Special Needs
November 25th, 2009
As secondary school teachers, we often assume that students come to our class with organization skills. They know how to record assignments in their assignment notebooks. They plan their projects to meet a deadline. They understand the steps to take to accomplish a task without direction.
However, many students need extra support to organize their work, especially special education and ADHD students. They might understand your class’s content, but have trouble organizing their materials, allotting their time, and understanding what to do.
November 4th, 2009
I had an EBD (emotional/behavior disorder) student who challenged me a lot. When the subject matter got tough, Elliot tried to engage me in an argument or heated debate. I struggled not to rise to the bait.
When working with students who have emotional or behavioral disorders in the classroom, you have to be careful not to be the spark to the EBD student’s tinder. This isn’t something I’m great at, but I’ve learned a few things to de-escalate behavior and redirect.
October 21st, 2009
Teachers know: there’s no magic bullet. What works well with some students doesn’t work well with others. However, the closest we come to the magic are those golden, research-based teaching strategies that work well with most students.
Researchers Vannest, Temple-Harvey, and Mason reviewed 20 studies about teaching strategies that work well with students who have emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). They didn’t find a magic bullet or Shangri-la. They found those rock-solid teaching strategies that work with all students, but work especially well with the EBD population.
February 11th, 2009
Last September, President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act (ADAA) of 2008, which amended the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and lowered standards for determining disability and broadened the major life activities that constitute impairment.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act falls under ADA’s umbrella and follows the same definitions and standards as the ADA. So, when the ADAA took effect on January 1, 2009, it changed Section 504 as well.
January 23rd, 2009
According to a 2007 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 25 students has a food allergy; that’s up 20 percent from one in 30 students in a 1997 study.
Students with food allergies can have reactions to the allergen that range from tingling, itching and hives to anaphylaxis, a serious and rapid reaction that can lead to death.
January 5th, 2009
Special Education law is increasingly layered with details, caveats and other complications that often result in schools and parents, neither being legal council, being caught in interpretation. Yet despite its cumbersome details, school districts and parents are after the same goal; to educate all children, regardless of disability.
And thus, the federal mandate (Public Law 102-119), known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was born. This mandate states that all disabled children will receive a free appropriate public education by the school district and the district must provide all related services at no cost to the child or his/her parents.
December 17th, 2008
Special education is an alphabet soup of acronyms and these five are just the ones that floated to the top of the broth. The good folks at NICHCY, or the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (http://www.nichcy.org/Pages/Home.aspx), have come up with a list of five special education acronyms that classroom teachers should know.
December 3rd, 2008
Lexi (named changed) has ADHD. She writes her assignments in her assignment notebook, but she doesn’t come home with all the books and materials she needs to complete her homework. Nearly every night Lexi asks her mother to drive her back to school to collect a missing book or packet.
Some nights Mom spot-checks Lexi’s assignment notebook against the homework the teacher posted online. It helps prevent missing assignments, Mom said.
November 26th, 2008
Did you know that…
- Three times as many ADHD teens fail a grade, have been suspended, or have been expelled from school as their peers.
- Teachers should have well established classroom procedures that become automatic for students, especially ADHD students.
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