The School Companions
JuCare sees school inclusion as support that helps children and young people to get on well and to participate in everyday school life. Our school companions pay attention to what the child needs and what they can already do. This enables participation in the classroom and in social interaction. An important goal is for the child to gradually become more independent and need less and less help. A school companion provides impulses, explains situations and “translates” between the child, school and environment. Sometimes they help steer, sometimes they simply go with the child, and in difficult moments they are a reliable source of support. They provide orientation in everyday school life, especially when things get confusing.
It helps the child to experience their own abilities and to feel a sense of belonging in the class. At the same time, it protects them from excessive demands and escalating situations. This cannot be achieved alone, but is best achieved as part of a team. That’s why our JuCare school mentors work closely with teachers, other professionals and, above all, parents. JuCare creates a supportive professional framework to firmly integrate the school inclusion staff into everyday school life and, together with teachers, other professionals and, above all, parents, to take a unified view of the child and their individual needs.
As long as Necessary - As short as Possible
This therapeutic principle guides JuCare’s actions. It is based on the attitude that pupils with individual support needs, for example on the autism spectrum, want to manage and help shape their everyday school life independently and responsibly despite school companions.
This striving for independence is a basic human need. It also includes the need for social belonging and the feeling of competence. From a professional perspective, this attitude is central to successful inclusion. At the same time, this creates challenging tasks for school inclusion staff in everyday school life.
“Our son Felix loves everything to do with Star Wars, but especially the little droid C-3PO, who understands many languages and logs everything that happens. For Felix, our school companion is something like C-3PO”
Closeness and Distance in a Relationship - A Balancing Act
Parents know: If their child receives school inclusion, they will be supported for many hours a week in situations that parents cannot and should not directly accompany or influence. There is often great concern as to whether the child is doing well. Relief often comes from the certainty that the school companion and child are building a reliable, positive relationship.
At the same time, it is part of the school counselor’s job to shape this relationship professionally. This also includes ensuring that the bond does not become too close and that distance and detachment are successful. This promotes independence and the need for support can be reduced step by step.
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