Your Mama's Mad Tedious: Diary of a Special Ed Teacher

Back to School Time!

2009-08-30T14:45:00.005-04:00

School starts tomorrow! I am now living and teaching K-12 special education in Small Rocky Mountain Town, USA. Small Rocky Mountain Town has a growing student population, so the school is expanding and under construction this year. I'm in the process of doing my best to convert a large, windowless storage closet into a warm, inviting classroom.

No complaints, though, because I love this town and this school, and the temporary construction is in the school's best long-term interest. And at least I'm in the building, near a bathroom and running water, unlike the teachers in trailers who will soon be trudging through mud and snow to travel between their classrooms and the school building (and who've been told the proper term is not trailers, but "modulars"). Just one school year of construction toward a better school, though. We can handle it!

On to set up the classroom for tomorrow. I spent my Saturday night wondering if the map would look better on the other side of the classroom and if an Audrey Hepburn movie poster is appropriate for the classroom.

- Miss Dennis

Sickened

2009-08-13T21:12:00.002-04:00

Dear Ms. Palin,

As a special educator, I am saddened by your propagandistic use of your son's condition for your own narcissistic political gain. Please worry more about caring for him and less about spinning his condition to further your career.

Sincerely,

Miss Dennis

The Equity Project Charter School, Front Page of New York Times Again!

2009-06-05T14:20:00.006-04:00

The New York Times has another front page feature on TEP Charter School! TEP's teaching "dream team" has been chosen. The article is currently the NY Times' #1 most emailed story and the #10 most blogged about story.

The article also mentions TEP's fundraising efforts for our permanent school building in Washington Heights, NYC. I am on TEP's Capital Campaign Advisory Board. Please join TEP's Facebook Causes page or visit my TEP drive on Changing the Present.

TEP is an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit. TEP does NOT fundraise to support its investment in teacher salaries or administrative costs. The ONLY area for which TEP fundraises is for its school facility, since NY State public charter schools must primarily pay for their own facilities. TEP is a public charter school and does not charge student tuition or fees.

Mainstreaming Children with Autism

2009-06-01T21:21:00.008-04:00

Wow. The connections and exposure from the NY Times article I wrote back in Sept just keep on coming! I had no idea this site, Healing Thresholds: Connecting Community and Science to Heal Autism, was doing this write-up. If you ever get a chance to write for the NY Times, DO IT! It opens doors.

Back to this Blog's Roots!

2009-05-09T16:30:00.023-04:00

I re-opened the book that inspired my original idea for this blog today - Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman. (One of my earliest posts tells the story of how I first came across this lovely book, and how I came to identify with Sandy Dennis, the late actress who starred in the book's film version.)

Up the Down Staircase is officially fiction, but it is clearly based on some raw NYC teacher reality. It was first published in 1964, and when I read it as a first-year NYC high school teacher in 2004, I was struck by how little the NYC Board of Education had changed (except, of course, its official name, which is now the NYC Department of Education. Way to make real change, NYC!). Kaufman presents her story through often humorous "intraschool communication" - memos, directives, letters and notes from teachers, administrators and bureaucrats.

Basically, I've had this idea to do a similar, epistolary book, but non-fiction and with first-person, teacher narrative commentary. While going through some old emails today, I realized I have a wealth of material. Here's a snapshot of what I dug up today (posted with my old teaching colleague's approval. Thanks Kevin!).

From: Christine
To: Kevin
Sent: 05/09/2009 02:59 PM
Subject: Your Old Writing - Ha!

Hey Kevin! I was looking through old stuff I saved for a possible future book about teaching, and look what I found! Ha! - Christine

----Original Message-----
From: Kevin
To: (All teaching and admin staff)
Subject: What is it that we are doing here????

Am I to understand that regardless of the grades that our students receive this year they are all to be promoted to the tenth grade, despite the fact that we have openly advertised that they will NOT be promoted with less than ten credits?

Are you kidding me? Seriously, this must be some sort of joke!

How is it that we as a school will deliberately lie to our students regarding our standards for passing from one grade to the next?

Does this not render any and all of our grading policies completely useless? All of the discussions that I had with students about gaining their credits and the minimums required were lies! How can this be? How can my administration keep this secret and have me out there talking with students day after day about what next year is going to be like for them when it was all based on false information? I need an answer to this.

Why am I bothering to spend the next solid week grading and evaluating student work and performance if everyone is to be promoted anyway? It is all rendered useless unless there are consequences here...

This is social promotion at the absolute worst. What message are we sending to all of our students when we acknowledge the fact that we have planned all along to not hold them to any standard for promotion? Social promotion fails. Period. What we end up with is a group of tenth graders who do not possess the skills necessary to comprehend the coursework, who then proceed to actually fail the tenth grade (and because we have no promotional criteria) then are promoted to the 11th.

It was my understanding that the chancellor is against social promotion. And let's not kid ourselves here, that is precisely what this is. So, what are we doing? Someone please please explain this to me in a way that makes sense...

Yes, I agree that there are studies out there that claim to prove that students who are not promoted do not do as well as those who have been promoted ( these studies also acknowledge that with the proper intervention and support these students have just as much chance to succeed as others). There are an equal number of studies that illustrate the devastating effects of promoting children who do not possess the skills necessary to attend college, get a good job, or function on an adult level once completing high school.

This is unbelievably discouraging.

Kevin

From: Kevin
To: Christine
Sent: 05/09/2009 03:10 PM
Subject: Your Old Writing - Ha!

Wow, what a rant - it stirred up all kinds of things reading that.... Thanks for forwarding it. Of course you can leave my name on it - I do miss some of the fight in a way. I hope you are doing well. It has been forever since we have seen each other and I miss chatting with you... We need to catch up.

Kevin

I wonder how many current NYC high school teachers are feeling the frustration Kevin felt as the school year neared its end three years ago and our principal announced that all 9th graders would be promoted to 10th grade, regardless of how many classes they had failed (and regardless of the fact that we had decided as a staff that this would NOT be our policy).

So back to blogging and organizing material toward the book it is! - "Miss Dennis"

Best Kids' Book Ever

2009-05-03T14:27:00.004-04:00

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

My review

My favorite part is when the moose and the porcupine eat Harold's pie. My second favorite part is when Harold draws a big, purple city with big, purple buildings and lots of windows. My third favorite part is when Harold meets the terribly frightening dragon under the apple tree. In conclusion, this is the best book ever written.

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

View all my reviews.

Google Gets It

2009-04-25T16:41:00.007-04:00

Project Spectrum was created to give people with autism the opportunity to express their creativity and develop a life skill using Google SketchUp 3D modeling software. http://www.google.com/educators/spectrum.html

It's important to note, though, that not all individuals with autism think in pictures. Temple Grandin herself (author of Thinking in Pictures) has acknowledged this.

Grandin added this to the first chapter of Thinking in Pictures: "When I wrote Thinking in Pictures, I thought most people on the autism spectrum were visual thinkers like me. After talking to hundreds of families and individuals with autism or Asperger's, I have observed that there are actually different types of specialized brains. All people on the spectrum think in details, but there are three basic categories of specialized brains." Grandin goes on to describe those categories as 1) visual thinkers 2) music and math thinkers 3)verbal logic thinkers. She also acknowledges that some individuals with autism may be combinations of these categories.

Google's Project Spectrum is great. We also need cutting edge educational opportunities for ALL kinds of autistic thinkers. There's so much more talent out there to be tapped into!

Introducing ... ClassWish!

2009-04-19T23:22:00.011-04:00

I came across this new online nonprofit that makes it easier for teachers to create classroom wish lists and reach out to donors. Teachers at any school (public, private, low-income, middle class, etc.) can use the service. Check it out!

Autism Awareness

2009-04-02T14:48:00.000-04:00

Once again, my favorite icon bar. Happy World Autism Awareness Day!

Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference in NYC

2009-03-01T15:17:00.003-05:00

Join me at this year's Celebration of Teaching & Learning this weekend, March 6 and 7 in NYC!! I will be part of a panel on the school day for children with autism. I will be focusing on mainstreaming preschoolers with autism. Temple Grandin will be the keynote speaker.

Thirteen & WLIW21's Celebration of Teaching & Learning is the place where knowledge meets inspiration as the world's best thinkers, practitioners, and more than 8,000 educators come together to play a role in shaping the future of schools.

In New York City on March 6 & 7, 2009 at the Hilton New York, the Celebration will address today's most relevant issues in education related to Autism, English Language Learners, Global Awareness, Literacy, Math, Science, Technology, and Whole School Policy. Educators will be invigorated by a range of dynamic, nationally acclaimed speakers, including keynoters Alan Alda (on science), Temple Grandin (on autism), Danica McKellar (on math) interviewed by Dennis Van Roekel, Sir Kenneth Robinson (on creativity), Eric Schmidt (on technology) interviewed by Charlie Rose, and the Sesame Workshop's new cast of "The Electric Company" (on literacy). To join the conversation, see all the speakers and register, visit http://www.thirteencelebration.org.

Don't Do It!

2009-02-07T16:25:00.003-05:00

Best Widget Ever

2009-01-30T22:36:00.003-05:00

How cool is my new widget and fundraising drive for The Equity Project (TEP) Charter School?! (Under my profile.) I love Changing the Present !

Wooooohooooooo!!!

2009-01-20T13:22:00.000-05:00

President Obama!!!!!

That's Okay, I Didn't Want That Job Anyway

2009-01-10T14:27:00.004-05:00

Check out my writing colleague Carolyn Martone's new blog, That's Okay, I Didn't Want That Job Anyway!

The List

2009-01-04T21:56:00.002-05:00

Things I never experienced before becoming a preschool teacher in New York City: strep throat, conjunctivitis, bronchitis, scabies, sinus infections, colds lasting more than a week, head lice as an adult, styes, fun and new stomach problems! (List in progress.)

Noooooo, I'm not bitter that I spent my winter break sick.

Happy New Year!

Literary Agent and Fundraising

2008-11-22T11:07:00.002-05:00

Good news - I signed with a literary agent here in NYC. So some of the stories on Your Mama's Mad Tedious may end up in a book!

Other exciting news - my online fundraising drive for The Equity Project Charter School is now up and running on a very cool philanthropy site, Changing the Present. Check it out!

First Letter to Obama

2008-11-07T20:05:00.005-05:00

After reading that Obama is considering NYC Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein as his pick for Secretary of Education, I decided to take a few moments to express my disapproval of this potentially disastrous decision. I emailed the below brief letter via the Obama Biden website.

Please do not assign Joel Klein to the Secretary of Education position. As a special education teacher with the New York City Department of Education during Klein's Chancellorship, I experienced a great deal of negativity and administrative chaos from his office. I received little, if any, support from Klein's office as a special educator who worked hard to improve my students' educational experiences in the South Bronx. Please heed the opinions and experiences of New York City's teachers on this matter and research better choices. Please consider assigning a career educator, not a career attorney/politician to this position. Thank you.

If you agree that Klein is the wrong choice, please take the time to email a letter of your own at the above website.

Becoming an Autism Educator

2008-10-26T16:16:00.008-04:00

Originally published in the New York Times Lesson Plans blog (plus an excerpt in the Sunday NY Times!).

For the first time in my six-year teaching career, I am not completely freaked out by going back to school. I have, however, more than paid my dues to reach this stage of teacher emotional stability. In my first year of teaching, I freaked out not only in September, but pretty much every day (and well into every night) of the school year. At the time, I taught teenagers with learning disabilities in the South Bronx, including many emotionally disturbed students. I somehow managed to stick it out, and the next year, I met a Bronx teenager who would change my life and set me on my current career path.

Jeremy has Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. As guilty as I feel admitting this as a teacher, there’s no denying that Jeremy was my favorite student. He may always be. While other teachers seemed exasperated by Jeremy’s autistic quirks, I got along with him easily. We hung out during lunch. He fixed the classroom computers and shared his unique life insights. He also easily passed a New York State Science Regents exam on his first try, which quickly shifted the school administration’s attitude from, “We have to get rid of this kid,” to, “We need this kid for our numbers.” Sadly, Jeremy didn’t exactly receive a stellar public education in the Bronx. I often wondered how much further he could have gone had he received stronger educational support from an early age.

Jeremy taught me that working with students with autism was what I wanted to do with my life. I began training with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, where I learned behavioral techniques for supporting children with autism in the classroom. Simply by circumstance, not choice, I began working with younger kids. This was because nearly all New York City and State funding for autism education is geared toward early intervention and preschool services. When children with autism reach kindergarten, they often lose their services. So it’s actually quite difficult to make a living as an autism educator to older kids in New York. There’s simply no money there. I miss teenagers like Jeremy, but, as it turns out, teaching the little ones is my forte. This is mostly because I’m a 34-year-old with a four-year-old sense of humor.

I now provide preschool and home-based services to children with autism spectrum disorders, mostly in Manhattan. I also occasionally work with children with other special needs. Last school year, I worked closely with a boy recovering from leukemia. He is now in full remission and about to begin life as a mainstreamed kindergartner! I have become a huge proponent of mainstreaming at an early age, and I love working with special needs students in mainstream pre-school classrooms. My goal is to help them prepare for fully mainstreamed kindergarten and elementary school educations. They, in turn, help me stay grounded.

In the ideal scenario, a few months into the school year, if I do my job well, an outsider will walk into the pre-school classroom and have little idea which teacher is the special needs teacher and which kid is the special needs student. My first few months with a student can be challenging, but with the right approach, the next six months of the school year are relatively smooth. Being a special education itinerant teacher (SEIT) requires a balancing act of supporting, but not stifling, my students. I often interact with the other kids in the classroom, and they tend to see me as one of their teachers, too. Most of them don’t really know (or care) that I’m officially there for one student. At the pre-school age, there is little stigma in receiving special needs services. The kids have not yet developed that sort of prejudice. If there is any stigma, it comes from the adults.

Preschool started this week. I had a wonderful summer of teaching part-time and hanging out with kids on city playgrounds. There are moments when I can’t believe I get paid to do this (tempered, of course, by moments when I don’t get paid nearly enough to do this.) This summer, there were more of the former. I worked with two students at their summer camps, and I worked weekends with one student at his family’s country home. Summer seemed to have a superhero theme. Two girls showed up to summer camp dressed as Spider-Man and Batman for no apparent reason (other than the obvious cool factor). I played superheroes on the playground and blasted off with a (highly imaginative) student from the tip of the Egyptian pyramids into outer space. (Yes, my job is cooler than yours.) I saw preschoolers develop seemingly random, yet fervent obsessions with the state of Wyoming and chicken pot pie.

I also experienced several language breakthroughs with a student, one of which came in the form of a clear request: “I want Sesame Street numbers!” So we watched Count von Count, who I quickly realized, like Jeremy, has a clear case of Asperger’s Syndrome. Numbers, numbers, numbers! Mwahaha! I then realized I was diagnosing a Sesame Street character with special needs and that I needed a break from kids before September. This school year, I am working with students at two Manhattan preschools and providing home-based, early intervention autism services to several two-year-olds. There is nothing quite like welcoming nervous and excited preschoolers to their first week. The two boys I will work with at school this year are old pros, having attended preschool before. But things are about to get more serious for them. It’s time to start learning to read, write, and share blocks without fighting.

It sometimes astonishes me that I found my perfect career. I never meant to be a teacher. I meant to be a serious journalist. But when my grad school classmates went off to write for esteemed media outlets, I went off to teach special needs kids. It made no sense. It was the best decision I ever made.

Palin and Special Education: A Closer Look

2008-10-21T16:24:00.007-04:00

Jennifer Laviano is a special needs attorney in Sherman, CT. Her guest opinion piece appears here with her permission. - Miss Dennis

Dear Clients, Friends, Colleagues, and All of the Above,

As we near the Presidential election in just two weeks, I have been asked by many of you to comment on my thoughts on Gov. Palin and what she can and will do for special education students. As an attorney whose practice focuses exclusively on the representation of children with disabilities, I always investigate candidates' positions and records on this very critical moral and financial issue. One of my clients recently suggested that I share with others what I have learned, and so here it is.

When Gov. Palin first came to my attention, I was, as I am sure all of you who care about this issue, intrigued to have someone on the national platform who talks about children with special needs. Since hearing her say this repeatedly in speeches, I have been waiting, and waiting, to hear some specifics on special education reform. Most of all, I want to know what her stance is on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal statute that governs special education. The IDEA is up for reauthorization by Congress in 2010, and it is crucial that it reflect the policies and funding structure necessary to protect and appropriately educate our children with disabilities. I needed to know what Gov. Palin thinks about the future of special education legislation in this country.

I know where the other three on the tickets stand. Senators Obama and Biden have issued position statements on the IDEA to various parent groups, strongly supporting full funding for the IDEA and the rights of children with disabilities and their parents. The Obama-Biden website has a direct link to the ticket's position on disabilities. Senator McCain's website does not have such a link and neither he nor Palin have provided those positions on the IDEA to parent advocacy groups. Senator McCain does have a supportive position on the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) which has been published. I was, however, extremely disappointed in his discussion on the Senate floor regarding the Reauthorization of the IDEA 2004, in which he expressed his concerns that parents of children with disabilities who have to sue to secure appropriate services for their children under the Statute and win against districts shouldn't have their attorneys' fees covered. This is not just a matter of self-interest for me; it is the difference between families, especially poor families, being able to vindicate their civil rights or not. But I knew those things, I did not know where Palin stood, and I wanted to find out.

Having waited for some specifics from her on just how she is going to be an advocate for children with special needs in the White House, I finally got close. In her recent interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, she was asked what her position is. While never mentioning the IDEA at all or what needs to be changed, kept, or fixed in it, she stated that the issue that needs to be addressed is "equal access" for children with special needs.

EQUAL ACCESS? Seriously? We HAVE equal access - that is what the original version of the Statute fought for in the early 70's, when children with disabilities were literally prohibited from attending our public schools. Equal access is so far in the minority of what needs to be addressed in special education I hardly know where to begin. Our problems are not that children with disabilities aren't allowed into the buildings; our problem is what happens when they get there! What about a Free and Appropriate Public Education? What about "meaningful educational benefit?" What about giving children with special needs the tools to thrive and prosper and be fully independent adults, which is what the IDEA now stands for? We are decades from equal access being the key question, and apparently Gov. Palin is not aware of that fact.

Now, you might say, "Well, Jen, I am a parent of a child with special needs and I didn't know that either." Okay, my response: "Are you running for Vice President of the United States? Are you telling the nation that you would see yourself as the voice for those children within the federal government? If you were, do you think you might have looked into it a little bit?"

It is not terribly surprising to me that Gov. Palin's views on this are so far outdated. I have traveled to Alaska to give a speech to parents and professionals on the subject of the rights of children with special needs, in particular children with autism spectrum disorders. I was stunned by how far behind the State was from the vast majority of the rest of the country on the education of children with disabilities. Perhaps, for Alaskans, "equal access" IS the problem, but it is certainly not the case in Connecticut or most of the rest of the country. I am in regular contact with a colleague of mine who is a parents' attorney in Alaska, who has had to fight tooth and nail for children with special needs in Alaska simply to secure them the most basic of services that we take for granted here. I for one do not want the rest of the country to use Alaska's system of educating our most vulnerable children as a paradigm.

Okay, yes, you all know I'm a liberal ... but that's one of the reasons that I chose to get into the field of representing children with special needs, because I believe in my heart that this last bastion of civil rights is absolutely critical to fight. We need major fixes in our special education system, and if you think that who is in the White House does not effect you on this issue, you couldn't be more wrong. IT MATTERS. It matters in terms of funding and at least as, if not more, importantly, enforcement. Our IDEA enforcement, even in States like CT where we have zealous advocacy, is woefully inadequate. School districts routinely violate the procedural and substantive rights of children and parents and only in a small fraction of cases are they taken to task for it. It also matters because the next President will have at least a few Supreme Court appointments to make. We have had more decisions from the United States Supreme Court in the area of special education law in the last few years than we had for decades. Those decisions have tremendous impact on whether parents have the right to have proper evaluations done for their children, how and when parents can exercise their rights under the IDEA, who has the burden of proof in Due Process Hearings, and a myriad of other issues which directly impact our children with special needs.

Whether we properly educate and embrace our children with disabilities is crucial to the future of this country, as the cost of NOT doing so will be far larger than the cost of doing so ... leaving out the fact that it happens to also be the right thing to do in a great society. This issue should be front and center for any candidate for the White House, and I write to let you know that, at least as far as Gov. Palin is concerned, it has been an opportunity not only missed, but frighteningly misunderstood. It does not bode well for her, for us, or most importantly, for the children we love who need and deserve better in an "advocate in the White House."

I will be casting my vote on November 4th for Obama-Biden, and I hope you will join me. They and their party have been on the side of children with special needs historically, and they will be on their side in the future. As our economy implodes and State and local educational budgets tighten, if we do not turn this around now, I fear that we will, once again, be fighting only for "equal access" for our kids. That is unacceptable to me.

Finally, for any of our more conservative clients who I may have offended, my apologies; I respect your views even if I disagree with them.

Thanks for reading.

Best, Jennifer Laviano
The Law Offices of Jennifer Laviano, LLC
Sherman, CT
Lavlaw3@aol.com

It Bears Repeating

2008-10-15T23:57:00.004-04:00

(Originally posted on the New York Times Lesson Plans blog.)

Two of my preschool students with autism are currently going through stages of repeating their favorite words and phrases over and over again. Both students repeat lines from their favorite children’s videos and books — stories and episodes of “Dora the Explorer,” “Blue’s Clues,” and “Max and Ruby.”

Amanda repeatedly says, “Benny the Bull,” who, as I was slow to realize after hearing his name dozens of times one day, is her favorite “Dora” character. She has also memorized many of Benny the Bull’s lines from the show, and she repeats them at seemingly random moments. David repeats the word “notebook.” At first, I thought he just really liked the word, or that he was proud of himself for learning it. Then, after he began repeating lines from “Blue’s Clues,” I realized “notebook,” came from Joe’s “handy dandy notebook” in the show. And lest this excessive repetition be blamed solely on TV and DVD’s, one of my former students, who rarely watched TV, repeated her favorite scene from the book “Harold and the Purple Crayon” — “moose and porcupine eating pies!”

While the ability to remember and repeat words is an important step in every child’s language development, many children with autism tend to repeat words excessively and in socially inappropriate contexts. A child with autism may repeat the same word or phrase hundreds of times a day (which can drive their parents and teachers a little batty). In the autism education field, repeating lines from movies, TV shows and books is known as scripting, or echolalia. (Some people use the terms scripting and echolalia interchangeably, while others distinguish echolalia as repeating words spoken by live people, not in shows.)

Scripting was famously portrayed in the film “Rain Man,” when Raymond Babbitt, the autistic character played by Dustin Hoffman, memorized and repeated Abbot and Costello’s comedic skit, “Who’s on First.” In the film, Raymond seemed to use scripting to calm himself in stressful social situations. At times, my students appear to script for a similar calming effect; at others, it seems to be meaningless, out-of-control repetition. Despite the many challenges this behavior presents, it is possible for young students with autism to use it in socially appropriate contexts. Encouraging them to do so is one of my goals as a special education teacher.

Many of my students have proven themselves capable of memorizing a word or phrase, associating it with a particular emotion or social situation, and then attempting to use the phrase when they encounter a similar emotional or social situation. One of my favorite examples of this is described in Paula Kluth’s book, “You’re Going to Love This Kid.” Kluth tells the story of a boy who said, “Go to hell, lieutenant,” when he was upset. The boy was scripting from the film “A Few Good Men” and he correctly associated the phrase with anger. In another case, one of my students memorized the phrase, “Hello, everyone. How are you today?” — one of his teachers often said this when she entered the classroom.

One day, when I brought the boy home, he walked into his family’s apartment and said, “Hello, everyone. How are you today?” His parents and I were floored. At the time, this was by far the most socially meaningful language the boy had ever used. While he had learned the phrase through rote memory, he showed progress in social communication — a skill that children with autism often lack — by correctly associating the phrase with entering a room and greeting people.

One thing I cannot do as a teacher is miraculously change the way my students’ brains develop or the way they process language. There is clearly something in the brain development and language processing of children with autism that differs from their typically developing peers. Genetic researchers, such as the scientists with the Autism Genome Project, are currently trying to pinpoint the root causes of the disorder.

We don’t yet have all the scientific answers to what causes autism, and it remains to be seen whether a cure will be developed, or whether a “cure” is something that would be welcomed by those affected by autism. Many parents have told me they would welcome a cure, while many higher-functioning autistic adults are offended by the notion of needing to be cured. In the meantime, there are language development techniques that teachers and parents can use to help children with autism begin to socially connect with their peers and families.

One of the programs I learned while training and working with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders is a social questions activity. Using the basic principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), I am able to teach my students to answer questions ranging in difficulty from, “How old are you?” to “What was your favorite part of the book?” While my students typically learn to answer these questions in a rote manner by memorizing the questions and answers, the next step is to take what they have learned through memorization and use it in socially meaningful situations at school.

David, the boy who repeats lines from “Blue’s Clues,” was able to quickly learn the answers to many socially relevant questions. During snack time at preschool last week, I asked him, “What’s your mommy’s name?” We had worked on this question, so he quickly answered correctly. Then I asked one of his classmates at the snack table what her mommy’s name was, and soon all of the children at the table were telling their friends their mommy’s names. We then did the same activity with daddy’s names and favorite foods. (Of course, teachers should be sensitive to kids who may not have both parents.)

These are the kinds of basic, pre-school level conversations that come naturally to most kids. But David needs to be taught to participate in such conversations in a step-by-step manner. That’s where breaking things down through ABA becomes helpful. While I am not a strict ABA practitioner in the classroom, I do find it helpful to use the basic principles of breaking larger tasks into smaller steps and quickly reinforcing my students for achieving each step. Within ABA, there is a more recently developed model that I use called the Verbal Behavior Approach. This model is especially useful for language development activities.

While I can’t get inside David’s brain to know for sure what he’s thinking, something does seem to click for him when he participates in these kinds of peer conversations at school, and he seems to enjoy them. Being able to use his memorized language with his peers, and hearing that they have different answers to the same questions, does appear to be helping him connect with them socially. Throughout the pre-school year, our social question activities will become more complex and, step-by-step, we will build up to asking questions and initiating peer conversations. The ultimate goal is for David to begin talking with his peers more spontaneously. Spontaneity in language is difficult to teach, but I aim to give David more opportunities to reach this stage by pushing him beyond his scripted comfort zone.

Language issues like this, which can be so exasperating for parents and teachers, do not disappear overnight, but I find it helpful as a teacher to keep in mind that the same strong memorization skills my students use while scripting can be shaped into socially meaningful language.

Update on The Equity Project Charter School

2008-10-15T23:00:00.000-04:00

Many of you may have read the piece I wrote for the New York Times about my involvement with The Equity Project Charter School (TEP).

TEP's fundraising efforts for its new school building in Washington Heights are now underway. Donations can be made via TEP's secure Groundspring.org site. TEP is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 and accepts tax deductible contributions.

In contrast to most charter schools, TEP does NOT solicit donations for general operating expenses. This is because a central feature of TEP’s mission is to demonstrate that schools can make a radical investment in teacher equity by reallocating existing public funding. The only area for which TEP solicits donations is the cost of its school facility, since, in contrast to traditional public schools which receive a free public facility, New York State public charter schools must pay for their own school facility.

As a member of TEP's Capital Campaign Advisory Board, I aim to raise $100,000 for the school's new building in Washington Heights. I am also currently recruiting others who have expressed an interest in TEP and who may want to help with fundraising on some level. I am primarily looking for "Fundraising Captains," each of whom will raise $1,000 for the school building as members of TEP's Finance Committee. If you think you can raise $1,000 (it only takes knowing 10 people who would donate $100, 20 who would donate $50, etc.) or if you would like to get involved in supporting TEP in any other
way, please contact me at nyc30731@yahoo.com. You can also arrange a meeting with TEP's founding principal, Zeke Vanderhoek, by emailing info@tepcharter.org.

TEP is also currently seeking 3 lead donors to help fund its new school facility. Facility naming opportunities are available!

If you believe in TEP’s unique vision--investing in teacher equity to achieve educational equity for students in low income communities--then seize the opportunity to help make this vision a reality. TEP needs your help to fund its school facility in Washington Heights.

Thanks! - Miss Dennis (Christine)
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3rd NY Times Piece Now Up

2008-10-07T19:04:00.002-04:00

My third New York Times blog piece is now up. It's about the new school in Washington Heights, NYC, that I mentioned below. As always, feel free to leave a comment on the Times blog, whether you agree with the school's model or not!

New School in NYC, Washington Heights

2008-10-01T13:57:00.007-04:00

I am on the fundraising advisory board for a wonderful new middle school that will open in Washington Heights, NYC, in September '09.

The Equity Project Charter School (TEP) was featured on the front page of the New York Times back in March. As a member of the school's Capital Campaign Advisory Board, I will be raising $100,000 in the next year for the school's new building. To accomplish this, I will recruit 100 Finance Committee members, who will either donate or raise $1,000. TEP Charter School is a non-profit 501(c)3 educational organization. Since I only know a handful of people who can donate $1,000, I am focusing on recruiting people who can commit to raising $1,000. It only takes knowing 100 people who will donate $100, 20 who will donate $50, etc!

If interested in becoming a Finance Committee member for TEP Charter school, please get in touch! You can email me at nyc30731@yahoo.com. Also, stay tuned for my third piece for the NY Times Lesson Plans blog!

2nd NY Times Piece Now Up

2008-09-22T20:48:00.002-04:00

The Special Needs Kindergarten Crunch

New York Times Education Blog

2008-09-11T22:48:00.001-04:00

The New York Times education blog is up and running with it's first piece of the school year! Six teachers from throughout the U.S. are contributing. My first piece should run either tomorrow or Thursday. Check it out! The first piece, by Joseph Santini, is great.

Update: My first piece is now up!