DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS AND STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES ASSIGNMENT

Developmental Considerations and Students with Exceptionalities Assignment Student’s Name Institution Course # and Name Professor’s Name Submission Date Developmental Knowledge Professional school counselors are needed to support the social, emotional, and academic development of children and adolescents; hence, they should be knowledgeable about this theory. First, they should be aware of development theory because many developmental changes occur continuously during childhood and adolescence (Miller, 2022). Understanding the complexities associated with these stages of development is crucial for advocating for support and wellness campaigns for students. Counseling services should always maintain high levels of discernment and acknowledge young clients' cognitive, social, physical and emotional developmental changes. Second, the knowledge of development will help counselors look for abnormalities, alerts, and red flags that will inform the current state of these young clients. Brigman et al. (2021) suggest that identifying atypical reactions and behaviors gives counselors a better overview of the client’s development. Third, a professional school counselor needs knowledge of developmental theory to inform intervention strategies and techniques. To tailor school policies, insights from Piaget's cognitive or Erikson's psychosocial development stages are needed. For example, cognitive behavioral techniques that involve cognitive restructuring will be more effective for adolescents because they have developed better higher-order thinking skills. On the other hand, play and art therapy techniques are more suitable for younger children because they mainly communicate via play and creative expression. The Duties School Counselor The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) has assigned professional school counselors specific roles when collaborating with special needs students, including those struggling with health and learning challenges. The ASCA requires school counselors to foster children’s holistic development with respect to their career goals and social as well as emotional progress. It is possible to achieve these objectives using the ASCA model components, including defining, managing, delivering, and assessing students. Under the delivery component from the ASCA guidelines, counselors should provide indirect as well as direct devices to special needs students. Direct student services entail offering instructions tailored to maximize students' potential, appraisal and development for students to invest in personal goals and plans, and counseling to cope with crises. Indirect services entail co...