Welcome to part 2.
Did you ever wonder how you child will comunicate in the classroom, especially if they have difficulty in speaking or are non verbal.
Classroom use PECS for communucation. PECS stands Picture Exchange Communication System. These are pictue cards to allow children to make sentences to express what they need or want. They are also used indivually to allow te child to make a choice between 2 picture symbols. For example, a teacher will ask a student, do you want chips or cheeseballs for snack. The student will point at the picture of what he want. Then they will move to a sentence strip.
Basic Sign language is another way to communicate with students. These are not always ASL sign. There are some differences.
Schedules - Picture Schedules are almost always on the board in front of the class. Sometimes they are also on a childs desk. Some children need a schedule close by in order to remove a picture symbol when something is finished and to see what is next. This is important to some students as they may services that may not be on the large schedule in front of the class.
Dynavox - This is a device that had picture buttons on it. This device is used with non verbal children.
Behavioral Strategies - There are many behavioral stratagies in the classroom.
Every teacher is different.
Some teachers/aides will try to calm your child with relaxation methods. Quiet music with heads down on the desk is one way.
They may use weighted vests or lap pads with some students.
If a child is upset, the child and aide might go for a walk. This will gives the child a chance to regroup.
There is the traffic light system. That is where every child starts in green. If a child misbehaves, they would be put in yellow. If they misbehave again, they would go to red. But if they are working or being nice, they can move their way back to yellow. At the end of the day,if you are in green, you would get 2 M&M's, if you were in yellow, 1 M&M. If you were on red,you would not get any M&M's.
Brushing and deep pressure - Some teacher use Wilbarger brush or a sensory brush on certain students, followed by compressions. I will talk about this more in a later blog.
The worst behavioral tactic is yelling at students and putting a child time out. Working in special education classrooms I have seen this happen. Special Education Teachers sometimes get frustrated. I have also have seen this behavior with aides. Yelling at a special needs student can sometimes escalate the problem in the classroom. It doesn't solve anything. Students can feed off of other students behavior, but they can also feed off teachers behaviors. Time out can also escalate a behavior in the classroom. No one likes to be or feel embarassed.
There are a lot of amazing special education teachers and aides out there, who do a great job working with students behaviors.
Get to know you child's teacher and aides. Here's why
Working 6 years at Boces and 6 years at our local school district, I have learned a lot about people. Teacher's Aides and 1-1 aides do not make a lot of money. Sometimes it will reflect how well they do their jobs. There are really a lot great aides. Make sure you have a communication notebook with your teacher and the aide. Do surprise check in's. If your child is acting out at home regarding school, Check out why. Where most classrooms are wonderful, I have been in classrooms where the teacher would swear and the aides did not get along. Make sure you keep the communication open.
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