More Collaborative IEP Meetings this Year!

November 1st, 2012  

In the spirit of collaborative, amicable and efficient IEP meetings (and the new part of the sped teacher evaluation), here are some tips. “IEP team leaders need to run their meetings in a way that gives everyone an equal opportunity to participate in and understand the proceedings. [They] also need to foster a climate of respect and trust,” Eric Hartwig, administrator of pupil services for Marathon County Schools, Wisconsin.

 

1. Don’t tolerate personal attacks. School staff and parents can be demeaning or confrontational when they are angry or frustrated. For example, a parent may turn a discussion about the child’s speech/language services into a discussion about whether the provider is qualified. Personal attacks against parents are most likely to be critiques of their parenting skills. Always intervene and shift the conversation back to the student’s needs. Realize that it is permissible to call for a break if a staff member or a parent needs to be spoken with one-to-one.

2. Don’t allow parents to pick and choose. “There should never be an IEP that says, ‘We didn’t do this because the parents didn’t want it,’” said Hartwig. “If the child needs something, you have to find a way to get it to him.”

3. Do summarize reports, evaluations.  In some meetings, evaluators go on for hours regurgitating every piece of data from a test or evaluation. Parents want to know what the information means for their child in an easy to understand, meaningful way.

4. Do instruct staff on how to talk about disabilities.  Demonstrate professionalism and compassion. Ask that staff avoid any language that may be interpreted as offensive, derogatory, or negative.

5. Don’t let staff members leave during the meeting.  Parents may believe that they don’t have the full attention of all the team members, while team members who miss out on parts of the meetings may not understand why certain decisions were made.

Source: Special Ed Connection®. Copyright 2012 by LRP Publications, P.O. Box 24668, West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4668. All rights reserved. For more information on this or other products published by LRP Publications, please call 1-800-341-7874 or visit our website at www.shoplrp.com/special_ed.html.

 

Seminar Review: Autism, Asperger’s, Sensory & ADHD

October 1st, 2012  

Autism, Asperger’s, Sensory, & ADHD
Presented by Gary M. Eisenberg, Ph.D.

Summit Professional Education hosted an Anchorage seminar at the Marriot Hotel featuring Gary M. Eisenberg, Ph.D., a practicing clinical psychologist who has worked directly with children and adolescents with developmental disorders for over 28 years.

Eisenberg reviewed many standard and long practiced interventions shown to be effective with the disorders covered in the seminar. Many of the strategies discussed are used regularly by professionals in our district i. e. ABA, Floortime, TEACCH, Relationship Development Intervention, and Social Skills Training, etc. These effective, researched- based approaches were related to the cerebral cortex as either top down (concept driven and learner directed-needs understanding) or bottom up (foundational skills that are stimulus-driven and therapist directed) behavior therapies. Some of the strategies for teachers with students who have autism/Asperger’s included:  more visual, less verbal; speak slowly in order to facilitate auditory processing; have consistent structure and expectations between home and school; embrace student’s fixations, but set limits; use video modeling; minimize transitions and maintain consistent daily routine; avoid surprises.

Dr. Eisenberg also offered suggestions for kids with attention deficit problems. Aside from the various diets, he suggested that music can and does have a profound calming effect. Another suggestion was for the teachers to “stagger” the tasks sequentially from “easy to hard and then easy.” Finally, he really emphasized the use of visuals for kids with ADHD. He also noted a couple interesting facts. If a kid has a learning disability, the probability of that kid having ADHD is 60%. Classroom tips include: using highlighters, having kids stand, rotate kids through stations every 15 minutes., increase natural and full spectrum lighting, and have them chew gum to increase blood circulation in the frontal lobe of the brain.

Our session was predominantly attended by SLPs and OT/PTs with only a handful of Psyches and SpEd teachers in the group. There were many stimulating questions and thoughtful comments made by attendees throughout the seminar and we all received a certificate upon completion along with an opportunity to purchase a copy of Eisenberg’s work, Recommendations for Treating, Teaching, and Parenting Behavior-Disordered Children. This seminar correlated many of the similarities in effective interventions that work across multiple disorders in a concise and direct way.

   —-Mitchell Pioch & Peter Gundunas, Skyview High School, May 2, 2012

 

Stepping Back to Develop Independent Learners

October 1st, 2012  

1. Plan to Fade – examples:

a. Back map from your desired outcomes
b. Environmental changes
c. Modified work
d. Peer supports

2. Ask and Listen
a. Ask student how they would like to be supported
b. Behavior is communication
c. Experiment if not sure
d. Be consistent
e. Seek to develop independence

3. Step Back – use least intrusive support possible
a. Set a goal for independence in area that will reach success first
b. Fade Cues
c. Collect data on non-prompted responses
d. Give Wait time!
e. Express the problem, not the solution – let the student find the solution themselves

4. Work the Fading Plan
a. When is it absolutely necessary to physically or verbally direct student?
b. Reduce cueing level
c. Natural supports – peers, other adults, adapted materials
d. Narrow focus to reach success
e. Collect data – attitudes can change with data

More on The Golden Rule of Intensive Supports

The Golden Rule of Intensive Supports

October 1st, 2012  

From “Teaching Exceptional Children” July 2009, by Julie N. Causton-Theoharis

The Golden Rule of Intensive Supports – Support Others as You Would Wish to Be Supported

“Consider for a moment that the school system paid someone to be with you— supporting you 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Now, imagine that you had no say over who that support person was or how she or he supported you. Or imagine that someone regularly stopped into your place of employment to provide you with one-on-one support. This person was present for all your interactions, escorted you to the restroom, and at times supported you by touching your back or shoulder or by manipulating your hands, head, or other parts of your body. This support person might also give you oral directions for upcoming tasks.

Would you become more independent or more dependent? How would this support change your relationships with your peers? Would you notice a loss of privacy or freedom? Would this person’s presence affect your creativity? At times, would you feel self-conscious about having someone supporting you? What if you asked him or her to move away from you and he or she did not? What would happen if you did not want him or her to touch you? What would you do? Do you think that you might develop negative behaviors?

Now consider how your presence affects the students whom you support.”

“Invasive adult support has inadvertent detrimental effects on students with disabilities”

 Separation from classmates resulting in interference with peer interactions

 Unnecessary dependence on adults

 Insular relationships between paraprofessional and the student

 A feeling of being stigmatized

 Limited access to highly qualified instruction

 Interference with teacher engagement

 Learned helplessness

 Loss of gender identity – parapros are overwhelmingly female

 Provokes behavior problems

More on Stepping Back to Develop Independent Learners

Helping Students Develop Friendships

September 1st, 2012  

Parents and professionals often struggle with helping children learn to be good friends or to understand the complexities of social interactions. Below are a number of strategies that can help children develop friendships.

1. Get Involved – Participate in community sports teams, art programs, and special events. These are wonderful opportunities for children to engage in structured activities with peers. Ask professionals and support groups for information on these programs or check your community newspapers, centers, and websites.

2. Leverage the Child’s Interests – If the goal of enrolling a child in a program is to provide opportunities for making friends, look for activities the child enjoys. If a child is particularly shy, look for activities that initially have less direct contact. Tumbling and swimming are examples of individual sports while soccer and basketball involve more contact with peers.

3. Role Play Difficult Skills – Practicing social skills is a way to work on specific aspects of social interactions. For example, if you notice your child stands too close to peers or repeatedly asks the same questions, help them learn about personal space or conversational skills through role play.

4. Provide Examples – While reading books or watching television, explain social situations to children. Point out how helping others, using kind words, and listening when friends talk are ways to be a good friend. When characters are being hurtful or invading someone’s personal space, point these actions out and ask the child what the character could do differently to be a better friend.

5. Model Being Good to Others – Part of being well liked and being a good friend is being kind. Demonstrate kindness by saying nice things about and to others. Point out when a co-worker does something thoughtful and how this makes you feel about them. If your child is sympathetic or says something complimentary, tell them their actions made you happy.

6. Do Not Force Friendships – Just like adults, children get along better with some peers than others. Teaching children to be kind and to include everyone in activities is important, but they do not have to be best friends with everyone.

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