Parents Push for ABA Paraprofessionals at Clark County Schools — What It Means

A parent-driven bill pushing for additional ABA paraprofessionals at Clark County School District for students on the spectrum is the kind of policy movement that starts in living rooms and ends in legislative chambers.

The need is real. Autistic students in public schools are legally entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under IDEA. In practice, school districts across the country are chronically understaffed with people trained to support autistic students. Paraprofessionals — the people who work directly with students in classrooms — are the front line.

ABA-trained paraprofessionals specifically bring behavioral support skills that can help students regulate, communicate, and access their education. More of them means more students supported. Fewer students in crisis. Fewer families fighting to get what the law already promises.

This bill represents what parent advocacy looks like when it is organized. Not one parent at one IEP table. Parents collectively, building political will, showing up at legislative hearings, putting the data in front of the people who write the rules.

Covered by 8 News Now. Driven by families who refused to accept the status quo.

The WeBearish movement is built on this same principle: the people closest to autistic children — their parents, their families — are the ones driving change. Not always from the outside. Sometimes from inside the systems that are supposed to serve them.