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Amazing opportunity to work in a one-of-a-kind developmental language-based, trauma-informed school founded by SLPs with attention to student-centered, meaningful and individualized learning.

• Full Time Salaried position with typical on-site hours 8:00-3:00 Monday to Friday in relationship-based, trauma informed therapeutic day school. (On site hours may vary depending on necessary prep and paperwork both before and after school to complete the duties of the job)
• Work 44.8 weeks of year with 6 weeks non-student attendance paid vacation breaks for full time hire.
• Low student caseload generally up to 30 students.
• Competitive Salary commensurate with hours/weeks worked and experience.
• 12 PTO days.
• BCBS medical, dental and vision.
• Short-term/long-term disability and a life insurance.
• 403B retirement plan.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Reflective processing to support you in your work.
• Receive supervision and mentoring by a licensed Social Worker and seasoned DIR® practitioner with extensive experience in autism and developmental thinking through the mental health lens.

Make a difference in the life of a child with Autism!

$ Sign on BONUS !!

IL license or PEL in Social Work or Counseling Required.

Seeking candidate with professional experience with ASD of varied ages and developmental levels and interactive style that is playful, affectual and engaging. Strong foundation and understanding of psychosocial development of children required.

Soaring Eagle Academy, a not for profit, ISBE approved therapeutic day school in Lombard IL serving students ages 5 through 22 years old, faced with the challenges of Autism, is seeking a full time LICENSED SOCIAL WORKER or COUNSELOR starting immediately, to serve in our therapeutic day school with a caseload generally up to 30 students, joining our growing staff and student body.

The Academy was founded by three Speech Language Pathologists with an accumulation of over 80 years serving children and families with Autism and other related disorders, and a passion to showcase the amazing capacities of students with Autism to interact, communicate, think and learn. SEA is the only school of its kind to utilize a Developmental Language approach and developmental thinking implementing principles of DIR® Floortime, to understand and support students’ social, emotional, language, sensory motor and academic development. This is a unique opportunity to do cutting edge work with fellow therapists, teachers, support staff and 1:1 teacher assistants assigned to each student, who understand developmental language, sensory processing and emotional development and how they impact children with autism. We believe that the “behaviors” others see as impacting education for these students are a result of their lack of comprehension and challenges to process sensory and social/emotional information from their environment and communication partners. With our appropriate interpretation of their intentions, our language-based strategies and emotional and sensory supports- our students are soaring. Join our team! Our Occupational Therapist have a central role in the support of our students. For more information, please visit our website at www.soaringeagleacademy.org

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Licensed by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation or ISBE PEL.
• Experience/ interest working with children, and their families, of various age and developmental levels with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
• Strong foundation and understanding of psychosocial development of children and the influences of family and community, and cultural differences as they interact within the educational process.
• Interactive style that is playful, affectual and engaging.
• Psychodynamic training preferred.
• Experience providing mental health services to students and supporting their families.
• Strong knowledge/experience with reflective process.
• Willingness to gain knowledge and participate in direct coaching/training in DIR® Floortime and developmental language methodology.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Evaluate, plan and implement mental health services according to DIR® and Developmental Language model methodology and practices.
•  Develop treatment plans and visual supports for each therapy session (push in/pull out) and group session keeping a therapy log to document services, student performance, and data collection.
• Conduct family needs assessments and social developmental case studies for students.
• Provide individual or group intervention as needed including lunch and recess (ie. social emotional peer groups).
• Support students during rotations of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) groups to expand their ability to remain calm in a group setting, I nteract with peers or expand on ways to initiate.
• Serve as a support staff member under the direction of the classroom teacher, covering groups or students as needed, to support a safe and positive learning environment.
• Support students’ morning and afternoon transitions in/out of school during student transportation arrival and departure.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary team members and parents to maximize services and support to each student.
• Participate in weekly mental health team meeting with DIR® trained Psychologist through case presentation discussion of the DIR® framework through the mental health lens.
• Participate in weekly pod/safety meetings with team members discussing current issues in the classrooms you serve.
• Provide direction, instruction and coaching to staff in the classroom environment to support mental health plan and goals.
• Conduct family needs assessments and social developmental cases studies for students.

• Acknowledge and reflect on each student’s feelings and behavior in a caring and respectful manner.
• Assist and facilitate student directed play, interaction, and classroom work to sustain interactions, problem solving and learning.
• Support appropriate educational curriculum in accordance with Illinois Common Core Learning Standards.
• Assist in developing and maintaining Individual Education Plan goals and collecting progress, monitoring data to report student progress quarterly.
• Plan and organize reports/goals to attend parent conferences and IEP meetings prepared to speak to student’s performance level with data to support findings.
• Meet weekly with the mental health supervisor within the classroom setting to support learning of new techniques within the DIR® model along with scheduled weekly meetings to discuss challenges together.

• Ability to modulate and demonstrate affect appropriate to the situation to facilitate learning.
• Ability to wear a facemask when required in the school building.
• Ability to bend, kneel, sit (on a chair or the floor) and stand moving easily and quickly from kneel to stand, sit to stand and stand to walk positions.
• Ability to walk up to a mile in distance.
• Ability to lift up to 50 pounds easily with no assistance from others.
• Ability to engage in and support physical activities initiated by students including but not limited to, jumping, running, climbing, rolling, sitting/lying on the floor, swinging.
• Ability to act and respond to a student’s dysregulation/behavior/combative and aggressive actions according to the strategies developed in the student’s Individualized Regulatory Support Plan, Safety Plan and SEA non-violent crisis intervention policy and procedures.
• Ability to quickly move away from and avoid combative/aggressive actions or behaviors of students.
• Ability to physically follow in close proximity and support students when he/she flees (runs) from an activity, an interaction or the learning environment.
• Ability to physically support students on indoor/outdoor therapeutic equipment.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT: Immediate (Students are in attendance for 220 school days, 181 regular days and 39 summer session days). FULL TIME– Work a salaried regular full-time position with typical on-site hours Monday through Friday 8:00 to 3:00pm. While the on-site work schedule is typically 8:00 to 3:00pm, as a salaried employee, you will be expected to work the hours to complete the duties of the position and will report to work sufficiently in advance of the start of the school day and to remain after the end of the school day, so that student needs may be met and preparations for the next day can be made. Therefore, expected on site hours may vary depending on necessary prep and paperwork both before and after school. Work a total of 222 days, 44.8 weeks per year since there are 6 weeks of non-student attendance paid vacation breaks (2-week winter break, spring break, 2-week summer break and one week break before the new school year) and holidays with salary based on these hours, weeks of service and experience. Full-time staff employed 52 weeks of the year with 6 paid weeks off for non-student attendance.

• BENEFITS: Eligible for medical and ancillary benefits for this full-time position. Benefits can include BCBS medical, with SEA contributing a portion of the total cost, employee funded dental and vision insurance benefits. Short-term, long-term disability insurance and a life insurance benefit are offered at no cost. 12 paid sick and personal days to be utilized by employee. Receive $250 reimbursement annually for continuing education. Reflective processing to support your work with students and families. Receive supervision and mentoring by a licensed Social Worker seasoned DIR® practitioner with extensive experience in autism and developmental thinking through the MH lens.

SALARY: Competitive salary aligned with work hours/weeks and commensurate with experience and qualifications. $ Sign on BONUS details given upon hire.

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program
• Vision insurance