What is Autism?

October 26th, 2009

As media coverage of Autism has increased, so have the questions surrounding it.  Sometimes it feels as if Autism is the new buzz word.  One in every one hundred fifty five children have been diagnosed with this disorder.  So what is this disorder exactly?  Well,  the “short and dirty” version is that Autism is a disorder which is developmental and affects a child’s communication and socialization skills.  It is important to keep in mind, however, that this disorder is a spectrum disorder.  Children may exhibit all, or only some, of the many symptoms… and to varying degrees.

If you have a child on the spectrum you may notice:

  • communication and language delays (although many children on the spectrum develop normal language for the first few years of their lives and then regress)
  • weak fine and gross motor skills
  • “fixations” with certain foods or objects
  • sensory issues (being bothered by clothing, walking on tip toes, refusal to get hands dirty, etc)
  • rigidity (following schedules, dislike change)
  • difficulty making eye contact and a distaste for physical contact
  • difficulty with facial recognition and discriminating between people
  • difficulty interpreting social situations, sometimes being referred to as an “odd” child
  • choosing to play alone
  • difficulty with reading comprehension, but excellent with decoding
  • flapping or rocking when experiencing an intense emotion
  • sleep disturbances
  • compulsive behaviors

Autism is a disorder that can affect every facet of a child’s life as well as their parents’ lives.  It is a disorder that changes families forever and that requires parent’s to fight for their child’s rights.  These children require early intervention and consistent reinforcement.  Their progress needs to be monitored through intense data collection and they need to be taught through concrete and consistent methods.  Their ability to communicate and interact with others is impaired.  They may have behavioral outbursts and process information differently than others.  These children need assistance twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year across all settings.

It is important that parents and teachers of these children develop a full understanding of the disorder in order to effectively educate them.  This can be difficult, as all of these children present a different set of needs, and teachers are asked to meet these needs in a regular education classroom.  Parents, unfortunately, may find that they need to be an advocate for their child and educate teachers on their child’s disability.  For the sake of the children though, it is important that parents and teachers work together to develop the best program for their students.  Teachers must try to understand how difficult it is for families with autistic children.   These children require a lot of patience and parents must deal with that 24 hours a day. The best way to develop an effective program for these children is to work as a team.

Since autism is a spectrum disorder, children may only show some, or all, of these symptoms.  If you believe your child may have autism, ask your doctor to get involved.  Very often, an in-depth interview will be conducted and the doctor will ask you to fill out some rating scales.  These will serve as tools in the identification process.

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Response to Intervention and Learning Disabilities

October 21st, 2009

If you are a parent or teacher within the United States, you have likely heard the new buzz words “Response to Intervention” or RTI.  Over the past few years, conversation about how students qualify for special education has ensued.    Many students tested for special education did not qualify for a learning disability despite the fact that they were performing significantly below grade level in the classroom.  As a result, RTI was initiated and the way we identified children with learning disabilities changed. It is important to be educated in the new process, especially if you work with, or are the parent of,  a struggling learner.

Before you can fully understand how RTI will be used to identify students, it is important to understand past practices when identifying students for special education.  When students are referred to special education, standardized testing is completed to further investigate their capabilities and weaknesses.  Until recently, in order for a student to qualify for a learning disability, a discrepancy model was used.  A student would be given achievement tests to look at a their performance with academic activities and an intelligence test to look at cognitive abilities (the way they think and processes information).  If a discrepancy existed, one or more of the academic areas would score about 2 years behind where their cognitive ability suggested they would score.  These cutoff scores were provided by the government and PPT teams were required to follow these guidelines.  Personally, I have been involved in PPTs, using the discrepancy model, where I was shocked that a child did not qualify for special education.  It is extremely hard to explain to a parent that “Yes, your child is unable to perform on grade level despite all the interventions the teacher has tried, but they do not have a learning disability”.  The baffled and disheartened looks on parents’ faces mirrored my own confusion.  The question then remained, if these students don’t have a learning disability, then why are they struggling so much?  Do they have a disability that is not being shown through the standardized testing?  Is the classroom teacher differentiating enough for this student?  Is the teacher using programs that are scientifically proven to improve the learning of struggling students?  All these questions led to one glaring problem … the identification process for students with learning disabilities was flawed.

After a lot of thought and planning, a new identification process, called Response to Intervention, was developed.  This process starts when a struggling student is identified and brought to the attention of a team of teachers.  The team then reviews the child’s progress and creates a goal for this student.  They discuss the scientifically research based program that will be used to achieve the goal, and the measurement tools that will be used to determine student progress.  Once the team adjourns, the intervention will be carried out with the student over a pre-determined amount of time as data is collected.  This data will provide as a progress monitoring tool.  (It is important to note that it is good teaching practice to include parents in these meetings.  Also, data should be sent home to parents as it is collected to keep them apprised of their child’s progress)  The team will then reconvene to review the child’s data.  If the child made progress, then the intervention is working and the child most likely does not present with a learning disability.  If the child, however, did not make adequate progress, the team will then refer the child for special education.  Standardized testing will be completed in the usual fashion to obtain valuable information about how the student learns, but these scores alone do not determine if a child has a learning disability or not.  The data collected during the RTI process can be used to determine eligibility.

This process is still quite new for schools, so it is important to be patient as they work out the kinks, however, if my child were a struggling learner, I would demand that this process be followed.  While many teachers are excellent and effective, we all know that there are some teachers out there that do not teach in a variety of ways, despite the abundant amount of research that supports teaching to different learning styles.  Following the RTI process forces teachers to try different, scientifically research based instruction methods before labeling a student as special education.  RTI also helps to eliminate the feeling that students are “falling through the cracks”.  The PPT is now given more flexibility in the way that they identify learning disabilities.  Personally, I feel as if RTI will help teams to more effectively identify students with a learning disability and provide them with the supports and supplemental instruction that they need in order to be successful.

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Strategies for Stuggling Readers

October 19th, 2009

The English language is an extremely difficult language to master.  Within our language we have approximately 44 phonemes (sounds) within our words and approximately 70 phonographs (ways to spell these sounds).  This can make reading and spelling very difficult to master.  Many adults have not mastered decoding (putting printed letters together with the appropriate sound to create words), and yet our children are expected to be able to decode.  Schools no longer teach phonics the way they used to.  They focus on a whole language approach and guided reading, but as a result many students never learn the rules behind reading and spelling.  Some students are able to learn to read despite a lack of phonics instruction, but what about the struggling readers that need that direct instruction?  What can be done to help them?

Helping Struggling Readers at School

As a parent or teacher of a struggling reader, there are many things that can be done to improve your student’s reading ability.  Many schools have literacy teachers who provide extra assistance to struggling readers.  These teachers should provide reading support in ADDITION to what the classroom teacher is providing.  In an ideal situation, your child should be receiving guided reading from their classroom teacher daily, as well as additional support from a literacy teacher at least three times a week.

If your child is receiving daily whole language instruction and is still struggling with reading, perhaps it is time to try a new instructional approach.  Many struggling readers do well with a phonemically based program.  These programs teach students the rules behind reading, taking the confusion out of decoding.  Many children do not realize that there are rules explaining how letters and sounds combine to make words.  Direct instruction explaining these rules will provide students with the knowledge they need to decode unknown words.

Students will also need to be taught high frequency words (sight words).  These words do not follow the rules of the English language and therefore must be memorized.  This will be difficult for students who have a poor memory.  These students should be taught sight words through a multi-sensory approach.  Start by having the students “rainbow write” the words on a piece of paper.  They do this by taking a box of crayons and tracing the word in each color.  Then have the students spell the word in the air with their arm.  Next, have the students trace the words in rice or sand.  Every time they write the word, have them say the letters as they spell it and then state the word once they complete their writing.

Have your student read a passage while timing themselves.  Once they have finished, have them record their time and reread the passage.  Tell them to try and beat their previous time.  Rereading a familiar passage will help children to build their fluency.

If alternate strategies have been attempted within the classroom and your student is not making adequate progress, it may be time to consider referring your child for special education services.  Talk to your child’s classroom teacher and ask them what alternate strategies they have attempted with your child.  There are many different strategies that can be used, and there is not one correct way.  Just be certain that the teacher is providing your child with extra support.

Helping Struggling Readers at Home

As a parent of a struggling reader, there are many things you can do to support your child at home.

Purchase magnet letters and a metal cookie tray.  Have your child spell words with you on the tray.  Ask your child’s teacher for a grade level sight word list or focus on words that are spelled similarly and have your child change the appropriate letter.  For example, have your child spell at, and make it hat.  They can then take hat and turn it into sat.  Once they master this, they can take sat and make it say spat… and so on.

Use Wikki Sticks to have your child create letters and words.  You can write the words on an index card and have your child put the Wikki Sticks directly on your writing.  Once they have mastered this, remove the model and ask them to create the words on their own.

Have your child write words on a white board.  Ask them to write some of their sight words.  Next, write some new words on the board and ask them to help you read them.

Write words on index cards and keep them in your car.  Whenever you get stuck in traffic with your child you can pull out the cards and practice reading.

Read aloud to your child.  Not only will they love spending quality time with you, they will learn from watching you.  Once you finish reading, ask them some questions about the story to see what they comprehended.  Start with literal questions ( who, what, when and where) and then move onto more inferential questions (why and how).

Let your child reread their favorite books to you, even if they seem too easy.  Rereading familiar books is a great way for children to increase their fluency.  Encourage them to use expression in their voice.

These are just some suggestions for activities that help struggling readers.  I encourage you to read more about different strategies that can be used to help improve your child’s reading ability.

Excellent resources:

That’s a Great Answer by Nancy Boyles

Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading and Writing Classroom by Gay Su Pinnell

Guiding Readers and Writers Grade 3-6 Teaching Comprehension, Gerne, and Content Literacy by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

Explode the Code by Nancy Hall

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When to Have Your Child Tested for Special Education

October 14th, 2009

Watching your child struggle with the high academic demands of today can be very difficult.  Let’s admit it.  Everyone wants their child to be the next valedictorian, and it can be heart-breaking to come to terms with the limitations of our children.  Every year the demands placed on kids in America increase.  Some children are able to reach those demands, stretching their minds to their limits, but what about the children who just fall further and further behind?  Is there help out there for those students or will they struggle for their entire lives?  If these are questions you are asking yourself about your child, you may want to consider having them tested for special education.

Qualifications for Special Education

In order to qualify for special education services your child must suffer from some sort of disability that prevents them from fully accessing the classroom academics.  These disabilities can be learning, behavioral, medical or physical disabilities.  A child can have a disability and NOT qualify for special education as well.  The disability has to negatively impact a child’s access to the curriculum in order to qualify them for services.  (If your child has a disability that does not impede them from learning, but requires they receive modifications, ask your school psychologist about a 504 plan.)

How do you know if special education is right for your child?

Some disabilities are more clear cut than others.  Chances are, if your child has been diagnosed with a medical or physical condition, that prevents them from accessing the curriculum, then you and the public school are aware of their need for special services.  These impairments include, but are not limited to, hearing loss, vision loss, impaired intelligence, Autism, Downs Syndrome, ADHD …. the list goes on and on.  These disabilities are usually relatively easy to identify and services are usually provided early on.

If your child is suffering from a behavioral disorder you are likely witnessing erratic and dangerous behavior across many settings.  These students tend to participate in “bullying” behavior with their peers and defiant behavior with adults.  The smallest things may “set them off” and create a situation in which they destroy property or threaten others, perhaps even hurting other people.  Often these students will inflict injuries on themselves as well.

Students can also qualify for special education under the heading of a specific learning disability.  This refers to an impairment in one of the cognitive processing areas of the brain (the way their brain processes information) and its impact on a child’s ability to complete academics.  A learning disability can occur in various areas, but the most common are reading, writing and math disabilities.  Your child may have a learning disability if they have average scores in some areas of their academics but are consistently failing in other areas despite access to the regular education curriculum and many interventions and supports.  This would be evidenced through report cards, curriculum based assessments,  standardized testing and DRA scores.  A disability occurs in various settings, so your child’s previous teachers would most likely have brought up their concerns with you throughout the years.  Sometimes, students with undiagnosed learning disabilities start to act out in school or participate in “bullying” activities to draw attention away from their difficulties with school.

How do I get my child special education services?

If what I have written reminds you of your child, you may want to consider getting your child tested for special education services. If you believe your child has a physical or medical disability contact your doctor immediately.  If your doctor diagnoses your child with a disability, contact your school and provide them with a copy of the report.  Request that they hold a Planning and Placement Team meeting (PPT) to determine if your child qualifies for special education.  If your child is showing signs of a possible behavioral or learning disability, you do not need to contact your doctor first.  Ask your school team to schedule a PPT immediately.  This first PPT is called a Referral PPT.

Once a PPT is requested, the school has 10 business days to hold a meeting with you, an administrator, your child’s classroom teacher, a special education teacher and a pupil personnel services employee (such as a school psychologist or speech pathologist).  At this meeting the team will decide if your child is exhibiting signs of a disability that is impacting their education, and if a disability is suspected the team will suggest going to testing.  This means that the team will administer standardized intelligence and academic tests to your child, along with testing to measure any other areas of concern.  This will provide the team with information as to what your child is truly capable of.  This process takes some time.  The government provides schools with 45 school days from the day the original referral occurs (the day you requested your first PPT) to the day you meet to review the testing results.

When meeting again to review the testing results, make sure you fully understand what the teachers are telling you.  These tests can be very difficult to understand.  I suggest asking the teacher to review the testing with you prior to the PPT.  After the team reviews the testing, your child’s classroom performance and curriculum based assessments will be reviewed.  This is to determine if there is a learning problem prohibiting your child from performing at their ability level in the classroom.  Once this is all completed, the team will decide if your child suffers from a disability.

This process can be terribly confusing for parents.  There are a few important things to keep in mind.

You ARE a part of your child’s team and ALL decisions are made as a team.  Make sure that your voice is being heard during these meetings.

Ask questions.  Teachers follow this process every day as part of their job.  Sometimes they take for granted that you know what they are talking about.  If you don’t understand something, tell them.  If you think of a question after the meeting, call them.

There are lots of reasons your child may not be performing at grade level expectations.  This is just one of many possible reasons.  Keep an open mind and enter this process with a problem solving mindset.  Working as a team will result in the best possible outcome and most accurate diagnosis.

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Creating a Parent Friendly Classroom

October 13th, 2009

In my last post I discussed the importance of parent involvement and the effects that it has on a student’s education.  While parents are ultimately responsible for their own involvement, the way a public school operates can influence how active parents become.  A school can be a very intimidating place for parents, especially if they had difficulties in school when they were younger.  Parents are not solely responsible for their own participation.  School professionals need to reassure parents that they are welcome and valued.

Parents… I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  Teachers love to show off their education.  They will use terms and phrases in conversation that only other educators would recognize.  Don’t be discouraged.  We are no more intelligent than you, we just have specific training in current educational practices.  If you don’t understand, ask for clarification.  We will not judge you or view you as ignorant and we will be more than happy to explain.  As for the teachers out there, don’t forget your ultimate purpose is to help educate your students.  If you don’t help parents to understand what their child is doing in school and how to reinforce it at home, then you are not fulfilling your purpose.  Technical terms tend to intimidate parents.  Choose your words carefully and explain yourself.  Parents will not get involved if they feel they have nothing to add and if they don’t understand what you are saying, what could they possibly contribute?

Here’s another secret for the parents out there.  Society has become quite accusatory over the past few years and, quite honestly, it makes teachers nervous.  In my first few years of teaching I would dread calling parents on the phone.  What did I do wrong?  Why are they calling me?  Will I sound educated enough?  Will they ask me a question I didn’t have an answer to?  This line of thought would put me on the defensive, even before the parent opened their mouth to explain the reason for their phone call.  No wonder many parents find communication with teachers difficult.  We’re already defending our work with students before we even know the topic of conversation!  How can we address the parent’s concern properly if we are never open enough to listen without judgment?  Perhaps the parent is unhappy with something that happened in the classroom … maybe they just have a question… either way, they need to know that their input is valued and will be taken seriously.  If we complain about the lack of parent involvement, but treat parents with disdain when they contact us, we are the ones to blame. Classrooms need to be parent friendly places.  After all, they are entrusting us all day with their most precious belonging.  We need to prove to them that we deserve that trust, and the only way to do that is to have open communication.

How to Create a Parent Friendly Classroom

  • Call each one of your parents before school starts.  Letters are impersonal, while calling will help you to develop a relationship with parents.  Introduce yourself and provide some tidbit of personal information, then ask a parent a non-invasive personal question such as “Did your family do anything exciting this summer?”  Exchanging information on a personal level, no matter how trivial the information may seem, will allow parents to view you as a real person who is approachable.
  • Provide parents with two ways to communicate with you.  Parents are not always available to discuss their children during working hours.  Email or communication books allow parents to stay in contact without inconveniencing them.
  • Invite parents into your classroom, and more importantly, have them do a meaningful activity with the kids.  Have them do a read aloud or play an educational game.  Don’t just send them to the copy room with a pile of papers to copy.  Making copies will NOT make them feel valued.  Instead it will emphasize feelings of inadequacy in regard to their child’s education that they may already have.
  • Send home a monthly classroom newsletter keeping parents apprised of important information.  Include work samples from different students each month so parents can see what you are working on.
  • Most importantly, stay away from technical jargon.  Speak in parent-friendly terms.  In order to develop a relationship with parents, you must make them feel comfortable.

I’m not saying these suggestions will solve the problem of poor parent involvement that we are plagued with in America, but it will certainly improve it for some.  The First Days of School: How to Be and Effective Teacher by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong is an excellent resource if you are looking for more ideas.

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The Importance of Parent Involvement

October 11th, 2009

When I was a small child in the public school system, the PTA was overflowing with parents.  Everyone wanted to do their part in helping out their child’s school.  Parents would organize fundraisers, donate supplies and even volunteer their time to come into the classroom and help the teacher and students.  Being an active part of your child’s education was a given and something you did in order to be an effective parent.  Support for a child’s education did not stop there though.  Once a child went home, their mother and father would sit with them and help them complete their homework.  I remember when my biggest concern with homework completion was that the parents would confuse my students by teaching them the way “we did it as kids”.

It is amazing how much this has changed over the years.  Many parents have become distant from the public school system.  They do not attend parent teacher conferences or return phone calls.  Sometimes they don’t even leave a way to contact them.  I cannot tell you how many times I have called a parent to update them on their child’s progress, just to find out that their phone number has been disconnected and that they neglected to give their new number to the school.  And I use the word neglected because I truly feel that many parents are guilty of just that … educational neglect.

These days, parents do not see that they play a role in their child’s education.  Children are expected to complete their homework on their own, organize their own book bags and pack their own lunches.  Is it a wonder why little Johnny is coming into school with incomplete homework, no pencils and Doritos for lunch?  Children only know what we teach them.  The years that we spend helping them with homework and teaching them how to be organized and healthy will follow through to their adulthood.  The habits that they develop now will be the habits they have for life.  It is NOT the sole job of your child’s teacher to educate your child.  Our children are quite intuitive.  They pick up on much more than we realize.  I guarantee that if you are not interested in your child’s education, then they aren’t either.

With all this said, I also understand that we live in a different world than we did 30 years ago.  Our society no longer allows for one parent to remain home during the day and make parenting their full time job.  The cost of living in America is so high that, in many families, both parents must contribute financially.  No one is saying that it is going to be easy … but you MUST make the time.  If you show your child that you can find the time to make their education important, then they will find time to do the same.

Pointers for Busy Parents

  • Give your child’s teacher your email address.  That way you can have an open line of communication and you don’t need to make yourself available during working hours.
  • Join the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).  They always meet at night to accommodate everyone’s schedules and they will keep you apprised of important issues in your school that you may of otherwise never known about.
  • Use one of your vacation days to volunteer in your child’s school.  I know that you would rather save that day to use on the beach later on in the year… but remember, your child is watching.  If you use one of you vacation days to come to school, they will see how important it is to come as well.
  • ALWAYS sit with your child as they complete their homework.  Don’t do it for them, but sit next to them as they complete it.  Read a book or write in a journal, but do some activity that looks similar to the homework that they have.  This way you are modeling the importance of completing homework and you are available for them if they need help.
  • Pack your child’s backpack and lunch the night before and ask your child to help you.  Use this opportunity to reinforce how to organize their backpack and pack a healthy lunch.
  • Do your best to have a family dinner every night.  Studies have shown that students who have family dinners are more likely to do well in school  (Not to mention, they are less likely to do drugs).  Use this time to talk about your child’s school day and ask them what they have learned.

I hope you will find my suggestions helpful and that you will consider this… Parents are the first teachers that a child has.  You have an important job.  Please take it seriously.

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My Intentions

October 9th, 2009

Education has changed a great deal in the years that I have been a teacher.  Everything from teaching theory to the attitudes of students, teachers and parents has altered, and often I find myself wondering if things have changed for the better, or for the worse.  The days in which parents trust and respect teachers have gone.  Many parents view their children as infallible and blame teaching professionals for the shortcomings of their children.

Educational standards have been raised to the point of pure frustration for many students and teachers, and as a result school climate is stressed and tense.  Students and teachers alike are pressured from the beginning of September with thoughts of the ominous standardized tests, hanging over their heads like a threatening black cloud.  Eight year old children begin having panic attacks when March hits and find themselves nauseous with the thought of going to school.

Gone are the carefree days of childhood in which children are able to learn through discovery and develop a passion for knowledge.  Instead, students are pressured to obtain goals far beyond their developmental age and if they are successful, the goals are raised to almost unachievable heights.  Students who are not developmentally ready to be stretched that far are being left in the dust and at the same time, the number of students who are labeled as special education is growing exponentially.  Is this a coincidence?  Or are we pushing our students to the brink of failure?  It’s no wonder students seem to be devoid of the social skills and consideration of others that we had at their age.  Eight, nine and ten year old boys and girls are living with more stress in their lives than is conscionable and yet we are still told our country is not “making the grade”.

In this blog I intend to share my views on the inner workings of the public school system, the strengths and weaknesses that I see on a day to day basis and the changes that I believe need to be made in order to mold healthy well-rounded young men and women.  After all, that is the desired end result of education.

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