Human service workers and assistants also provide emotional support and help clients become involved in their own well being, in community recreation programs, and in other activities. In psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation programs, and outpatient clinics, human service workers and assistants work with professional care providers, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to help clients master everyday living skills, to teach them how to communicate more effectively, and to get along better with others. They support the client s participation in a treatment plan, such as individual or group counseling or occupational therapy. Teacher Assistants Teacher assistants, also called teacher aides or instructional aides, provide instructional and clerical support for classroom teachers, allowing teachers more time for lesson planning and teaching. Teacher assistants tutor and assist children in learning class material using the teacher s lesson plans, providing students with individualized attention.
Many teacher assistants work extensively with special education students.
Schools are becoming more inclusive, integrating special education students into general education classrooms. As a result, teacher assistants in general education and special education classrooms increasingly assist students with disabilities. Teacher assistants attend to a disabled student s physical needs, including feeding, teaching good grooming habits, or assisting students riding the school bus. They also provide personal attention to students with other special needs, such as those whose families live in poverty, or students who speak English as a second language, or who need remedial education. Teacher assistants help assess a student s progress by observing performance and recording relevant data.