Here's my background!
Brief chronology of Education and Experience (K Brown Lucas):
- BA Special Education
- Teaching Endorsement--General and Special Ed - PreK through Secondary
- M Ed Curriculum and Supervision
- Started in field as Director of Community Tutorial Center
- Moved to Special Education Coordinator in urban Head Start Program
- Moved to Public School* positions, General and Special ed settings - 13 years
- Populations taught included DD, LD, Aut, ID, PD, ADHD, OHI, OI
- Moved to Public School* position of Special Ed Administrator - 13 years
* Top-tier school system; 11th largest in the nation
Please stay tuned for helpful, effective, proven strategies and information.
I am glad to see this as a blog. I have some questions about helping my little boy get ready for school this fall. He is going to kindergarden. He has been in special preschool.
ReplyDeleteFrom Kathy
Hi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very important transition for your son. I have several questions for you in order to give you some suggestions. Does your son still have special ed eligibility? If so, is the IEP for the fall set to go? Will your son go into a general education or special education classroom in the fall? What is/was your son's eligibility category? Please write back with those answers. In the meantime, I can say that you should make sure to visit the school with your son before school starts. If you think he is anxious, visit more than once. Even if it is closed, you can go to the building and walk around the sidewalk that he will enter on. Go with him onto the playground and he can get familiar with what he likes there (swings, climber, slide)---then he'll feel better when he goes there during school. If you can go inside and walk the halls to his classroom and so forth, that is great. If he will use a hallway bathroom versus one in a classroom, it's good to walk in there and show him. It's great to do this in summer when less is going on. Most schools don't mind if you explain why you are touring. Even if there is a summer program, still ask if you can just walk around a little with your son to familiarize him with the building. Typically schools have an open house right before school starts so that parents and students can meet the teachers, etc. Don't miss that---it's very important to begin building the relationship with the school and teacher. Your son will also gain important linkages. I am saying some of this assuming that your building for kindergarten is different than the preschool site. If it is the same school, you should still make it to the Open House because the team changes, but he will already be familiar with the school and playground. Hope this is helpful!
I will be traveling with a group to South America next month. One parent has a son diagnosed with Autism. Do you have any suggestions to help her and her son have a good flight?
ReplyDeleteJim
Hi Jim
DeleteI will answer as if it is the son's first flight. I don't know his age, but the parent can modify my suggestions based on the age. Social stories are good for children on the Autism spectrum. The parent can fashion a "book" by stapling sheets of paper together. On the pages, place photos of the outside and inside of an airplane (can get from internet). Make the text under the photos in short, simple sentences. "We will fly on an airplane to another country." "You will sit next to me. We will do things that you like." "You will have games to play that you like (name games), books that you like (name books)," etc. Make certain to have the child help prepare with the most desired books, toys, games. Include these in the social story. The parent should also write about any facts that will help prepare the child or any predictable triggers that could cause an issue, such as the foods he will eat and so on. The story should be read several times per day with the child to prepare for the trip. Also, since it is unlikely that the child can sit inside of a plane ahead of time, it may help to line up some chairs in the house like a plane cabin and practice sitting there with the child and pretending to be on the flight, enacting some of things the parents knows about planes. This type of practice can give a good deal of predictability to the child to offset anxiety. Thanks for this question, Jim.