Assisting Students With Disabilities: A Handbook for School Counselors (Professional Skills for Counsellors)

"An excellent resource for anyone who supports students with disabilities. This complex subject is made practical and the TREAT model provides a great outline for solutions. I recommend this book as a road map to help students make successful transitions from grade to grade and beyond."
―Gary G. Gibson, Counselor/LD Specialist, Virginia Western Community College

Improve counseling service delivery to students with special needs!

Couched in the context of NCLB, the reauthorized IDEA, and the ASCA National Model, this essential handbook revisits the important role that school counselors play in the personal, social, academic, and career development of students with disabilities. Revised throughout, this new edition provides:

• Clear explanations of changes shaping the legal context for working with students with disabilities
• Tips for observing and gathering data on students who may be eligible for special services, as well as matching data with appropriate interventions
• Guidelines for designing services collaboratively with other school staff and parents
• Strategies for integrating the needs of individual students in comprehensive school counseling programs

The book′s concluding chapters offer countless strategies for working with families of students with special needs, as well as suggestions for connecting professional school counseling practice with advocacy and systemic change. All school counselors feeling the weight of accountability will welcome this guide to help them meet the needs of students with disabilities proactively with enthusiasm, hope, and a renewed sense of competence.  

Julie P. Baumberger is an associate professor at the Ross School of Medicine (Dominica, West Indies), where she has a joint appointment in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and the Counseling Center. She also teaches for Capella University in the Harold Abel School of Psychology. As a licensed professional counselor, psychological examiner, and school counselor, Dr. Baumberger worked for many years as a school counselor in both elementary and secondary schools. She later maintained a private practice counseling children, youth, and adults. Her current research and scholarly interests include youth and adults with disabilities, school counselor preparation, and mental health issues of young adults pursuing medical education.

Ruth E. Harper is Professor of Counseling and Human Resource Development at South Dakota State University, where she coordinates the college student personnel track. Harper has been a counselor and administrator at the postsecondary level for many years. Harper’s research and writing focuses on college student mental health issues, American Indian college students, and career counseling.