Don Peek - Caring Makes the Difference

Special Needs Topics with Don Peek

 

This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs The School Funding Center, a company that provides grant information and grant-writing services to schools. To learn more, or to subscribe to the School Funding Center Grant Database, go to schoolfundingcenter.com

Caring Makes the Difference

I have a lot of experience dealing with parents in a school setting.  I spent 20 years as an educator in public schools.  Seven of those years I served as an assistant high school principal in two different school districts.  I think many parents are somewhat suspicious of assistant principals because their children are often in trouble when an assistant principal calls.   They also tend to be a little bit suspicious of the special education programs in which their children are enrolled.  They often don’t have a clear understanding of how a special education program even works.

Because I was very involved in the special education programs at the two high schools where I served, I learned a lot about working with parents in general and parents of special education students in particular.  Here’s basically what I learned.

If parents trust you, I mean really trust you to make the very best decisions you can concerning their children, you can do almost anything and those parents will support you 100%. On the other hand, if you don’t have that trust, if they are constantly suspicious that you don’t like their children, or that you’re simply not concerned with their well-being, you couldn’t give their children a hard look without getting into a conflict with them.

When I told my dad I had decided to teach school, he gave me some advice.  “Just remember,” he said, “teachers deal with the single most prized possession of any parent, their children.  Always remember that when you’re making decisions.”  That advice is even more important when you are dealing with students who have disabilities.  Parents are going to be that much more protective, and that’s totally understandable.

There is no course in college that teaches you to care about each of your students.  That has to come from the heart, and it’s very, very difficult to fake.  When you genuinely care about each student, you have to make decisions that are best for the child in the long run.  That’s not even easy for parents to do with their own children, and yet as educators we have to remember constantly to make those long-term decisions with special education students every day.

For instance, it is easy to give learning disabled students practice sheets that occupy them for hours at a time but do very little to challenge them.  Bring out the sheets that are harder, the ones the student really needs to work through, and you have a battle on your hands --- often day after day after day.  It’s not always easy to do the right thing when an easier solution is so readily available.  You can have some quiet time and the student isn’t complaining.  The student is also not learning, certainly not progressing. 

The same is true in dealing with bad behavior.  Some students tend to disrupt the class on a daily basis, even on an hourly basis.  Do you do the right thing for the child and consistently use those disruptions as teachable moments, or do you take the easy way out and let the child get away with behavior that will both teach that child the wrong lesson and give inconsistent signals to the other students in the class?

If you genuinely care about your students, not just while they are in your classroom, but care about their futures as a whole, you will consistently teach them what is right.  You will teach them the next skill in the sequence rather than repeating things they can already do well.  You will teach them how to behave in a classroom and how to get along with the other students in ways that will literally shape their future behavior and their future lives as a whole.

It was very hard to care for every student I faced as an assistant principal.  Many had entrenched behavior patterns before I ever had the opportunity to work with them.  I did the best I could.  I cared as much as I could and tried to help shape their futures in a positive way.

I just hope that as you work with disabled students, either as a parent or a teacher, you will genuinely care about their well-being.  You will take every opportunity to teach your students and your children, not the easy way, but the right way.  I can guarantee you that it’s well worth the time and effort.

-------------------------------------

Grant Info:

Grant Name:  Dreyfus Foundation Educational Grants

Funded By:  The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Description:  Giving on a national basis for museums, cultural, performing, and visual arts programs, schools, hospitals, educational and skills training projects, and programs for youth, seniors, and people who are handicapped.

Program Areas:  After-School, Arts, At-Risk/Character, Disabilities, General Education, Math, Reading, Science/Environment, Social Studies, Special Education

Recipients:  Public School, Private School, Higher Education, Other

Proposal Deadline:  3/10/13

Average Amount:  $1,500.00 - $20,000.00

Telephone:  202-337-3300

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  http://www.mvdreyfusfoundation.org

Availability:  All States

The team at Achievement Products asked our consultant, Occupational Therapist Scott Russo, to provide some activity suggestions for incorporating some of our favorite items into daily classroom activities or curriculum.

Scott has provided some really great and creative ways to use items (that may have been originally designed for typically developing children), in special needs environments.

Today we will look at the Squeeze and Feed Frogs.

Introduction:

Squeeze and Feed Frogs are rounded, pliable frog faces that open their mouths when squeezed to “gobble” foam bugs. The resistance provided when squeezed is excellent for the development of hand and grip strength, and manipulation of the small bugs assists with finger dexterity and in-hand manipulation skills. The set comes with both a number die and a color die for ease of grading the activity to children of various ages. The dice also provide the opportunity for social play as Squeeze and Feed Frogs can be used as a game.  The bugs and the frogs are both visually appealing which increases the motivational component of the game. 

 

Activity ideas:

 

·        The simplest activity is to have the child squeeze the frog and place the bugs inside the mouth with their other hand. Have the child place his/her thumb on one side of the frog’s mouth with the other four fingers on the opposite side forming a cupping of the palm when squeezing. To increase the challenge, have the child try to pick up the bugs using only the frog and not their other hand.

 

·        Play a game using the die. For younger children, use the color die and have them race to get as many of the colors as they can into the frog’s mouth. For school-aged children, have them use the number die for number recognition.  To increase the challenge, have the child use both dice and see if they can pick up the correct of number of the correct color.

 

·        Develop social skills. Have the child use the frogs for conversations. Have the child make the frog talk by squeezing and releasing the mouth.  In a small group with two children, or a simple 1:1 adult/child situation, the frogs can have a conversation with each other.

 

·        To develop bilateral integration skills, use one frog to pick up a bug and have it feed the bug to other frog.

 

For more information about the Squeeze and Feed Frogs and other great items please visit http://www.achievement-products.com.

Don Peek: A Few Misconceptions about Special Education

This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs The School Funding Center, a company that provides grant information and grant-writing services to schools. To learn more, or to subscribe to the School Funding Center Grant Database, go to schoolfundingcenter

 

 

A Few Misconceptions about Special Education

Special education and the services available through special education are often misunderstood by parents and other community members.  It is not that unusual even for educators who are not a part of the special education system to have limited knowledge about how special education provides evaluations and services to those students who qualify.

One common misconception is that some students can’t receive certain special education services from a public school because the school is small and unable to provide such things as speech or occupational therapy.  In reality, all special education programs are heavily subsidized by federal funding.  If either a school’s diagnostician or an outside evaluator determines that a child qualifies for a special education service, then the school district, regardless of its size or financial condition, is obligated to provide that service.  If the school cannot provide the service, then it must contract to have that service provided by a licensed individual or an outside agency.

Another misconception is that once an IEP (Individualized Educational Program) is signed by all parties, it cannot be changed until the next annual IEP meeting.  That is simply not true.  Parents can request an IEP meeting at any time, and it must be held within 30 days of their request.  If changes are agreed upon, an amendment is simply added to the IEP.

It is often believed that the school has the final decision as to whether a child is eligible to receive special education services.  Actually, parents have the right to disagree with the school’s eligibility assessment and can ask for an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation) at the school’s expense.  If there is a disagreement after the IEE between the school and the parents, the parents then have the right to a due process hearing where an impartial hearing officer will make the determination as to eligibility.

Many people have the idea that special education services are restricted to special education classrooms.   A number of parents of special education students were special education students themselves when they went to school.  It is possible that their programs consisted mainly of going to special education classrooms for instruction in the various subject areas.  Today, that simply is not the case in most schools.  Special education requires educating students in the least restrictive environment.  That means that disabled children should be educated in the regular classroom along with the general population of students as much as possible.  To do less is to violate special education policy.

It is often believed that special education is extremely costly and is a constant drain on the regular budgets of most schools.  That simply is not the case.  While sports programs, art, band, and other programs for the general population are totally funded by the regular school budget, the special education program is largely subsidized by the federal government.  It is true that taxpayers are still paying for these services through the federal taxes that they pay, but a very small amount of the money for special education is actually coming out of a school district’s regular budget.

Providing appropriate special education services for all of the students who qualify is a complex and expensive task.  There is little wonder that a host of misconceptions surrounding special education have sprung up over the years as it has grown and improved its services.

 

Grant Name:  LEGO Children’s Fund Grants

Funded By:  LEGO Children’s Fund

Description:  The LEGO Children's Fund will provide quarterly grants for programs, either in part or in total, with a special interest paid to collaborative efforts and in providing matching funds to leverage new dollars into the receiving organization. We will give priority consideration to programs that both meet our goals and are supported in volunteer time and effort by our employees.

Program Areas:  After-School, At-Risk/Character, General Education, Health/PE, Math, Reading, Science/Environment, Social Studies, Special Education, Technology

Recipients:  Public School, Private School, Other

Proposal Deadline:  1/15/13

Average Amount:  $500.00 - $5,000.00

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  http://www.legochildrensfund.org/Guidelines.html

Availability:  All States

 

 

Activity Guide - Toppletree

The team at Achievement Products asked our consultant, Occupational Therapist Scott Russo, to provide some activity suggestions for incorporating some of our favorite items into daily classroom activities or curriculum.

Scott has provided some really great and creative ways to use items (that may have been originally designed for typically developing children), in special needs environments.

Today we will look at the Toppletree.

Introduction:

 

Toppletree is a fun and challenging fine motor game. Starting from the base, players try to build a branch of the tree with four consecutive color pieces without toppling the tree. The game requires fine motor precision as the child must use muscle coordination to grade his placement of the pieces without toppling the tree.  This game also assists the child in the development of planning and reasoning skills as they must be able to see how to get to their piece in the correct order while not compromising the tree’s balance.

Activity ideas:

• Use the tree as a simple construction toy. Rather than following the actual game rules, allow the child to simply build the tree and see how big they can make it without toppling it over.

• In a small group, each player selects a color and must build their branches using only that color. Taking turns, they must find a way to connect four consecutive pieces of the tree with their color.

• Develop color identification skills. Specify which color piece you want placed at any time and have the child place it. Increase the challenge by telling the child which color you want placed on another color (ie. “Place a blue piece on a yellow piece”). 

 

• Using the idea above, develop social skills by having one child be the leader, calling out to the other children where they want different color pieces placed.

 

For more information about the Toppletree and other great items please visit http://www.achievement-products.com.



Don Peek - Pleasant Memories – Pleasant People

This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs The School Funding Center, a company that provides grant information and grant-writing services to schools. To learn more, or to subscribe to the School Funding Center Grant Database, go to schoolfundingcenter

 

 

Pleasant Memories – Pleasant People

I spent twenty years working in a couple of public schools in Northeast Texas.  I served as a teacher, an assistant high school principal, a high school counselor, a middle school principal, and a district assistant superintendent.  All along the way I built up a host of memories of special needs students.  I have to say that after many years, foremost in my mind are the positive ones I had with these special education students.

I’ll never forget a sixth grade boy I had in my first world geography class.  I was 20, right out of college, and I had no idea how to teach, much less teach a student with special needs.  He was a little different from other students, but he was friendly and very smart.  I was amazed at his terrible handwriting.  I was also amazed that he had an immediate grasp of material one day and sometimes couldn’t remember a bit of it the next.

Finally, toward the end of the second semester, his mother met with me and told me about his past.  He had fallen from a porch when he was young and hit his head.  He was brain damaged.  The two most evident results of this brain injury were his terrible handwriting and his short-term memory loss.  I was young, the year was 1972, and I’m sure we didn’t have the greatest special education services at that time in the small school district where I taught.  At least, from that point forward, I knew to investigate and get help when students didn’t function the way I felt that they should.  I still think of that small boy and the ways that I failed him, but I also remember how smart and how funny he was.  Overall, he is very pleasant memory for me.

When I was an assistant high school principal, I was much more involved with special education students as a whole, mainly because I wanted to be.  I remember talking to a parent who had twin high school sons.  They had a low intelligence level, but they were two of the most cooperative, happy people I’ve ever met.  I once told their mother not to worry about their futures.  As long as they kept their personalities and their smiles they would be fine.  I wouldn’t have hesitated to hire them in a dozen different settings where they would interact with the public.

When I changed high schools, still as assistant principal, I worked with a group that went to a sheltered workshop each day.  I remember two students especially.  One was a young man with Down syndrome.  He was always available for a nice hug and almost always had a smile on his face.  I remember being concerned about his future, but I remember always feeling good when I was around him.  He made me feel better.

Another young man in that group was severely autistic.  He had large calluses on one hand where he repeatedly chewed on it.  He also hit his head on walls when he was extremely upset – even if it was brick, but unless he was having some type of problem at the moment, he was always good for a handshake and a smile.  I know he always made me smile, and that is the main memory I have of him.

Finally, when I was a middle school principal, I had one young man on campus in a motorized wheelchair.  He was a card.  He raced around the school like a drag racer.  He often gave people rides.  He even cut wheelies in the breezeway at lunch.  I would find him in the center of a circle of students cutting up for them.

That young man will be confined to that wheelchair for the rest of his life, but rather than complain about his handicap, he found ways to have fun himself and entertain those around him.  He was just fun to me around.

I now realize as I finish writing this blog that these memories are all of male students.  I have no idea why that is, but I do know that each of these young men I’ve mentioned hold a very special place in my memories, not because of their handicaps, but in spite of them.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Grant Name:  BWI Summer Reading Program Grant

Funded By:  American Library Association

Description:  This grant is designed to encourage outstanding summer reading programs by providing financial assistance, while recognizing ALSC members for outstanding program development. The applicant must plan and present an outline for a theme-based summer reading program in a public library. The program must be open to all children (birth -14 years). The committee also encourages innovative proposals involving children with physical or mental disabilities.

Program Areas:  Library, Disabilities

Recipients:  Public School, Private School, Higher Ed, Other

Proposal Deadline:  12/1/12

Average Amount:  $3,000.00

Telephone:  312-280-4026

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?template=/CFApps/awards_info/award_detail_info.cfm&FilePublishTitle=Awards,%20Grants%20and%20Scholarships&uid=253E1BA4DC3C957B

Availability:  All States

Don Peek - Prinicipals: Do You Have Quality Special Education Teachers?

This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs The School Funding Center, a company that provides grant information and grant-writing services to schools. To learn more, or to subscribe to the School Funding Center Grant Database, go to schoolfundingcenter

 

Prinicipals:  Do You Have Quality Special Education Teachers?

I never wanted to be a special education teacher.  I don’t know if I simply didn’t have the patience or maybe I just never thought I would be good at it.  I do remember having special education students mainstreamed into my classroom and not really knowing how to handle them.  I was really young when I started teaching (only 20 years old), and when I look back, I know I didn’t do a very good job even with my regular education students.  I know I must have failed my special education students miserably.

Because I had a degree in English and I could see how severe the reading problems were in my school, I did gravitate to Title 1 reading.  I think both my patience and my ability to reach these students increased the longer I taught in that Title 1 classroom, and I probably did a much better job with all of my students when I went back to the regular classroom to teach.

After eight years, I became an assistant principal.  I also became an advocate for special education students, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many ARD meetings I attended over the next 10 years as either an assistant principal or a principal.  I did my best to make sure each student’s IEP was the right one for that student.  It didn’t matter if it dealt with discipline or the actual academic program of the student, I was involved and I, wanted the right decisions made, not just for the meeting to be over so we could start the next one.

Another thing I learned during my first 15 years in education was that many principals, especially old-school principals, were not good at hiring and firing teachers.  They didn’t spend enough time in interviews, and they didn’t do enough checking on background and references.  Probably the worst practice I saw during this time was that of moving inadequate teachers to different positions rather than letting them go.

The very worst practices that I saw at that time were the moving of teachers who failed to cut it in the regular classroom to the position of special education teacher or librarian.  I’ve heard the excuse a hundred times if I’ve heard it once, “They can’t do the job in the regular classroom, so we’ll move them to a position that has the least impact on the smallest number of students.”  That logic drove me crazy then, and it drives me crazy now.  Sure those teachers had to go back to school and get certification to stay in the special education position, but that usually helped the situation very little.

Even though I know teachers who do a wonderful job in the library, I believe only good, certified librarians should be in charge of a library.  And, boy oh boy, in a special education classroom, you need the best, the most highly trained and certified, and the most patient teachers in the school.  If you don’t fill those positions with those kinds of teachers, you’re looking for disaster, and you’re likely to find it.

Not only that, you are cheating special education students out of a solid education that they probably need more than any other students in the schoolhouse.  Why anyone would put a person who was ineffective in a regular classroom in charge of a special education classroom is beyond me.

Principals, if a teacher can’t cut it, do your job.  Do the observations, take the notes, write the letters.  Move those teachers out.  Don’t move them where they will hurt children even more than they were in a regular classroom.

Yes, I’m on my soapbox.  I’ll admit that.  But once you’ve seen this happen through the years over and over and over, it starts to work on you.   You feel really sorry for the great special education teachers and the wonderful librarians who are extraordinarily capable at their jobs, and you develop great sympathy for the special education students who are so negatively impacted by these decisions and who have little voice or power to get the situation corrected.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Grant Info:

 

Grant Name:  Dreyfus Foundation Educational Grants

Funded By:  The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Description:  Giving on a national basis for museums, cultural, performing, and visual arts programs, schools, hospitals, educational and skills training projects, and programs for youth, seniors, and people who are handicapped. No grants to individuals and no support for foreign charitable organizations.

Program Areas:  Arts, General Education, Handicapped, Health/PE, Math, Reading, Science/Environment, Social Studies

Recipients:  Public School, Private School, Higher Ed, Other

Proposal Deadline:  11/10/12

Average Amount:  $1,000.00 - $20,000.00

Telephone:   202-337-3300

Website:  http://www.mvdreyfusfoundation.org

Availability:  All States

Activity Guide - Gel Spiral Pad

The team at Achievement Products asked our consultant, Occupational Therapist Scott Russo, to provide some activity suggestions for incorporating some of our favorite items into daily classroom activities or curriculum.

Scott has provided some really great and creative ways to use items (that may have been originally designed for typically developing children), in special needs environments.

Today we will look at the Gel Spiral Pad.

Introduction:

The gel spiral pad provides a fantastic overall sensory experience while increasing finger and hand strength, and improving visual-motor control. The texture of the gel combined with its bright but soothing colors provides the perfect combination of tactile and visual input in a non-threatening manner to the sensory defensive child. The gel provides resistance for finger and hand strengthening as well a visual-motor challenge as the child tries to maneuver the embedded plastic pieces through the maze.

Activity Ideas:

Use the pad for sensory exploration. Have the child free play with fingers and palms across the surface of the pad. Cool the pad in a refrigerator before use for increased sensory input.

Place the Gel Spiral Pad on a light table for added visual stimulation, to reduce boredom and increase attention span.

Use the pad to develop finger isolation and strength. Indicate a finger for use on each hand and have the child use only that finger to move the plastic pieces, or simply to trace the spirals. Switch fingers at random intervals or when fatigue is noticed.

Time the child and see how fast he/she can get the plastic pieces through the maze.

Don Peek - Other Health Impairment

This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs The School Funding Center, a company that provides grant information and grant-writing services to schools. To learn more, or to subscribe to the School Funding Center Grant Database, go to schoolfundingcenter

 

 

Other Health Impairment

From time to time I will highlight one of the disabilities that may make students eligible for special education services.  Remember, however, that I do say “may make students eligible” because not only does a disability have to be present, but it must impact the education of a student in a negative way if the impairment is to qualify a student for special education services.

Some disabilities would obviously quality students for services such as blindness and deafness.  For others, students have to be given a battery of tests to determine eligibility.  Such is the case with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities.  Another category that may qualify a student for services is termed “other health impairment”.

IDEA’s definition of OHI states that “Other health impairment means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that –

(i)                Is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome, and

(ii)              Adversely affects a child’s educational performance.”

This is not an exhaustive list and some other health impairments may also qualify, such as:

·        Fetal alcohol syndrome

·        Bipolar disorders

·        Dysphagia

·        Other organic neurological disorders

If a child is found to have any of these disorders and is found to be eligible for special education, that student will also be eligible for related school services while in school.  These can be important.  These services include:

·        Medical services – provided by a licensed physician for diagnostic and evaluative purposes only

·        School health services and school nurse services – provided by either a qualified person or a school nurse in the case of school health services and provided by a school nurse in the case of school nurse services.

These are in place so that every child will receive FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) under section 504.

As with other special education services, if a child is under 3 years old, parents should seek out state early intervention services that will identify a child’s problem and, based on the child’s disability, design and deliver an individualized family service plan.

If a child is between 3 and 21, parents should go directly to their local public school and request special education services beginning with a comprehensive and individual evaluation to determine the child’s eligibility and what types of services are needed to address the child’s needs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grant Info:

Grant Name:  Smith Charitable Trust Educational Grants

Funded By:  May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

Description:  Giving on a national basis to organizations that serve the needs of children, the elderly, the disabled, and the disadvantaged. Interests include art and music, education, and the mentally and physically disabled. No grants to organizations receiving significant government funding.

Program Areas:  Arts, Community Involvement/Volunteerism, Disabilities, Early Childhood, General Education, Math, Reading, Science/Environment, Social Studies

Recipients:  Public School, Private School, Higher Ed, Other

Proposal Deadline:  Apply online at website

Average Amount:  $3,000.00 - $250,000.00

Telephone:  415-332-0166

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  http://www.adminitrustllc.com/may-and-stanley-smith-charitable-trust/

Availability:  All States

Activity Guide - Balancing Hat

The team at Achievement Products asked our consultant, Occupational Therapist Scott Russo, to provide some activity suggestions for incorporating some of our favorite items into daily classroom activities or curriculum.

Scott has provided some really great and creative ways to use items (that may have been originally designed for typically developing children), in special needs environments.

Today we will look at the Balancing Hat.

Introduction:

The balance hat is a fun way to work on body awareness, gross and fine motor control, social skills and pre-academic skills. The lightweight foam pieces provide comfort when it is worn as a hat, safety if/when it is dropped, and ease of use due to the light-weight and easy grip material. The different colored and sized pieces allow for a wide range of pre=academic categorization options.

Activity Ideas

Simple stacking activities. Have the child use the "hat" as a simple stacking activitiy without putting it on his/her head. Discuss the sizes, shapes and colors of the blocks while the child familiarizes his/herself with the "hat".

Have the child stack the blocks on their head while standing still. Place the blocks on a surface that allows the child to be able to reach the blocks without bending, and stack the blocks in the correct order. Doing this activity in front of a mirror can help the child with poor body or spatial awareness and can also assist the child in finding the correct order with the visual clues seen in the mirror.

Increase the stacking challenge and the motor coordination of the child, by having the pieces positioned on surfaces of different heights that require the child to reach up, bend down, and stack the blocks all without the tower spilling.

Introduce balance into the activity by placing the pieces on different surfaces around the room, then have the child move from place to place, putting each piece on their head without spilling the tower.

For group or individual play, complete a relay race. Separate the pieces so that child must walk back and forth between two surfaces to achieve the correct order of the stacking. If working in teams, each player must pass the hat successively to the next for the placement of the next piece.

Other relay ideas: the teams must first work together to create the stack in the correct order on the table. Then each team member takes a turn wearing the hat while walking a fixed distance. The hat must be passed between teams members as a baton would be n a relay race.