Wow it's been too long!
I haven't blogged in a VERY long time and when I was blogging I really wasn't much for words, but now I have something to talk about! I recently was asked to be a part of this super awesome intensive training course through Grand Valley State University. It is the START Program http://www.gvsu.edu/autismcenter/ which stands for STatewide Autism Resources and Training. If you keep up with me on Facebook at all, I am sure you have seen my status updates about this. Each month from Sept-March, a group of us will get together for 2 full days to learn more about Autism. September was orientation, October was what Autism and Asperger's Syndrome looks like and this month, my favorite, was educational strategies for these kids. Oh, I should mention, I was NOT hand-picked for this - Pieter was. He is our target student and thus I am in the Grandville Schools group. Each group contains different members but for the most part it is like ours: parent, teacher of the student, special ed teacher who may have this child in the resource room for part of the day, OT, speech pathologist, social worker and special ed director for the district.
Wow, that's already more than I wrote for all last year blogging I think! Well maybe not, but these is so much more to come. Try not to get overwhelmed, it's exciting as fireworks!
So like I said, the last two days were all about educational strategies to help these kids work towards independence and socialization - the two most important things they need to learn. Here is a photo of the binder we worked from that had the info JUST for this month's topic.
I should measure it but it is about a 2" binder pretty darn full of GREAT information!
I really wish this training was open to more people, specifically all the teachers my son will ever encounter ;) and all of the parents in my autism support group (hey you MIT ladies, are you reading this?) I'm typing this all up for you!!! So I emailed START and requested permission to blog about the info we are learning and they said GO FOR IT! Just make sure to cite the info that came from them. Well, of course I am MORE than happy to do that. So basically everything from here on out is information that START taught us, not information I wrote or came up with on my own. A few things here and there my group came up with and I'll cite those as they come along but otherwise assume all this great info comes from the AWESOME, AWESOME people at START, and a specific shout out of thanks to Maureen who was our speaker for the last two days. She is HILARIOUS and so creative and has been around the block you might say, with these kids. Our whole group LOVES her.
One of the first things I learned this week was to not sweat the small stuff. To focus on what we want these kids (Pieter in our test case) to be doing at age 21 or 25 or whatever. That the main focus, for any student really, is independence and socialization. What will lead to Pieter's independence and learning correct social behavior.
The second thing that hit me hard was the sensitivity awareness training we "suffered." Again, I cannot stress enough how much I wish EVERYONE knew this info. As parents of special needs kids, I can tell you, almost every time we are in public, we get the disapproving eye from at least one person. One person who has no idea what my kid is dealing with. One person who doesn't know how hard my kid is trying. One person who HAS NO CLUE. I used to dress Pieter in this shirt that said, "I am not tired, it is not a tantrum, I have a sensory processing disorder." Now I just plain tell whomever is disgusted by my parenting, "He has Autism, we are so blessed to have him." And dangit we ARE! I would not trade him for the world, OR CHANGE HIM. What I would change is others around him who can make his life more difficult by not understanding him or caring to.
So back to this sensitivity awareness training. This was great! We had to listen to a spelling test of 15 words muffled through background noise, pencil sharpener noise, kids writing, all of this amplified the way many kids with auditory processing issues hear everyday life. None of my group got all of the words down, let alone spelled them all right. It was very eye-opening. Then we did a timed math test, sitting on our dominant hand and having to write our name on our paper as well. This was even MORE difficult. It made me realize how hard Pieter really does work to TRY to write neatly. A huge number of kids like him have poor handwriting skills no matter how hard they practice.
We learned that in the next 10-15 years handwritten will be outdated. Really, in high school. almost all work is on the computer and printed anyway. So does it REALLY matter if his handwriting isn't perfect? I promise not to give up and helping him practice writing, but for some things, we're implementing new accommodations.
Each target student was given a PTouch labeler that s/he can use for typing out answers and then sticking them on their papers. Easy peasy. And for his journal, where currently each student has a mini composition book, Pieter now has a 3 ring binder where he can type up his journal, print it, and place it in the book. No more pushing and prodding and fighting him over having to write his three sentences just to get it over with. Now he can calming and thoughtfully share his ideas.
More great info from the first day was that these kids really need to start in the general education classrooms as the least restricted environment and then add supports from there. If need be, move back into a resource room for certain periods, but not just throw them all into a self-contained classroom like has been done for so many years. This didn't really apply much to us and Pieter as he doesn't spend any time in the resource room but is functional enough in the gen ed setting to be there full time. But it was interesting information to know. Also, the special ed kids need to be learning the gen ed curriculum. If they need supports, then work in the supports, as many or as few as needed, but teach them real stuff, not just how to sort and count blocks!
For awhile then we spoke about kids who were non-verbal and that didn't really apply to us but if you want more info on that you can mark so in the comments and I can email you. We really were focusing on the high-functioning ASD kids, specifically Pieter.
We then talked about paraprofessionals and when and where they are needed or not needed. Pieter has had a parapro since he was in gen ed in kindergarten (he was in a special ed classroom for PreK.) And, Pieter has had a new parapro each year. As much as we have loved each parapro, we learned it really is a good idea to have them switched often. We don't want the children to become dependent on these great "helper teachers" as Pieter calls them, we want the parapros to promote independence.
OK that is about all I can do for now. Have to finish up dinner for the family. Next subject matter will be the difference between accommodations and modifications and not using these terms interchangeably.
Wow, that's already more than I wrote for all last year blogging I think! Well maybe not, but these is so much more to come. Try not to get overwhelmed, it's exciting as fireworks!
So like I said, the last two days were all about educational strategies to help these kids work towards independence and socialization - the two most important things they need to learn. Here is a photo of the binder we worked from that had the info JUST for this month's topic.
I should measure it but it is about a 2" binder pretty darn full of GREAT information!
I really wish this training was open to more people, specifically all the teachers my son will ever encounter ;) and all of the parents in my autism support group (hey you MIT ladies, are you reading this?) I'm typing this all up for you!!! So I emailed START and requested permission to blog about the info we are learning and they said GO FOR IT! Just make sure to cite the info that came from them. Well, of course I am MORE than happy to do that. So basically everything from here on out is information that START taught us, not information I wrote or came up with on my own. A few things here and there my group came up with and I'll cite those as they come along but otherwise assume all this great info comes from the AWESOME, AWESOME people at START, and a specific shout out of thanks to Maureen who was our speaker for the last two days. She is HILARIOUS and so creative and has been around the block you might say, with these kids. Our whole group LOVES her.
One of the first things I learned this week was to not sweat the small stuff. To focus on what we want these kids (Pieter in our test case) to be doing at age 21 or 25 or whatever. That the main focus, for any student really, is independence and socialization. What will lead to Pieter's independence and learning correct social behavior.
The second thing that hit me hard was the sensitivity awareness training we "suffered." Again, I cannot stress enough how much I wish EVERYONE knew this info. As parents of special needs kids, I can tell you, almost every time we are in public, we get the disapproving eye from at least one person. One person who has no idea what my kid is dealing with. One person who doesn't know how hard my kid is trying. One person who HAS NO CLUE. I used to dress Pieter in this shirt that said, "I am not tired, it is not a tantrum, I have a sensory processing disorder." Now I just plain tell whomever is disgusted by my parenting, "He has Autism, we are so blessed to have him." And dangit we ARE! I would not trade him for the world, OR CHANGE HIM. What I would change is others around him who can make his life more difficult by not understanding him or caring to.
So back to this sensitivity awareness training. This was great! We had to listen to a spelling test of 15 words muffled through background noise, pencil sharpener noise, kids writing, all of this amplified the way many kids with auditory processing issues hear everyday life. None of my group got all of the words down, let alone spelled them all right. It was very eye-opening. Then we did a timed math test, sitting on our dominant hand and having to write our name on our paper as well. This was even MORE difficult. It made me realize how hard Pieter really does work to TRY to write neatly. A huge number of kids like him have poor handwriting skills no matter how hard they practice.
We learned that in the next 10-15 years handwritten will be outdated. Really, in high school. almost all work is on the computer and printed anyway. So does it REALLY matter if his handwriting isn't perfect? I promise not to give up and helping him practice writing, but for some things, we're implementing new accommodations.
Each target student was given a PTouch labeler that s/he can use for typing out answers and then sticking them on their papers. Easy peasy. And for his journal, where currently each student has a mini composition book, Pieter now has a 3 ring binder where he can type up his journal, print it, and place it in the book. No more pushing and prodding and fighting him over having to write his three sentences just to get it over with. Now he can calming and thoughtfully share his ideas.
More great info from the first day was that these kids really need to start in the general education classrooms as the least restricted environment and then add supports from there. If need be, move back into a resource room for certain periods, but not just throw them all into a self-contained classroom like has been done for so many years. This didn't really apply much to us and Pieter as he doesn't spend any time in the resource room but is functional enough in the gen ed setting to be there full time. But it was interesting information to know. Also, the special ed kids need to be learning the gen ed curriculum. If they need supports, then work in the supports, as many or as few as needed, but teach them real stuff, not just how to sort and count blocks!
For awhile then we spoke about kids who were non-verbal and that didn't really apply to us but if you want more info on that you can mark so in the comments and I can email you. We really were focusing on the high-functioning ASD kids, specifically Pieter.
We then talked about paraprofessionals and when and where they are needed or not needed. Pieter has had a parapro since he was in gen ed in kindergarten (he was in a special ed classroom for PreK.) And, Pieter has had a new parapro each year. As much as we have loved each parapro, we learned it really is a good idea to have them switched often. We don't want the children to become dependent on these great "helper teachers" as Pieter calls them, we want the parapros to promote independence.
OK that is about all I can do for now. Have to finish up dinner for the family. Next subject matter will be the difference between accommodations and modifications and not using these terms interchangeably.
Very nice Danielle. I am happy the school is doing this and very proud of you.
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