Phone: 1-800-453-7461
Fax: 239-631-2259

NPRInc Blog
The Educator's Choice for Classroom and Professional Development Resources

Archive for the ‘Special Education’ Category

Helpful Tips for Families of Children with Significant Cognitive Disabilities During the Pandemic and Beyond

By Padmaja Sarathy, author of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Seven Steps of Support

Engage your child in motivating activities to sustain attention and active involvement.

  • Weather: Go outside to check the temperature. Get your child to observe daily temperature changes. Help make temperature comparisons, higher or lower readings. Also, involve reading the detailed daily weather forecast on the phone/laptop. 
  • Language and Literacy: Read stories together daily. Use role play and have fun pretending to be different story characters. (e.g., pretending to be animals, story characters, facial expressions of emotions –happy/sad/ surprised/scared, etc. Build your child’s vocabulary associated with personal grooming, cooking and (Identifying various food items, cooking utensils, measurement tools, wash cycles, cleaning supplies, mirror, comb, brush, etc.)
  • Create a personal life story:  Help your child to create timeline of events with photos and text about herself/himself (or a story associated with Covid-19 crisis). Provide index cards with text to go in the story. Your child can put it in the right order and pair it with the corresponding photos. 
  • Math: Play games using dice and dominoes. Get your child to identify the higher and lower number, add, subtract, multiply and divide through rolling two dice. 
  • Math-Measurement: Weigh a couple of items using the kitchen scale or just hold it in their hand and make a guess. Have your child determine which one is heavier and which is lighter.
  • Nature and Science: Go for a ‘Nature Walk’, find leaves, twigs, seeds, tree bark, etc. Have your child touch and manipulate a leaf. Place it on a tree picture/model. Grow A Garden: Plant seeds (coriander, mustard, flower seeds). Plant seedlings in paper cups and watch it grow.
  • Create a personal life story:  Help your child to create timeline of events with photos and text about herself/himself (or a story associated with Covid-19 crisis). Provide index cards with text to go in the story. Your child can put it in the right order and pair it with the corresponding photos. 
  • Math: Play games using dice and dominoes. Get your child to identify the higher and lower number, add, subtract, multiply and divide through rolling two dice. 
  • Math-Measurement: Weigh a couple of items using the kitchen scale or just hold it in their hand and make a guess. Have your child determine which one is heavier and which is lighter.
  • Nature and Science: Go for a ‘Nature Walk’, find leaves, twigs, seeds, tree bark, etc. Have your child touch and manipulate a leaf. Place it on a tree picture/model. Grow A Garden: Plant seeds (coriander, mustard, flower seeds). Plant seedlings in paper cups and watch it grow.

Enable

  • Use concrete objects, pictures, photos to assist in getting your child’s attention and to engage with the task. It will also help with later recall. 
  • Provide tactile and visual (picture icons) supports that correspond to your child’s needs. Continue to use the technology supports to promote your child’s communication and physical access in engaging with the activities.
  • Use activities that connect with real life application (e.g., nature walk, growing things, weather and calendar activities, personal story, etc.). 
  • Make sure your child is actively involved and participating in the activity and that you are not physical prompting and manipulating your child’s movements.

Encourage your child’ self-dependence through performing a variety of tasks with minimal prompting and assistance from you.

  • Allow your child to make choices (e.g., selecting clothes to wear, games to play, the kind of sandwich topping, what he wants to do first, math or language activity, etc.).
  • Involve your child in personal grooming activities. Do not expect perfection.
  • Facilitate social interactions with family and friends through video conferences. 
  • Get your child to assist you with cooking and cleaning activities.

Fact from Fiction: What Students with Disabilities Need to Know About College

For high school students with disabilities and their families, it’s never to early to start thinking about and preparing for the transition to college. It is critically important that students with disabilities and their families understand the application process years before it’s actually time to apply, and are aware of what to expect and what to look for as they start considering which colleges they’d like to attend.

Elizabeth C. Hamblet

Elizabeth C. Hamblet

Unfortunately, there are many myths and misunderstandings about postsecondary options for students with disabilities. In an article published in ASCA School Counselor (May/June 2014 issue), transition expert Elizabeth Hamblet, author of the guide Transitioning to College: A Guide for Students with Disabilities and the book 7 Steps for Success: High School to College Transition Strategies for Students with Disabilities, urges guidance counselors to be proactive in dispelling myths and providing students and their parents with accurate, useful information on key transition topics.

Hamblet’s list of myths to dispel include the following. For a more in-depth discussion of each, see the original article, posted at http://www.ldadvisory.com/dispel_myths.

1. Myth: Competitive schools do not provide accommodations for students with disabilities. FACT: ALL schools are required to provide basic adjustments at no additional cost.

2. Myth: There are separate admissions requirements for SWD. FACT: Schools do not have different requirements for students with disabilities; they also are not required to have different standards for SWD, so be careful about waiving certain high school classes as their may affect chances of admission.

3. Myth: Students are required to disclose their disability on applications. FACT: It is up to the student whether or not to disclose his/her disability on application.

4. Myth: Students will automatically get disability accommodations in college if they have had them in high school and disclose on their application. FACT: Students must specifically apply for accomodations with the Disability Services office, even if they disclosed their disability on their application. There is no requirement to apply, and nothing is automatic. If students don’t apply for accommodations, they won’t get them.

5. Myth: Schools are not required to waive/adjust graduation requirements. FACT: Usually waived courses require substituting alternative courses. Expect to be required to complete all courses.

6. Myth: Colleges will provide the same level of accommodations as the student got in high school. FACT: Colleges aren’t required to and usually don’t provide same level of services as one-on-one tutoring with a disabilities specialist. At some schools, the only option is peer tutors; some have limited time with disability services professional (e.g., once a week); some offer fee-for-service.

7. Myth: Maximize accommodations in high school to get into a good college. FACT:  College requires independent study skills and learning strategies.It is advisable to wean students off of accommodations as they approach end of high school so that they develop skills they will need in college.

New Guide, Technology for Transition and Postsecondary Success: Supporting Executive Function, Now Available!

Learn how readily available technology tools can be used to help students who struggle with executive function successfully transition from high school to college or the workplace!

Authors Gillian Hayes and Stephen Hosaflook have developed this quick-reference guide to help guidance counselors, transition teams, job TTEFcounselors and other professionals identify free and low-cost applications and software that support executive function skills, such as time and task management, organization, and self-regulation. These skills are crucial for carrying out daily routines and accomplish school and work-related goals.

Technology for Transition and Postsecondary Success: Supporting Executive Function provides easy to follow instructions for how to use

  • Digital calendars
  • Task lists/To-Do list apps
  • Productivity software
  • Meditation and mindfulness applications
  • Self-monitoring applications

The authors also provide useful tips on mobile device etiquette, composing professional emails, and staying safe online.

Read more about the guide and purchase at http://www.nprinc.com/technology-for-transition-and-postsecondary-success/

About the authors:

HayesheadshotGillian R. Hayes, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, in the School of Education, and in the School of Medicine at The University of California, Irvine. She is the Robert A. and Barbara L. Kleist Chair in Informatics as well as the Director of Technology Research at the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. For the last decade, she has dedicated much of her research to the design, development, and evaluation of technologies in support of children with special needs and their families and teachers. She is the Chief Technology Officer at Tiwahe Technology.

 

IMG_4067Stephen W. Hosaflook, MS is the CEO of Tiwahe Technology, a consulting and design firm specializing in technologies for children and families coping with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and ADHD. He is a Certified Assistive Technology Specialist and has been working with children with autism for over a decade. Together with co-author Gillian R. Hayes he offers school districts and organizations customized workshops on using technology to promote executive function and facilitate postsecondary transition.

More Than Just Pranks: Stopping Bullying of Students with Disabilities

School is now back in session in districts across the country. Unfortunately, a return to school also means a return to being bullied for many students, especially students with disabilities. Last week a particularly heinous example of bullying of a student with special needs was widely disseminated in a viral video of a student with autism whose peers told him he was nominated to take the ALS ice bucket challenge and proceeded to dump a bucket of urine and feces (instead of ice water) on his head.

schoolyard-bullyingWe would all like to believe that this outrageous case is an outlier, but the truth is, students with disabilities are frequently the targets of bullies. In fact, they are estimated to be two to three times as likely to be the victims of bullying as their same-aged peers. As the “ice bucket” prank demonstrates, bullying can take a variety of forms. It is not limited to physical violence; indeed, as the “ice bucket” incident so painfully shows, other forms of bullying such as humiliating (through cruel pranks, making a student the butt of jokes, name calling, etc.) or ostracizing someone, can be even more traumatic than physical assault.

While it will come as no surprise to those who work in the schools that students with disabilities are frequent targets of bullying, it is less well known that students with certain disabilities-especially ADHD, emotional/developmental disabilities, and learning disabilities-are more likely to perpetrate bullying than their non-disabled peers.

Bullying-prevention-students-with-disabilities-layout-BPSDAlthough bullying disproportionately affects students with disabilities, educators and school personnel have a variety of powerful tools available to them for stopping and preventing bullying of students with disabilities. One of the most powerful tools is the IEP (individual education program). If behaviors or skills deficits related to a student’s disability are contributing to the child being bullied or bullying others, evidence-based interventions and additional supports can be incorporated into the student’s IEP.

Dr. Kenneth Shore, an authority on bullying prevention, has written the quick-reference laminated guide Bullying Prevention for Students with Disabilities to help educators-including principals, teachers, guidance counselors, and other school staff-recognize, respond to, and prevent bullying of students with special needs. It also offers guidance on promoting social competence, and creating a positive and safe classroom and school climate, which benefits all students. The guide, published by National Professional Resources, is available at http://www.nprinc.com/bullying-prevention-for-students-with-disabilities/.

Using iPads in the Classroom with General and Special Education Students

From small rural schools to large urban ones, from preschool to high school, and from special education to general education classrooms, iPads are becoming a staple of many classrooms.  Studies have shown that iPads facilitate student engagement and help students improve skills.  A large, recently published study found a long list of benefits to students, including increasing motivation, fostering student learning and performance, nurturing creativity, facilitating student assessment, assisting with organization, improving pedagogical support, among others. In the blogosphere and on social media, educators enthusiastically share experiences and tips for making use of the iPad in the classroom.

Autism-iPad-layout-AAIPThe iPad is an especially hot topic in the realm of special education, with countless potential benefits for students with disabilities.  For the better part of three decades, computers have been used as powerful assistive technology tools. The highly portable, customizable touch-screen iPad has taken assistive technology to a whole new level. Thousands of specially designed iPad apps can help students with special needs in myriad ways, from increasing access to the curriculum to enhancing communication skills to improving behavior. But with all of the iPad’s features and options, educators need practical advice on how to get started with the iPad and how to use it to address particular student needs.

brian-friedlander-authorDr. Brian Friedlander, a school psychologist, professor of special education, and assistive technology blogger, has designed two quick-reference laminated guides to help teachers start using the iPad with special needs students quickly and easily: iPad: Enhancing Learning & Communication for Students with Special Needs, and Autism and the iPad: Strengthening Communication and Behavior.

Friedlander is also the author of the laminated guides Assistive Technology: What Every Educator Needs to Know, and Instructional Technology for 21st Century Skills.