Special Educational Services at Blaine

K-5 Speech and Language

Shelley Winterer is the Speech-Language Pathologist atBlaine. She diagnoses and provides speech-language therapy services forstudents who are eligible for this special help. These services can beone to one, small group, or even delivered in the student’s classroom,if appropriate.
Some of the students seen have delays or disorders of sound production (articulation) language (oral comprehension and oral expression),stuttering or voice disorders. Many of the students have relatedacademic problems, but not necessarily. Many students also may havedifficulty using their communication skills in social environments.
 
Ms. Winterer also loves to work in tandem with our literacy and primarygrade level teams to ensure that our classrooms have excellent languagearts, including reading, spelling and writing. Since there is truly alarge overlap between oral language and written language, this is anatural place to make a difference in Blaine’s overall curriculum andinstructional practices.
 
Parents can reach Ms. Winterer via email at swwinterer@seattleschools.org or by phone at 206-252-1928. She also attends weekly Student Intervention Team meetings as a member of the Blaine Multidisciplinary Team.
Speech and language services for continuing students will begin the week of September 15th.

Inclusions Services

Blaine’s inclusion program was established in the fallof 1998.   It is designed to meet the academic and social needs ofmiddle school students who have moderate developmental disabilitiesand/or health impairments.   One teacher and one assistant work togetherwith the classroom teachers to provide these students with academic andsocial support in their general education classrooms and/or in asmall group classroom. This support includes:

• Making modifications to the general education curriculum to make learning functional and meaningful.
• Providing students with assistance in their general education classrooms.
• Maintaining consistent communication between home and school.
• Helping students develop effective communication and social skills.
• Encouraging involvement in and providing support for extracurricular activities.
• Providing peer education to general education students to help facilitate positive social experiences.
• Encouraging behavioral and classroom independence as students progress through the middle school grade levels.

Student placement in our inclusion program is coordinated by the district’s special education department.

K-8 Occupational and Physical Therapy

Robin Furlong provide occupational and physical therapy services for students requiring specialized support for fine motor and gross motor skills development. Robin works with students one or two days per week, depending on need, and coordinates her schedule with classroom teachers to minimize interruptions in student learning.