School/Special Education Misc

You may not remember it, but there was a time in American education before IEP’s, 504 Plan’s and “special education.” It was in 1975 that federal legislation was passed, guaranteeing a free appropriate public education to each child with a disability. It was called Public Law-94 142.

Ah, that word “appropriate” has been a real challenge all of these years. How does one define “appropriate?”

To try and meet the spirit of the law and provide “appropriate” education to disabled kids (of which learning disabled makes up the vast majority of those classified) it seems to me that special education has had its various waves, with different concepts and notions coming in and out of favor.

For example, back in the day, (in the early years of PL- 94-142) “self-contained” classes were the norm. As a newly minted teacher, I remember my special education class, a small band of kids in an isolated room that was virtually the boiler room in a middle school on Staten Island.

From self-contained classes, the next wave that was supposed to be the answer for all struggling kids, was the Resource Room, a theoretically friendly academic environment where the child would arrive from his regular class on a set time each day to work on skills in a small group.

I used to hear about kids going to resource rooms all the time when parents would come in to consult with me. The parents would say something like, “He goes to resource room every day for 45 minutes.”

My question to the parent, which usually remained unanswered was, “I know he goes to the resource room, but what happens when he get there?”

Generally, the parents are not clear about what happens in the resource room. The schools always had a pretty consistent response for the parents – “We individualize to meet the child’s needs.” There was rarely talk of specific methodologies or approaches.

Now, I don’t hear much about resource rooms any more, even though they still exist in some school districts. Instead what I get a lot from parents is, “He gets ‘in-class support.”

“In-class support,” (it’s called different things in different states and districts) is the new norm. In-class support seems sweet on the surface. It comes across in very benign ways. Who would argue with “in-class support for kids with IEPs?

I wonder, though. Are they getting what they need based on the spirit of the law? Are they getting an “appropriate” education? I’m not in the classroom, so I really have no idea.
My guess is that on average the kids get pretty good attention from caring teachers who look to support the child in the classroom.

The issue for me is the one of direct instruction for these struggling kids.

That is, if I’m one of those kids who doesn’t read, spell or write very well, just giving me support is not enough. I need to be taught directly, with sensible methods targeting specific skills and practicing them enough over time so that they become internalized.

Otherwise, I’m just treading water, not really making any legitimate progress.

Copyright, 2018 www.shutdownlearner.com
Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.
To receive free newsletter and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

Questions or topics that you want covered in future blogs, send email to: contact@shutdownlearner.com

By Wednesday of each week, I find myself in a bit of a self-imposed panic that I haven’t written the post yet for the week and feel the pressure of Friday looming (when the posts come out). What am I going to write about this week?  Have I written this before?  Is it fresh enough?  These and other such questions and concerns are running through my head.   At this point, I can’t believe that I am closing in on nearly 350 posts that have been put on the site.

I guess the self-imposed pressure has worked!

Usually, I write about “current events,” meaning things that I am dealing with currently that trigger an emerging theme.

This week’s theme is triggered by my ongoing frustration with the refrain, “He just can’t pay attention and you should take your child to the doctor.”

On the heels of that, parents are continually given code language from the school, such as,  “We’re not doctors and we can’t diagnose, but…”

This is a subliminal statement that, “Your child really needs to be on medication,” without actually saying it.

There are all kinds of reasons kids don’t pay attention.  Here are just a few of them:

• They may be worried about things and preoccupied to the point of distraction.
• Maybe they are “spatial thinkers” who are much better visually, but struggle with understanding (processing) language, hence not “paying attention” while the teacher is talking.
• Perhaps they are weak, inefficient readers.
• Maybe the worksheets they continually get are really, really boring.
• Perhaps writing is excruciating.
• Perhaps there are things going on in the family.
• Maybe the kid is not getting along too well with the other kids in school or they are being ridiculed.  Boy, that would distract someone.

These are just off the top of my head as the coffee fully kicks in. (Yes, I rely on my version of stimulants).  I could easily list 20 more.

ADHD (some will refer to it as “ADD”) is not something that has an agreed upon objective way of being measured or assessed. It is an impressionistic diagnosis based on a lot opinions..

It is my impression that we are far too quick to “diagnose ADHD” and that many factors need to be considered before jumping to that diagnosis.

Before filling that inevitable prescription you received after a fairly brief assessment using checklists as the primary information source, I would encourage you to check out other possible explanations as to why your child is not paying attention.

Back to my coffee!!!!!!!!!!

——————————————————————-

Copyright, 2018 www.shutdownlearner.com

Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free newsletter and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

(Not sure why I have been in such a nostalgic mood lately.

On YouTube I’ve been watching old horses from bygone eras win the Triple Crown.  Perhaps it was seeing my third Triple Crown victory a couple of weeks ago that has sent me into a reverie of remembrance.   (I was there when Secretariat won the Triple Crown at Belmont and watching it still give me chills.)

Following up on last week’s blog where we mined nuggets from the way back machine (See: Mining the Nuggets) I had promised to dip into the Sociological & Psychological Factors in Reading,” from the 1964 Proceedings of the Annual Reading Institute of Temple University.

Staying in the zone of mining the nuggets, I thought I would share a few  quotes from the conference to bring all of you into my current state of nostalgia.

Renowned psychologist, Dr. Jules Abrams, had a few choice things to say in his article, “Psychological Influences on Reading:”

“Reading must always be evaluated as a total process.  When this is done, it becomes abundantly clear that there are innumerable psychological factors which can influence the child’s ability to read.”

“Reading difficulty may be caused by a multiplicity of factors (educational and sociological, as well as psychological) all of which are highly interrelated.  The individual is a physical organism, functioning in a psychological manner.  Reading, being a complex process of a total individual, may involve any or all of these (psychological) aspects, with cause and effect being closely interwoven.  Learning is a dynamic process.  To understand what happens in this process, the attention must always be focused on its complexity and on the total, whole individual involved in the process.”

“If a youngster has been introduced to reading instruction before he is ready, so that his initial experiences are unfavorable, then his attitude toward reading may be unfavorable.  If he is exposed to constant frustration, such as being taught at a level too difficult for him, his resultant feelings of inadequacy may explode in antisocial attitudes or behavior.”

What novel concepts – looking at the whole child and not placing him/her at a level of frustration!

Also in the 1964 proceedings, County Court Judge for the County Court of Philadelphia, Juanita Kidd Stout (who became the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in Pennsylvania), wrote an article called, “Troubled Children and Reading Achievement.”

While some of the verbiage may sound dated (e.g., “delinquency” and the emphasis on the male), she makes many points that are fully appropriate to the current era.

“There is general agreement that there must be early identification of the non-reader.  Havighurst (1959) suggests he should be identified no later than the first grade and that failure to help the non-reading six year old may result in a delinquent fifteen year old.  By the time the non-reading male  reaches fourteen or fifteen, he has begun to be aggressive and nothing but heroic measures will prevent descent into truancy and delinquency.”

“The evidence is overwhelming that the inability to read is a substantial factor in the production of delinquency, criminality, unemployment and dependency, all of which are costly monetarily and in terms of human suffering.”

The judge is right on the money and that was written in 1964!

The prisons are loaded with people who were school angry, having never developed fundamental reading, spelling and writing skills and felt the embarrassment and shame that accompany.

Takeaway Point

Not sure how long I will be staying in this mode of nostalgia.  Tonight, I can’t wait to watch the great Citation win the 1948 Belmont and Triple Crown!

What an amazing horse!

You’ve been watching your child in the weekly tennis clinics offered at the school and you are not very comfortable with what you are seeing.  In contrast to those kids who look like they play pretty well, your 8 year old stands out.

In short, he isn’t very good.

As his parent, you quietly wonder if he isn’t a bit “tennis disabled,” so you talk to the people in charge of the clinic who make a bunch of recommendations such as:

• When he is serving, allow him to serve half way to the net instead of from the baseline.
• Widen the parameters of the court, so that when he hits to the other side he can hit in the doubles area.
• Lowering the net so he can get the ball over more consistently.

What was most striking to you was the idea that all of the suggestions were accommodations or adjustments that would allow your child to feel like he was more a part of things.

There was no talk about ways to improve his skills.

Accommodations vs. Guided Practice Strategies

I get this type of thing a lot when I read reports on kids.  Often, the reports are very top-heavy on proposed adjustments, but light on how to directly work on the deficient areas.

Some of the common accommodations/adjustments include:

• Give the child extra time (not that he wants it).
• Seat child near front of the room.
• Repeat directions
• Place desk in area with fewer distractions
• Use graphic organizers.
• Use “peer buddies” to assist with comprehension.

While these may be helpful, they do not involve skill improvement involving direct remedial instruction.  Direct instruction means explicitly teaching the child a skill. Then the child practices this skill until it becomes mastered. Sometimes this takes a long time.

Whether a child is “dyslexic,” “learning disabled,” “ADHD,” or “tennis disabled,” there are identifiable skills that are either mastered by the child or they are not.  These skills need to be assessed and identified.

Once identified, the deficient skills need to be targeted and remediated.

Takeaway Point

Accommodations (adjustments) are great, but don’t forget the other side of things (i.e., direct instruction).

Direct instruction with lots of guided practice is essential to move your child along the skills continuum.

——————————————————————-

Copyright, 2018 www.shutdownlearner.com

Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free newsletter and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

It’s early September. The “Curriculum Ship” is leaving the dock.   This ship moves full steam ahead with its goal of getting to the distant shore on the other side by about June 1^st.

About 70% of the kids can ride the ship pretty well.    While there may be a few ups and downs along the way, the journey is pretty smooth sailing.

It’s the 30%, many of whom have learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, or ADHD that will be riding on stormy seas.  The curriculum ship does not stop or wait if anyone falls off the side.

Teachers are under a lot of pressure from various sources to cover the curriculum.  They know that in their class there will be some who just can’t keep up with the pace of things. Sometimes these kids are referred for special education assessment, but many times there are kids who are not seen as “bad enough” or they are ultimately seen as ineligible for receiving extra help.

Take young Luke, a seven year old child who is showing signs of reading struggling.  Luke is entering second grade, but there is a definite gap between where he is in reading (and spelling and writing) and where the average child is in his class.

Luke is already feeling some stomach pains (so is his mom) and he is getting ready to pull out his range of avoidance maneuvers, such as going to the bathroom a lot, class-clowning and others.

Here’s a few pieces of advice for the Luke’s out there:

1. Fairly early into the school year, talk with your child’s teacher. Use plain language and stay away from clinical terms or diagnostic categories.  For example you might say something like, “Mrs. Jones, Luke really likes you as a teacher, but the work is way over his head.   He is coming home every night panicked that he can’t keep up.  He’s starting to make himself sick. What can we do to help this.”

2. Most of the time, especially in early elementary grades, kids like Luke are having trouble with the words in the worksheets and stories that are not all that common (i.e., the bigger words). Encourage the teacher to preview the material with the child  (not in front of the other kids), so he can get a better sense of the words that he will encounter prior to any reading or independent activity.

3. Think skill development Know what you are going to target. Don’t wait. Seek help in the form of focused, skill-based tutoring.

Adapted, “School Struggles, ” 2012, Richard Selznick,Ph.D., Sentient Publications

For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographics and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

(The following is a modification of an earlier post.)

Sometimes I think that we have the notion that all of us before being born line up in heaven to receive our IQ scores.

You can almost imagine hearing the announcement from one of God’s helpers, “If you are about to be born step up so that we can stamp a number in your head.  You will carry this number around with you wherever you go on earth.  Line up everyone. Get your IQ scores!!!!”

Then as the line proceeds you would hear, “OK, let’s see, this one will get a 92- sorry that’s the lower portion of the average range, the 32nd percentile…no one will help you.  This one gets a 103 – well, maybe you’ll get help if you need it.  You might have enough points.  We’ll see how bad your reading is though.   Uh, oh, here comes a tough one.  Woops, sorry you get an 83 – that’s the 13th percentile.  Not likely to be much help for you.”

Fast forward to your time on earth.  You’re a child struggling in school.  You don’t read very well.  Homework is as painful as a toothache.  Your parents are irritable with you all the time.  In short, you need help.  Well, what happens if you have one of those unfortunate numbers stamped in your head?

Essentially this is what your parents are told – “We’re sorry, but state regulations are such that there has to be this very large discrepancy between the number that’s stamped in your child’s brain and the number we calculate to be the reading score. Otherwise, you’re just out of luck.   Next case.”

In other words, a child is often held hostage to his/her IQ. 

I see kids like this all the time.  It’s very unfortunate and parents are simply given the wrong message.

Struggling is struggling no matter what label is given to it.  If a child is struggling in fundamental, core areas of reading, spelling and writing, he needs help and support, regardless of what mythical number he is carrying in his brain.

Takeaway Point

There is probably no concept more misused in education than IQ.  The reason it is misused is the overemphasis on the overall score, the IQ.  Most people have a fair degree of variability in their intelligence test profile that explains strengths and weaknesses far beyond an overall number.  Understanding this variability is crucial.  If the school is not offering services to your struggling child, try to encourage the school to revisit their findings or find other ways to get support for your child

Adapted: “School Struggles,” (2012) Richard Selznick, Ph.D. Sentient Publications

For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographics and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

There are two broad categories of children – those that struggle with the acquisition of their fundamental skills (i.e., reading, spelling, writing and mathematics) and those who do not.

From where I sit, one of the things that we are not facing sufficiently is how to address the needs of the children who are struggling, yet who are not seen as “eligible” for special education.

In other words, they are not classifiable based on special education standards.

For example, a child I consulted with recently was denied services because there was not a “22.5 point discrepancy” between her IQ score and her overall score in reading.  (There was a 19 point discrepancy between those numbers.)  The 22.5 difference was the required discrepancy that would allow her to be viewed as “eligible.”

I see  many kids whose cognitive testing yields IQs in the 80 or low 90 range, which is approximately the 10^th to the 25^th percentiles.  To have a reading score so far below those scores in order to be deemed as eligible is extremely rare.

Take young Olivia, a fourth grade child who is desperately in need of remedial attention.  Olivia is in the 10^th percentile of word reading and decoding and the 12%ile of reading comprehension.  Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? The fact is, Olivia is drowning.

However, with an overall IQ of 83 Oilvia is being viewed as working up to her potential and, thus not eligible for services.  The fact that Olivia scored solidly average in one domain of intelligence had no impact on the decision, as the special education team felt their hands were tied relative to the code that the school was required to follow.

I am not criticizing special education teams, mind you.  They have requirements and a model to follow, but struggling is struggling regardless of what label you put on it.

I’m not a school administrator, but it strikes me that for children on the left side of the bell shaped curve in key skill areas, they need some type of remedial support even if they are not technically “eligible.”

In the way back machine of education, teachers used to have different groups in their class – you know the robins were one group, the cardinals and the bluebirds were others.  One of the groups was the high readers, one the middle, while the other bird group, let’s say, the bluebirds, was the slower readers.

While everybody knew the group that comprised the remedial kids, at least they were getting something of what they needed every day.  I think this practice was phased out of education because it was viewed as unfairly stigmatizing kids in the “bluebird” or the lower group.

I’m not saying that we go back to bird grouping, by the way, but we are not addressing the needs of the kids like Olivia.

Takeaway Point

School s need to face the fact that struggling is struggling.  If I am drowning I need a life preserver and someone needs to teach me how to swim whether I fit the model of special education or not.

I first met Rachel for an assessment when she was about 9 years old.  A spirited, warm and outgoing girl, Rachel was easy to engage.  My testing confirmed that Rachel was dyslexic.

Following the evaluation Rachel  came to our center and received multisensory remediation for a couple of years.  Rachel made nice progress, but that was just the start of the story.

As Rachel matured into middle school and high school, I would get reports from her mom about Rachel’s ability to advocate for herself.  Rachel was the kind of student who was not afraid to speak up, to go up to teachers after class and talk to her teachers about what she needed even if her accommodations were written in a 504 plan.

She would say things like, “I’d like you to know that I have a learning disability – dyslexia – and my 504 plan has certain accommodations, like being able to use my phone to read on Learning Ally and to have extra time while taking tests.”

Rachel went on to college and later to graduate school. She did wonderfully, largely due to her self-advocacy, which got even better over time.

The updates were all consistent.  “Rachel was never shy in talking to her teachers about her dyslexia – she was clear about her strengths, but she never hid from her weaknesses and the things in class that might help,” her mother informed me.  “The teachers were almost always receptive and open to what she had to say and were happy to help out.”

Even though the accommodations were written in the 504, my sense is that Rachel’s skill in talking to her teachers brought these accommodations to life in a way that just having them on a document could never accomplish.  Rachel’s self-advocacy shifted the odds better in her favor.

In my work with parents and kids, I often refer to Rachel as a model of self-advocacy in terms of how to proceed moving forward in middle school and beyond.

Just this week, for example, I met with Christina, a fun 8^th grader struggling with reading, spelling and writing.   I said to her,  “One of the things you nee to think about is being able to speak up, to advocate for yourself – politely, of course, – in order to help your teachers know what works best for you.”

Christina, laughed, “Oh, don’t worry about that.   I’m really good at speaking up.  I’m not shy.”

I laughed too.  I knew I had another Rachel on my hands and that Christina was going to be just fine.

Takeaway Point

Even though 504 plans document the accommodations, encouraging the maturing student to speak up and not be shy about what  he/she needs, changes the odds considerably.

Let’s be honest, school can be a bit of a grind.  This is especially so if you are the kind of kid who struggles with reading, spelling and writing.

For those who do not have learning problems, school also can be a grind, as well, but they have a much easier ride since their fundamental skills are intact.

I think of children with reading/writing disabilities as always running up a hill – a very long hill, with a long and slow incline.

Motivation varies throughout the year with very uneven effort.  The beginning of the year no one notices the grind as in the story of Jason.

Jason, age 12, always starts the school year in an optimistic vein.  In September he vows he will do his homework and turn in his assignments on time.  Then the grind of the year kicks in.  Usually, this starts around middle to late October.  Jason begins avoiding reading assignments because he reads very slowly and with much effort.   The process isn’t much fun for him and it isn’t gratifying.

Jason’s teachers will say that they rarely give more than an hour of homework, but for Jason the work always takes twice as long and it is rarely done well. After a while Jason just decides that he won’t bother anymore since it takes him so long and he makes so many mistakes.

Jason is encountering the grind of school.

One of the biggest issues with struggling kids like Jason is that they are simply given work that is above their instructional level.  The work is too challenging and it results in much frustration.

When work is leveled appropriately, then it does not take an excessive amount of time and the child feels in control.  There is less of a grind.

Excessive use of worksheets also grind it out of the child.  On average they deplete motivation.  Has your kid ever come home excited to say, “Hey, mom, I got a great worksheet today?”

I doubt it.  

Consider This

Even if teachers keep it relatively fun, there’s an inevitable grind to school that is probably unavoidable.

“Same as it ever was.  Same as it ever was.”