacation day per 1 full month of employment
• Earn 1 paid sick leave day per 1 full month of employment with unlimited accumulation
• Paid holidays
• Retirement benefits include membership in CalPERS (California Public Employee's Retirement System) and Social Security (OASDI)
• Two excellent medical plans, Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente
• Two dental plans, Delta Dental and MetLife SafeGuard
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Income protection plan
• Credit union