GUIDELINES FOR WORKING WITH STUDENTS HAVING SPECIAL HEALTH-CARE NEEDS

Students with special health care needs present challenges to persons involved with their education, but school staff are accepting the chal lenge to create safe, nurturing, and stimulating environments for thes e students. This article proposes guidelines for school staff working with students having special health care needs. The guidelines evolved from the authors' experiences and are child-related, family-related, and school-related. Discussion of each guideline includes illustration s of issues arising from them. Considerations for implementing the gui delines are presented and include discussion of school policies and pr ocedures and state laws and regulations related to school staff workin g with students having special health care needs.