Teachers -- school me in "verbal"

I think sozobe was right on about the drum noises being predictable and within his control, where other noises aren't. It probably isn't the loudness of the sound but how well he is able to process it on the spur of the moment.

I also think you hit on a very important point to do with the teaching styles Mo has encountered.




Having a quiet. predictable safe spot to move to to do work is very productive. Being sent away to work alone is punishment.

Ultimately it is a good thing for kids to be able to recognize the need to move into a space that is condusive to working. With some good teaching and modeling strategies, and an appropriate space set up for them, kids can learn to do this.

One teacher in my school set up an area called "the beach". Its a simple partition covered with ocean scene wallpaper. It has one desk, one chair a lamp ( florescent lighting can be harsh), and a cd played with a cd of quiet ocean sounds. The purpose of it is...a quiet place to work, or to go to to calm down and gather thoughts before poor behavior can escalate. Although it was designed a few years ago with a NVLD child in mind, it has been so successful for all students she has kept it going. Amazingly all of the kids take it very seriously and never abuse the privilege of using it.

The "Beach" sounds perfect!

I do know that the report we are to receive will be very specific that Siberia is not to ever happen again.

When I told Mo that he was very happy and as simple as it seems it did decrease his anxiety about school getting ready to start. (He's already cried a couple of times over the mere thought of school starting.)

I think I'll try to set up a meeting with his teacher to be before school starts. That way we can hope to get off on the right foot.

Do you remember all my complaining about substitute teachers last year? I even met with the school's principal about the problem.

Check this out:



This site (http://www.nldontheweb.org/intervention.htm) has TONS of information which might be interesting to teachers!

It all comes together. That really makes a lot of sense. If it's difficult for a child to read non-verbal cues but they are used to one teacher, ie. have them figured out, and that is then just switched up on them, I can see how that would be a problem.

I really hope that all of this information makes for a much better 2nd grade than 1st. I also can't help but wonder at well Mo seems to be doing in spite of all of this.

That site is a great resource. I had forgotten about that one. Most of my references and resources are at school. I'm still on summer vacation, and because of contract negotiations I can't go into the school...that's another story .

Anyway, a series of different substitutes or a teacher who likes to change routines or the environment frequently can cause a lot of anxiety for a child who needs predictability. I'm not surprised Mo had a hard time with that.

I had a kiddo who had a teacher that liked to change the placement of the desks every month. She did all the moving of desks after school. She complained that T. always had a day long meltdown when he walked in the room after a desk change. Instead of having this all year I suggested to the teacher that perhaps before the desk change up, T. could choose where he would like his desk to be when he walked in the room, within reason of course. He had a heads up to the change, had some input, and eliminated the surprise of where he would be sitting. He still didn't like change, but he was able to tolerate without meltdown.

It's a great idea to meet with the teacher as early as possible. You might want to consider asking for a team meeting with a special ed case manager, OT and perhaps speech lang. pathologist along with the teacher. Let them know that you have evaluation results that you would like considered. This will lead you into the process of determining if Mo would qualify for some kind of a written plan to meet his needs. Even a well meaning teacher may not have the time or resources to do what is needed without support personnel. He may qualify for an Individualized education plan ( IEP) or a 504 plan which outlines accommodations needed for a child to access the general curriculum. In any case you will at least have the attention of the school personnel to hear you out and have your concerns on record. I'm sure you will have many meetings in the future where you will need to be a strong advocate for Mo.

I fully intend to advocate for Mo.

As soon as I get the report I'll start trying to get meetings set up. Thank you, Stormwatch. I'll keep your advice in mind as I learn to navigate the system.

Today I was working on reframing some things and came across this picture of our house that Mo drew from memory in art class last year.



Here's a picture of our house (you can't see the garage in this photo, it's the brown part on the side in his drawing:



I think his drawing is pretty good but I was wondering what you all think of it in relation to this topic.

I got the report today and don't understand much of it at all.

I'm going to have to sit in my thinking chair and read it again.

Is it normal for this stuff to be so technical. I mean, is it maybe written for educators and doctors and such instead of parents?

It should be written for parents, but it's not.

Part of my job involves translating reports like that for senior managers so they'll understand why I'm asking for a bag of money for one of my files. I spent a few days on one word a coupla years ago.

It's hard. It's hard for us to process at school, it's hard for the parents to process. There must be a better way........ Just know that you will understand it (mostly) if you keep trying to.

I've been waiting for the OT report to come in but since it still isn't here and school starts in a week and a half I need to get some stuff going.

Should I:

A) Give a complete copy of the report to the principal, teacher and school psychologist or just one, or two of them?

B) Should I highlight pertenent sections or just give it plain and expect them to wade through?

C) Should I just give them excerpts?

I know all of these people are really busy and I want to make sure things don't get lost in the shuffle.

Maybe some sort of cover letter?

Something that introduces yourself and Mo in a general way and hits some of what you think are the high points...

That sounds good!

Should I reference where those points are found in the report?

I have two thoughts on your Q, Boomer. But, first, what is your intention that the school do with this info? What would you like them to do? And what would you like them not to do?

1- A note to the teacher with some details, but not a lot. But in this letter, I'd request meetings with the teacher and anyone else the teacher might want to involve.

2- Send the whole packet to the teacher for her to decide what she wants to do with it. Highlighting what you think it most accurate or important will help the teacher understand your perspective.

Be clear in your expectations. Do you want the school to be informed so that they can handle Mo effectively and teach him most effectively in the classroom with his classmates? Do you want them to develop an IEP (individualized education plan) that sticks with him and legally ensures that the teachers teach him in specific ways? IEPs get quite involved and include periodic meetings and yearly assessments/testing/reviews.

I'd send it to all of them...but with some highlighting.

Has the OT not sat down with you and translated the report? Can you ring 'em and go through it with them?

Ours used to do that with the parents and at a school meeting, if relevant.

I was hoping the school could help me develop expectations, if that makes any sense at all. What I want is what is best for Mo -- whatever that might be.

On the day of the appointment I talked to the psychologist for an hour while she explained her diagnosis. The report itself was confusing but I've waded through it to the point where it makes sense now.

I still have not received a report from the OT. I'll give them a call to see where it is.

Oh, sorry...thought you were talking about the OT report.

I agree with littlek about being as pithy as possible -- clear and brief.

This:



Sounds like a good thing to include. I think the recipients are going to be wondering what you want from them, and just saying that seems (to me) like a good way to get the ball rolling.

Ahhh, you did this testing outside of the school system?

If so, you probably need to request an IEP meeting. Tell them you have had testing done outside of the school system and will provide them with the reports at the meeting where decisions can be made at that time as to how to proceed. I would provide one copy for his file. Due to privacy, you probably don't want a bunch of copies floating around the school and who knows where.

Tell them at the meeting that you understand they may have to do their own testing, (may be required, tied to state and federal funding based on per special needs child served) but in the meantime we need to have some things in place so Mo gets off to a good start to the year. It can take MONTHS for the testing to be completed in larger school systems. Mo doesn't have that time to spare. TELL them what you have learned, suggest the things you think will help. Find out what they know about NVLD , if they have had a student with that diagnosis before and if so what did they do.

Go ahead and put a few things in writing even if they can't do a full blown IEP (Individualized Education Program) they can set some initial objectives, methods and goals based on this initial meeting. How Mo was allowed to choose if he needed a quiet spot needs to be on there as acceptable and allowed behavior. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat verbal instructions may need to be on there. I'd suggest verbal test presentation and oral answers be included even if testing won't be until the end of a few chapters or a section for each subject. If he can verbalize the answer that's as acceptable as if he has to read a question and write the answer since the purpose of a test is to find out if a student knows the material.

Just my suggestions after years of advocating for cubs. Be prepared to have to get serious.

I really don't think he needs and IEP. I wish I could share some of the details of the report but I don't want to do that in an open forum. Let's just say that the psyhologist doesn't seem to think he needs an IEP either. All of his testing came down solidly in "average", even the verbal, but his score on non-verbal was signifigantly higher enough (15 points) to be "clinically signifigant".

The report has several reccomendations for making school a better environment and experience. The report says "The results of this evaluation should be shared with physicians, educators and other care providers...."

I didn't want the testing done by the school. I was pretty sure that they would say it was ADHD and I knew that it wasn't. The psyhologist argreed that many indicators taken alone would have suggested as much.

Gotcha.

If you do not want an IEP then you can make suggestions, share information, etc as you like. Most educators are good, caring people so I don't want to indicate otherwise. Our experience was that without an IEP they were not likely to listen / take seriously the simple modifications that were needed for one cub as indicated by outside testing. (Another cub required more, as you probably know, so I'm not referring to more serious educational challenges.) Until it was written in an IEP, there was no requirement for compliance and no way of assuring agreed techniques would be followed by the teacher.

I know you are Mo's biggest and bestest advocate. (reserving biggest fan status for myself.) Be prepared to bare your teeth as needed.