Four days in and here come the emails...already?

[Hasil72]

Hi everyone! This IS NOT a teacher bash, I am genuinely looking for some more ideas for DS. Some quick background, DS(11) has PDD-NOS with anxiety, SPD, and impulsivity issues thrown in for good measure. He has some Aspie traits but not enough for the neuro, psych and various others to classify him as such. He's been in a mainstream classroom with a one-on-one since 2nd grade. He just started 5th grade at the middle school, so a HUGE transition. The teacher has already emailed me about his inability to raise his hand and constant calling out. Now, to me, this is cake compared to what was going on with DS last year but I don't want to seem dismissive. I've heard fabulous things about this teacher and have my hopes up for a great year.

So please, any suggestions that have worked for your children on raising hands instead of calling out would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kampfirekim]

Hi everyone! This IS NOT a teacher bash, I am genuinely looking for some more ideas for DS. Some quick background, DS(11) has PDD-NOS with anxiety, SPD, and impulsivity issues thrown in for good measure. He has some Aspie traits but not enough for the neuro, psych and various others to classify him as such. He's been in a mainstream classroom with a one-on-one since 2nd grade. He just started 5th grade at the middle school, so a HUGE transition. The teacher has already emailed me about his inability to raise his hand and constant calling out. Now, to me, this is cake compared to what was going on with DS last year but I don't want to seem dismissive. I've heard fabulous things about this teacher and have my hopes up for a great year.

So please, any suggestions that have worked for your children on raising hands instead of calling out would be greatly appreciated.

I don't really have any advice to offer as my son has not been mainstreamed yet except for specials such as art, music, PE, etc. and we haven't dealt with this sort of issue....yet. Mine is still in a pre-k self-contained class and will still try to run away given a speck of a chance.

I am intersted to hear the feedback on your question b/c I know I'm going to be where you are in just a couple of more years. Maybe even worse.

The school year is still young....hopefully it will all work out for your son. I hope so.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

One thing that helped my Aspie son was a system of notecards that I made for the teacher to use in the classrom. This was suggested by our private psychologist. They had little messages and reminders written on them. One said, "Please don't blurt out answers. Raise your hand first." Another said, "Stay on task and concentrate on your work." The teacher could just drop the appropriate card on his desk instead of talking to him each time. It helped the teacher because he didn't have to interrupt the class to keep correcting my son. It helped my son because he would get immediate feedback without feeling like he was being singled out. It also helped the other kids in the class because the teacher didn't have to keep stopping to talk to my son. For positive reinforcement, one of the cards had a picture of a train on it and said, "Good job getting back on track!" My son loves trains so he was always excited to get the train card. There were about 5 or 6 cards altogether. We kept the number low so he wouldn't feel bombarded with messages and could concentrate on just a few key behaviors.

I also made sure to ask new teachers for a meeting fairly early in the school year. We were lucky to be able to choose his teacher for the next year at the end of the previous year and have the teacher attend his IEP meeting in June. They usually had a pretty good idea of how my son would be in class. Still, I would be sure to talk with them early on and see what issues they were having and offer information on whatever worked for my son in the past. As wonderful and many of his teachers have been, they didn't all have a lot of experience with Asperger's and the many ways it manifests in different kids. I would be sure to tell them about my son's specific characteristics and it seemed to help them understand him better. I think a key point is that many teachers don't realize that they can't stop a behavior (like blurting) in just a few days. I assure them it's something we've been working on, along with his past teachers, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc. But it's not something that we're going to solve right away because his brain works in a different way than the kids they're used to teaching.

Just keep plugging away and be as supportive as you can to the teacher and I'm sure things will even out soon. Good luck!

 

[bookwormde]

The most important thing is to educate the teachers so they can implement effective accommodations and skill training. How complete and effective are the IEP items for social skills and EF curriculum and accommodations. Even though he does not have a formal Aspergers (autism) classification get each of his teachers a copy of Attwood's the complete guide to Aspergers and "encourage" them to read it. If you find you need a formal AS diagnosis, set up with Kennedy Krieger (Johns Hopkins) in Baltimore for a full spectrum evaluation. From you descriptions a center with their level of expertise would very likely come to that conclusions. They are one of the top 3 centers in the country.

As you always hear me say, chasing behaviors is a futile task that in the long term needs of the child is rarely effective.

bookwormde

 

[Hasil72]

Thank you all!

Luv Bunnies, I may ask the teacher if we can do that, or if she can have the aide do it. I agree that he needs immediate feedback and that these behaviors won't stop immediately. Especially during such a significant transition. New school with new kids, the bus, new aide, just about new everything. I'm sure she's just trying to be up front about DS's behaviors so there is no misunderstanding unlike last year when I received conflicting stories.

Bookwormde, oh wise one, I have been assured that the teacher HAS read Attwood's book. How wonderful is that?! And I'm happy to see your enthusiasm for Kennedy Krieger! We're on a wait list for an appt with a developmental ped. Our regular ped isn't very helpful and as we approach the tween/teen years, I think it would be beneficial for DS to see someone who can approach things from the ASD perspective.

Again, as my DH and I discuss it, I'm hoping that the email was more to keep me in the loop as to what is happening in the classroom rather than complain. I'm just trying to gather some info on what strategies have worked for other students.

You are the best! Have a great day!

 

[bookwormde]

All my DS's teacher's have the Attwood book also, but so far when I ask them if they have read it, the answer has been "not yet". And of course then it is the question if the "got it".

Sometimes Kennedy Krieger is doing research studies, and will consider kids who are "apparently" on the spectrum and then do the diagnostic screens to make sure they qualify for the study, so you might want to check into that.


bookwormde

 

[sunset30]

Sounds like you have good advice there...

We made it to day 3 before I got called in by DS preK teacher...

"he doesn't like to get his hands dirty does he?"
"he doesn't like painting, but he gets REALLY upset when he doesn't have anything to bring home."
"I had to stop him washing his hands..."
"I had to intervene when he made another child hold his hand..."


etc.

Ds is being assessed for ASD

Tbh, I was not that sympathetic with his teacher, since he has some of the same teachers he had last year so they all knew all of these things AND, if that was the extent of his issues then, that's pretty good. He generally did as he was asked and didn't hit anyone etc etc etc.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Something that helped DD12 with the blurting things out in class was to make sure she had a small note pad at her desk at all times and for her to keep a pencil or pen in her hand. She was to write down her question before asking. Having the pencil actually in her hand helped her to remember to do so. This not only gave her the mental pause she needed to remember to then raise her hand, but it also stopped her from just blurting out her thoughts at any time. Her reasons for blurting were two fold. She would forget the appropriate social steps (raising your hands then waiting to be called on) and she was also worried that she'd forget what she was going to say if she didn't say it immediately. Writing down her thought first helped with both issues. We also created a Social Story to explain to her that this should be done.

 

[Hasil72]

Something that helped DD12 with the blurting things out in class was to make sure she had a small note pad at her desk at all times and for her to keep a pencil or pen in her hand. She was to write down her question before asking. Having the pencil actually in her hand helped her to remember to do so. This not only gave her the mental pause she needed to remember to then raise her hand, but it also stopped her from just blurting out her thoughts at any time. Her reasons for blurting were two fold. She would forget the appropriate social steps (raising your hands then waiting to be called on) and she was also worried that she'd forget what she was going to say if she didn't say it immediately. Writing down her thought first helped with both issues. We also created a Social Story to explain to her that this should be done.

Thanks! DS does have a thought book but I'll have to suggest that he have a pencil in his hand at all times. Maybe that will help. It's funny, it's as if his head will explode if he doesn't call out what's on his mind.

Sometimes Kennedy Krieger is doing research studies, and will consider kids who are "apparently" on the spectrum and then do the diagnostic screens to make sure they qualify for the study, so you might want to check into that.

I'll have to ask about that. At least I know it's worth the drive. I called someone more local and it was a 27 month wait.

Tbh, I was not that sympathetic with his teacher, since he has some of the same teachers he had last year so they all knew all of these things AND, if that was the extent of his issues then, that's pretty good. He generally did as he was asked and didn't hit anyone etc etc etc.

Good luck with the evals!

Thank you everyone!

 

[Schmeck]

As you always hear me say, chasing behaviors is a futile task that in the long term needs of the child is rarely effective.

bookwormde

So, how do they learn to adapt/function in the world? We are all just a list of behaviors, and the students with Asperger's syndrome that I work with have been able to adapt to appropriate behaviors with proper modeling and patience. We all can learn to adapt if we don't practice avoidance, etc.

What would you suggest to get the blurting under control?

 

[Hasil72]

Hi Schmeck! As an educator, any suggestions for DS? I'm open to ideas. Thanks!

 

[bookwormde]

It is about teaching underlying (social) skills, of course that take a lot more training and effort by those who are meeting the needs. Teaching behoviors only helps 1 thing in 1 situation, teaching skills can over time be generalized to much broader enviroments and eventually even to self skill developement.

bookwormde

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

My 3 y/o is recieving services as he's supected to have pdd-nos. It almost amuses me how many notes his teacher sends home about his behavior. Yesterday he was slamming doors and when he told him to stop he looked at her, laughed manically, and slammed even harder! Unfortunately, this comes at no suprise to me. What I am a little frustrated by is that she doesn't actually offer any suggetsions to correct the behavior which is what I am sending him to her class for in the first place!
As for your son...my step daughter has was a lot like him...she was in normal classes until 6th grade and we had her moved to pull out classes because her grades were suffering. She really does much better in them. At this age, they are dealing with so much social pressure, it gave her a high level of anxiety because she knows she's different. Her teachers have been great and she's much happier.

 

[Schmeck]

Hi Schmeck! As an educator, any suggestions for DS? I'm open to ideas. Thanks!

I've had great success asking my students to think about why they do certain things - so, for blurting I'd ask them what it felt like in their heads when they are in class and the teacher asks a question. If they say that the answer is in there screaming at them, then I'd give them some practice outside of a classroom setting. Sort of a 'mock' class, with a few students there to help out, etc. I've been lucky enough to have a lot of support available, with staff and appropriate students. We'd practice raising hands, just to get the feel of it. Then I'd ask some questions, calling on someone first, etc. Lots of eye contact with the student, maybe a finger pointing up in the wait position so he could see, using nonverbal cues he was familiar with.

After practicing a bit, I'd ask the student if he felt the practice helped, or if he had any ideas himself that could help. Students can get this type of support/practice in speech therapy groups too. You can do it at home too, make a game out of it, or just let him know he needs some practice so you are doing it to help him out.

Bookwormde, you used lots of words, but gave no practical advice. Got any ideas on how to implement "about teaching underlying (social) skills, of course that take a lot more training and effort by those who are meeting the needs. Teaching behoviors only helps 1 thing in 1 situation, teaching skills can over time be generalized to much broader enviroments and eventually even to self skill developement." besides harping on the training and effort of the staff? How about some ideas on how the student himself may meet the needs?

 

[bookwormde]

There are lots of professionals in the field that have the documented broad information to implement much of what I talk about. If it was a simplistic as a few quick ideas we would not have our kids struggling.

Here is one of the links I recommend

http://www.socialthinking.com/

Those who are highly effective with our kids have done 1000s of hours of continuing education (they have made it their life's work).
Every one of our kids are different so it is about broad knowledge, not patent fixes.

Examples are OK and useful as long a they are presented in that light

bookwormde

 

[Hasil72]

Thanks!

The teacher and I have developed a system that provides immediate feedback while also addressing why he does it and how to modify the behavior. I hope to follow through with his therapist as well. I feel somewhat caught in the middle at times. While I know that DS's executive functioning skills are not like those of a NT child and don't want to force a square peg in a round hole, I also want to provide him real world (for lack of a better term) skills. And we all know the real world won't always be so accommodating.

And bookwormde, thanks for that link. I hope to explore it over the weekend.