A new Neag School grant to study students with disabilities, led by Joseph Madaus and Tracy Sinclair, is featured.

Tracy Sinclair, an assistant clinical professor of special education at the UConn Neag School of Education, told CT Examiner that while paraprofessionals could be a great support, they shouldn’t replace special education teachers.

“I love the support of paraprofessionals and they can really just help students blossom in so many ways … but they do not have the level of training that special education teachers do,” Sinclair said. “I think sometimes districts … look at that cost benefit analysis and say, well, we can get three paras or four paras, whatever the cost is for one special education teacher, and see that as more bang for their buck almost.”

“I think when you have a greater understanding and a greater awareness of what type of disability it is, I think parents are asking those questions of their pediatricians or even school personnel,” says Tracy Sinclair, an assistant clinical professor of special education at the UConn Neag School of Education. “Better diagnostic tools allow doctors to diagnose children with autism as early as nine months — allowing these children to receive services as soon as possible.”