It is likely in the best interest of your child to not believe everything a school’s special education department tells you about your child. Now this is not to say that our local schools are not absolutely dedicated to our children, because that may be. However, it is certain that not all of those who work within the special needs arena are equally as dedicated. A parent should always question the findings that affect their child especially within the special education department of your child’s school. Not all are created equal. If there is an outcome that you disagree with, by all means, argue and don’t stop until the school satisfies your request or you are convinced that they are right.
There are occasions today where schools are desperate to fill desks within their Special Needs program, in order to maintain sufficient funding. This is not as bad as it used to be, but still it occurs and can create issues that parents need to keep an eye out for. The outcome of a poorly funded special needs program are easily observed. Some of the signs that a parent needs to look out for are: classroom wall art that may be a few years old; inequitable learning situations such as the difference in learning materials between a regular and special Ed classroom and finally teachers that seem tired or short tempered. Parents should talk often with their children’s teachers, in order to determine their ability to deal with children with learning disabilities. On occasion there are teachers who have become so stressed in the working environment that they are no longer effective as teachers. If a parent sees any of these warning signs it is their personal responsibility to inform both the school district and other parents of the concern.
Parents with Special needs children should always keep in formed, not only for their children, but for those parents that are within their childs education plan. Parents of Special Needs children should collaborate together, within the local school, and keep one another informed about national, state, and local issues regarding their children’s education. Often the stress of raising a severely disabled child, or even a slightly learning disabled child can take a toll on a family. This is why it is a good idea to become good friends with the parents of your child’s classmates. This can not only insure some sanity during difficulties, but assist greatly in assuring that the school not try to skimp on an educational program.
By: Gary Kammer
Posts Tagged ‘Learning Materials’
Special Needs Children and the Public School District
January 16th, 2010Educational Evaluation For Special Education Student With Autism
November 25th, 2009
All students in special education are required by law to have a complete evaluation every three years to determine eligibility for special education services. The following case study is about a student named “Adam”. Adam is seven years old and has autism. He is in a Special Day Class setting in a public school. The case study includes details of Adam’s three-year educational evaluation.
The student in this case study has autism. His name is Adam. Adam is seven years old. He is in a Special Day Class for Severely Handicapped students. Adam’s 3-year evaluation needed to be completed to determine eligibility for his special education services. Adam has an advocate and parents who are intensely involved with his education. When the assessment plan was presented to the parents, they requested additional assessments including a functional analysis, occupational therapy and an assistive technology assessment. A copy of the signed assessment plan was given to the appropriate specialists: psychologist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, speech therapist, nurse and special education teacher.
The school psychologist observed Adam on several occasions before administering the psycho-educational profile revised (PEP-R). The PEP-R covers a variety of developmental areas. The test items are presented with simple, concrete instructions and most of the expected responses are nonverbal. The PEP-R provides information on developmental functioning in imitation, perception, fine motor, gross motor, eye-hand integration, cognitive performance and cognitive verbal areas. The PEP-R consists of a set of toys and learning materials that were presented to Adam within structured play activities. The psychologist recorded Adam’s responses to the test. His scores were then distributed among seven developmental and four behavioral areas. The resulting profile revealed Adam’s strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of development and behavior.
Adam’s portfolio was used as an assessment tool. Included in his portfolio were work samples, progress reports, behavior reports, notes from parents and daily reports. The teacher sent home daily reports that included performance, compliance and prompt levels on Adam’s tasks and goals/benchmarks. His parents signed and returned the daily reports and became part of his portfolio. The daily reports were used to assist in the assessment of Adam.
The school psychologist also conducted the functional analysis to determine why Adam was exhibiting disruptive behaviors. Questionnaires were sent home for the parents to complete. Screaming and biting were behaviors his parents and teacher were concerned about. The classroom teacher was responsible for collecting data on the behaviors. The psychologist and the teacher created a data collection form. The teacher recorded the occurrence of the undesired behaviors. The information from the parents, psychologist observations and teacher were compiled by the psychologist and the report was written.
The occupational therapist observed Adam, assessed him and wrote a report. The school nurse tested Adam with a special device. She was able to determine that his hearing appeared to be normal. Adam’s parents reported no problems with his vision and hearing. The speech therapist, who worked with him over the past year, also assessed him.
Other tests that can be used to diagnose and assess students with autism are the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Pre-Linguistic Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (PL-ADOS). These tests are individual autism assessment instruments that have been specifically designed to assess children with autism. Furthermore, these tests rely on either historical information about the child’s behavior (usually provided by a parent), direct observation of the child by a professional or a combination of these methods.
Adam’s assessment for his 3-year evaluation was extensive and comprehensive. This assessment gave the team information on Adam’s development, behavior, communication, health, coordination and cognitive levels. With this information, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team determined that his placement was appropriate. Occupational Therapy (OT) services were recommended. The occupational therapist wrote several goals and will provide services for Adam. The functional analysis concluded that Adam’s undesired behaviors occurred during transitions. The assistive technology assessment revealed that Adam excelled in this area. No recommendations were needed. Although Adam’s assessment was extensive and required hard work for the IEP team, valuable information was provided that assisted the team in making recommendations for Adam’s education. The assessment also revealed that Adam was making great progress in his special day class setting.
By: Vivek Chaturvedi
