Home-School Communication: Can electronic media make a difference?

by Amanda Gray Copyright Amanda Gray 2010

Ever found a mouldy newsletter containing "important messages" at the bottom of a school bag several months after it was "sent home"? Ever got a phone call asking about a permission slip that somehow got lost between school and home? Ever found that you are communicating with a school staff member via phone messages because you can't find a time that suits both of you to talk?

I dare say both teachers and families have experienced at least one of these communication hiccoughs at some point. It is just a fact of life. Children forget (or prefer their parents didn't know). Teachers are busy. Families are busy. And school/family schedules don't always match, especially for caregivers who work.

So here are my questions - How many schools are using the tools of modern technology to communicate with families? And does this make communication more efficient?


Ways of Using Technology

In trauling the internet, I haven't found any stats about how many schools are using technology to communicate with families. But I did come across Boult (2006) and Mitchelll, Foulger and Wetzel (2009) who discuss the following ways to use technology to communicate.


School Website:

It is very rare to find a school who doesn't have a website. Even pre-school settings are beginning to set up sites.

On school websites, though the quality and complexity differ, you can usually find things such as policies, a bit of history, contact details and newsletters. This is true of both public and private schools.

While Child Care Centre websites also offer information about philosophies, history and contacts, in general these sites tend to be more geared towards providing information about their facilities to prospective customers rather than using the sites to keep current parents updated. This is likely because face-to-face contact is much more practical and frequent in pre-school settings than in schools, especially middle and high school settings.

Classroom blogs and websites:

These can be used to share photos, activities, homework, excursions, curriculum information and more. They can also be set up so parents and students can communicate via comments or discussionboards.

While I have experienced "virtual meetings" on discussionboards in tertiary education, I have never experienced this in secondary or primary schools. It would be interesting to know if this is something that is occurring, and what families/teachers think about virtual meetings...

Another thing that class websites can be used for are educational activities, like games. See this blog for example...

Email and texts:

Group emails and texts can be used to communicate with parents. Further, if schools have regularly monitored email addresses or mobile phone numbers, parents can use these to contact schools about a whole range of issues, from pastoral care concerns to enquiries about up-coming events. It can also be a way of getting emergency information to parents.

But it is important to recognise that while this can be good for positive news, policy and activity updates and emergency contact, texts and emails are not the best way to try and broach sensitive subjects (Learning and Taching Scotland, 2007). These are best raised in face to face meetings (see discussion on "remoteness" below).


Using Technology - the benefits and drawbacks

Accessibility

One of the positive features of electronic communication is that parents can access it in their own time, and from wherever they are (Lindner, 2004). If they travel for work, they can still stay updated with what is going on at school. If they are unable to visit or telephone teachers during school hours due to work commitments, they can still stay in contact without the risk of third party messages going astray.

As one parent said,

"I am very pleased, as a parent, that I now have access to the info certain teenagers in my house leave lying in the bottom of their bags." (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2007)

However, there may be a few issues with accessibility:

1. Teachers being overwhelmed: It is possible that teachers may become overwhelmed with messages from families if there are no boundaries set for this form of contact.
   
2. Messages going unchecked and unanswered: For some families and teachers, checking email messages may not be a regular part of their daily routine (Lindner, 2004). This may mean that messages are not answered in a timely manner. This is especially significant if text and/or email is being used for emergency notifications.
3. Family skill and resources: While internet, email and mobile phone use is common, there are families who may not be proficient in using these technologies (Lindner, 2004). For some families, they may not have access to the internet at home or English may be their second language (Mitchell et al, 2009).
4. Teacher skill and resources: Teachers also may need training and assistance in using communication technology. Further, maintaining websites and using email communication requires time and effort. This needs to be taken into consideration to ensure these technologies are used efficiently (Mitchell et al, 2009).
   
5. Reliability of internet and mobile phone access: electronic communication services are not all equal. For example, while there has been some improvement, access to mobile and internet services in rural areas can be less reliable than access in urban areas. Further, without appropriate planning or services, mass email and text communications can overwhelm service providers and delay or prevent messages getting to families. However, there are some services that are being developed to help promote more effective and reliable electronic communication.
   

Privacy

Privacy and protection of our children online is another great concern for the education community (Boult, 2006). It is perhaps true that individual teachers can be more comfortable with the use of blogs and websites than schools or education departments.

Read this post to get some feedback about what teachers are doing to help protect thier students when running a classroom blog. Having a policy and guidelines for use is very important.

This applies to the use of email and text messages as well. Click here for an example of a school policy on the use of electronic media. While not all schools will have policies this strict, it does provide some hints about how electronic communication can be mis-used.

Permanancy

Privacy issues become more important when we consider the permanency of electronic communication. However, permanency can be seen by parents as a positive feature of electronic communication (Lindner, 2004). Copies of emails, discussionboards and posts can be used as a record of communication to help track and guide future practice and problem-solving. It can also provide families the opportunity to think about an issue, clarify their thoughts and research their options rather than being put on the spot at a meeting.

However, permanency can also make educators and families more careful about what is said. Lindner (2004) found that parents felt any information provided to them in writing or online was likely to be less open and honest than informal communication. For example, she reports that one parent stated:

"You always find out the most interesting and informative stuff in informal conversation... because people are less guarded." p4

Remoteness

I discussed the issue of remoteness in my post about cyberbullying. Basically, it is about the fact that electronic communication eliminates all the tone of voice and body language which helps communication partners use theory of mind (empathy) to shape their interactions. Without any clues as to the emotion of our communication partner, words can seem harsh and invested in with a meaning not intended by the writer.

Also, the writer may cross the line between respectful complaint and harassment... such as a student's email to me on the subject of an assessment result. I am sure that if we had been facing each other in my office his "feedback" would have been more measured, especially if he was able to see from my body language that he had "crossed the line", so to speak.


Email or internet communication can never be a substitute for face to face contact when we are trying to get to know each other. However, it can be a great way to keep in contact and share information when the business of life gets in the way.

So it is important that schools and families communicate about communication (Lindner, 2004) .... what works for one family, may not work for another. Having parents complete survey about communication preferences and access to electronic facilities may be important (Ramirez, 2001). This way schools can record parent communication preferences in their contact databases.

References:

Boult, B. (2006). 176 Ways to Involve Parents: Practical Strategies for Partnering with Families. Corwin Press: California.

Learning and Teaching Scotland (2007). Parents as Partners in Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/parentsaspartnersinlearning/toolkit/section4/goodcomms.asp

Lindner, K. (December, 2004). Parental Needs and Expectations of School-Home Communicaiton in a child's preparatory Year of School. Paper presented at the Australian Association of Research in Education, Melbourne 28 November to 2nd December, 2004. Retrieved from www.aare.edu.au/04pap/lin04457.pdf

Mitchell, S., Foulger, T.S., and Wetzel, K. (2009). Ten Tips for Involving Families through Internet-Based Communication. Young children, 64(5), p46

Ramirez, F. (2001). Technology and parental involvement. The Clearing House, 75(1), p 30

Does your school use technology? Do you think it works?

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Home-school communication that works

By Amanda Gray ..... Copyright Amanda Gray 2010

In talking to parents about their relationships with schools one of the key ingredients that make it a success... or not... is communication.

For parents who enjoy a good relationship with their school, positive, two-way communication is something they often talk about. For example, parents who feel their school is supportive often mention things like:

• Their child's teacher is always available for a chat.
• If they tell the teacher about an issue, the teacher will react in a supportive and prompt way.
• The teacher acts on what has been discussed with the parent.
• Even if they have different opinions, they can work out a solution based on mutual respect and an understanding that both the school and family have the child's best interest at heart.
  

Parents whose relationship with their child's school is not what they would like it to be often mention at least one of the following things:

• It is hard to find anyone to talk to...
• The principal/teacher is not really listening because they don't do anything about issues discussed, don't tell the family what is being done, or don't take the family's wishes into consideration.
• They feel overwhelmed by "professional-speak", and come out of meetings confused or stupid.

This gives us some good hints about home-school communication that actually works.


Informal contact

Roffey (2002) reports on research exploring the relationship between schools and families who have children with behavioural difficulties. One of the things they found was the value that families placed on informal interactions. For example, they report one parent saying,

"If he wanted to talk to you, he'd say: 'Can I have a word?'. you know, privately. He was really good at that, I liked him." (p33)

So being able to catch a teacher, or visa versa, at times during the day is important. But the ability to do this changes as children get older.

In the pre-school years, this informal contact is regular and relatively easy as families pick up and drop off their children. In the early primary school years, this may also be true. But, as children learn to catch the bus and attend school independently, this informal, face to face contact is more difficult.

Using phone contact is perhaps the next best thing. Or using the phone to set up an informal face-to-face chat, especially in the middle and high school years. However, for working parents there is the added difficulty of making appointments during the school day. Taking time off work, or dashing down during the lunch hour, is not always an option.

One of the factors that make informal, face-to-face communication valuable is time. If it is planned appropriately, then it can be done in a calm way.

Further, it is important that difficult issues be addressed privately (Roffey, 2002). For example, it is important not to talk about a child in front of them or their peers. This can have an impact on a child's self-esteem, and can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies or teasing. The only exception would be if you wanted to involve the child in the discussion, but care would need to be taken that they didn't feel disempowered by having two adults "against" them.


Regular communication

Communicating regularly, and not just when there is a problem to solve, is important (Coleman, 1998). If communication between home and school starts on a positive note, and continues to be dotted with positives, then this can help build trust and a feeling of partnership rather than an "us versus them" feeling. It helps parents see that teachers know their child's strengths, not just their difficulties. And positive feedback from parents helps teachers further understand the child's strengths and build a positive, mutual understanding with families.

Regular communication becomes even more important for children who have a disability that affects their ability to telling their parents about their school day. This can mean that parents feel quite isolated from the education environment if there is no regular, day-to-day feedback from teachers or if the parents are unable to visit or volunteer at the school.

In these cases, one of the most effective tools to use is a communication book. Follow this link to read about some great ideas for home-school communication books. If you don't want to read the whole article, skip down to page 5 for some great examples.

Regular feedback is also important to ensure that families and teachers become aware of issues before they escalate (Coleman, 1998). For example, parents may see a change in their child's behaviour at home that could indicate that difficulties such as bullying is happening at school. Passing this on to teachers could help the teacher be more vigilant, observing the child closely for what might be happening.

Or a teacher may be finding a child is beginning to show some behavioural difficulties. By letting a parent know before it becomes a big issue, they may find out that there are some changes happening at home (such as a new baby, moving house, a change in routine) that could be contributing to the difficulties at school.

But ultimately, communicating regularly is an essential tool in preventing social and behavioural issues from escalating. Further, it is important for positive and collaborative problem-solving.

The other side of this is that regular feedback will ensure the family knows what is being done to address an issue at school. Being informed means that they don't feel the problem is being ignored, and that they can help with reinforcing the solution through discussion and strategies at home. This continuity is very important for lasting behaviour change or academic progress.


Openness, honesty and respect

In the previous post, I discussed the importance of open and honest communication to the development of trust.

It is also important that if there is a problem, the discussion be focused on the issue not on the child or the teacher/school (Boult, 2006).

For example, if a teacher is concerned about a child who is hitting, kicking or pushing on the playground, the conversation may go like this (after the usual greetings and a comment about what Sam has achieved lately)....

"Well, I did want to talk to you about some concerns I have about what is happening on the playground for Sam. I was just wondering if he had mentioned anything to you, or if you have noticed anything different at home?..."

This opens up the conversation to be about what is happening, and what may be contributing to the issue. This is more likely to bring about a positive partnership in problem-solving than a phone call home to request a suspension meeting, or to tell the parent about the negative behaviours and the disciplinary measures to be implemented. This is because the parent is seeing the teacher/school's concern for the child and a desire to change what is happening.

On the other side of the story, if a parent has a concern about something that is happening in the classroom, a good way to open the conversation may be...

"Sam is really loving the games she gets to play at music time. I was just wondering if you were aware of any problems she might be having with the other children saying things about her in that class?...."

This can then open up the conversation about what the teacher may/may not have noticed, what the parent's concerns are, the basis for these concerns, and what might be done about it.

Speaking with respect, empathy and a willingness to take on board both sides of the story is important to the problem-solving process.



The balance of power

"I sometimes feel a bit sidelined in meetings, I just feel they use all their terms that I don's understand and they know the system more than I do anyway - that's probably why I feel an outsider." (Roffey, 2002, p37)

It is important to consider the context of communication in meetings. A parent can be intimidated and disempowered in their role of advocate for their child if they attend a meeting with a number of school representatives using educational jargon. They can feel disempowered if they don't have all the information they need about policies and procedures before they come to a meeting.

It is important that any meeting occur on the basis of:

• common goals
  
• a willingness to negotiate and value each other's input equally
• shared information
• shared responsibility, this way avoiding blaming each other
  
• apartnership, rather than a school being the decision-maker and parents the "supporters". (Rose and Howley, 2007)

If parents are feeling an imbalance of power, it is within their rights to bring someone with them to meetings. This can be an extended family member, a friend or a professional. One parent I talked to brought along her private speech therapist to learning support team meetings to help with the funding application process. Other families have used professional advocacy services such as the Disability Advocacy Service, who can attend meetings with parents and provide support through their knowledge of the school and legal systems. Early intervention services such as the Strengthening Families service will also support parents in meetings as they begin to negotiate the transition to school.

....

"Parents want to know what is going on for their child in school. They prefer informal contact that is positive, regular, private, planned, non-intrusive, two-way and early enough to make a difference." (Roffey, 2002 p 33)

....

References

Boult, B. (2006). 176 Ways to Involve Parents: Practical Strategies for Partnering with Families. Corwin Press: California.

Coleman, P. (1998). Parent, Student and Teacher Collaboration: The Power of Three. Corwin Press: California.

Roffey, S. (2002). School Behaviour and Families: Frameworks for Working Together. David Fulton Publishers: London.

Rose, R., and Howley, M. (2007). The Practical Guide to Special Educational Needs in Inclusive Primary Classrooms. Paul Chapman Publishing: London.

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How to have a peaceful Christmas... a last post for the year

On this day of only 5 sleeps to Christmas it is time to write my last post for the year. I thought I would make it a short and sweet list of things to do that may help you have a more peaceful Christmas if you are including a child who has special needs. Many of these were suggested to me by parents of children with conditions such as Autism.

Hints for having a peaceful, inclusive Christmas

• An orientation:
  

If the child is visiting your place for the first time, it is important to give them a slow and explicit tour of the building. Pictures on closed doors indicating what the rooms are and whether they can be used can help with boundary issues.

• A guest list:
  

To help children know who to expect at the gathering, you may send a guest list to parents before the day. You may even help the parent develop a photo guest list. Looking at this every day in the week before Christmas can help children be more comfortable when meeting people they may have not seen for a while.

• A Routine or schedule:
  

To help children deal with the anxiety of the day, having a picture or written schedule of events might be helpful. Again, if the child becomes familiar with this before the day it could be even more effective. Here is a sample social story and some ideas from other parents.

• A way of communicating:
  

Communication is such an important part of any social gathering. Not being able to communicate can produce difficult behaviour due to frustration or distress. Make sure you understand how the child communicates, and have some special tools available to help with communication. Here is a great example. It comes from this site, where you can find other free samples.

• A plan for anxious moments:
  

Because of the noise and busy-ness of the day, it is likely that a child with sensory sensitivities, social or behaviour difficulties may need a quiet space to calm down. Have a room set up with toys that help calm the child - they may bring a favourite sensory toy or object from home.

Tell the parent and the child, and anyone else who you think may need to know, where the room is and when it can be used. Make it clear that the space is out of bounds to anyone except those who need time out. Oh, and think of time out as a restorative process not a punishment. You could use these symbols to help the child know when it may be time to re-join the activities.

• Patience:

But, overall, your most valuable tool for creating peace at Christmas is patience. Children with special needs may struggle with many things on Christmas day. They may have melt-downs... or times when they become very upset and it is hard to calm them down. They may struggle with things like waiting, taking turns and may seem impolite at times. They may even hit or push their peers or adults at times because they are finding it hard to control their impulses or communicate what they need.

Understand that these are things that they may take longer to learn than their peers. See this behaviour as an opportunity for patience and learning. If you take the perspective that every behaviour has a reason behind it, then your response will be measured and supportive. It will focus on helping to stop the behaviour rather than punishing or criticising it.

Have a wonderful, peaceful Christmas... and a Happy New Year! I will return to blogging sometime in the middle of January. But for now, it is time for a rest.

:)

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Transition to school and the social skills children need

In her response to my question about what children struggle most with when they first make the transition to school, Kim said “the increased independence required, communication, social skills and attention to task skills.” I want to talk a little about the things that you can do to help your child learn these skills.

Independence

Dealing with separation

A part of going to school is learning to separate from parents and/or carers. This can cause both parents and children increased anxiety if there is no preparation for this separation (Kienig, 2002).

To help your child get used to being away from you for a part of the day the best way is to start small and slowly wean your child into spending more and more time away from you. You might start with a few hours at a relative’s home. If possible, part-time enrolment in early intervention or an inclusive pre-school setting will help.

Here are some hints about making the actual separation on the day manageable for both you and your child:

- Talk to your child in a positive way about where they are going, focusing on a specific activity that you know they enjoy, or person to whom they relate well. This may be a teacher or a student buddy.

- Try to follow the same routine every time you arrive at the new setting.

- Go to the activity and/or that person you have been talking about as part of that “settling in” routine. Make sure you have let the teacher or buddy know that this is the plan so that they can be waiting for your child.

- Don’t prolong the good-byes, even if your child is upset. And never slip out without telling them. Quickly settle them into the activity, let them know who will be there to look after them, a kiss, a hug and leave. If you have confidence and try to remain positive, it will help your child be more confident even if they initially are upset.

- Make sure you ask the teacher or aide to contact you to let you know how your child is going if you feel any anxiety. Alternately, you might ask how you can contact them to find out this information.

Sharing information is very important to ensure you can keep up with your child’s progress, even when you are not there (Newman, 2004). A great way to keep up with what is happening at school even if your child struggles to communicate with you is to use a communication book. This could be a little exercise book that travels from home to school and back again with your child. Other schools might use email. In these “books”, you, your child’s teachers and anyone else who is working with your child, can record your child’s achievements and any other information about what is happening at home and at school.

Coping skills

As Margettes (2002) states, at school children will need a level of self-confidence or a range of coping skills to help them cope with new things and unexpected events. We can start helping our child to develop these skills through a range of activities at home.

The first thing you can do is to try new things. For example, a new game, a small change in routine in your day (eg. having apple juice instead of orange juice at lunch time). For some children (such as children with Autism) you will need to warn them and then keep reminding them of the change before it happens. You may even need to have a reward – like a sticker, special activity or anything else your child enjoys – that they will receive once they have participated in the new or changed routine.

To teach coping skills you can use a range of different games. However, puzzles can be a simple way to teach children to cope with difficulties. Find some puzzles related to your child’s interest. Start with simple puzzles and work up to harder ones according to your child’s ability or achievement.

To teach your child to cope by themselves, when they are struggling to find a place for a puzzle piece, prompt and encourage them to keep trying until they find a place for the puzzle piece, and give lots of praise if they do. Try not to do it for them, though you might guide them to the right place if they are about to give up. But each time they try, help them persevere for longer.

Next, teach your child to ask for help. As your child’s skills develop, teach them to ask for your help when they need it rather than getting upset or sitting back and waiting for you to jump in. Have a question or prompt that will help them remember to do this.

For example, your child might be struggling with a puzzle piece and

is becoming agitated. You could get their attention by saying “Stop” and using the appropriate hand gesture to go with this.

Then you might point to yourself and say, “Help?” (You might learn the Makaton sign, use PECs such as Boardmaker, or download the free sign from www.do2learn.com seen below – all of which your child could use at school).

Then get your child to say it by prompting them through a gesture and/or facial expression (see previous post on teaching communication).

Don’t help until they have at least attempted to ask for help. This may mean the puzzle doesn’t get finished straight away. But keep trying. This will help your child to develop coping skills.

You can use this same procedure in every day events, such as tying shoelaces, getting dressed, opening containers etc. Waiting until your child asks for help is important as they will need to be able to do this to get teacher or peer assistance at school.

Communication

I have already discussed ways of teaching communication, and what words might be important for school. Kim also suggested similar words in her interview.

Social skills

Margetts (2002) and Dockett and Perry (2006) discuss a range of social skills important for children on entering school.

Greetings

Saying and responding to “hello” (picture above from www.do2learn.com) and “good-bye” are important social skills for your child to learn before going to school. These greetings can be the first step in developing friendships with peers. If you prompt and praise your child for using the “greetings” it is not just about politeness – it is about decreasing the likelihood that they will be isolated on the playground.

Joining in

I told the story of “Isaac” who struggled with this in a previous post. It is fairly common for children with communication and social difficulties to make themselves unpopular with their peers by just “barging in” to their games. At home, in early intervention and pre-school settings it will be important to start teaching your child key phrases to help them join in games without “barging in”. Insisting that your child ask before they join in what you and/or their siblings are doing is a great way to start teaching this skill. Again, remembering that if your child struggles with language, using pictures and gestures is just as effective.

Sharing, taking turns and waiting

The ability to wait for your turn and share is a significant part of cooperating with peers in the school environment. So start teaching these skills early.

Play games where there is one toy that must be shared. For example, playing ball games. You and your child sit at opposite ends of a room. Then you take turns rolling the ball to each other.

Card games, board games, party games such as pass the parcel – all are examples of ways to help your child learn to take turns and share.

Attention

Margetts (2002), Dockett and Perry (2006) and Kim highlight the importance of self-control, concentration and paying attention. Some of the games mentioned above can help with this.

Puzzles require sustained attention. Drawing and craft do as well. Reading together is another important activity to help increase your child’s ability concentrate and pay attention.

You may find that when you start, your child only pays attention for a very short period of time. But use prompts, praise and encouragement to gradually increase the length of time your child stays at a task, keeping in mind that they may be expected to work on one task for around 15 minutes at a time when they first go to school.

Bullying

One of the concerns that parents often have when their child goes to school is the issue of bullying. This is often most concerning when a child is moving to high school. I have discussed bullying elsewhere, but I will write a bit more on this topic… but I will do that in a future post.

Just a final note

As Dockett and Perry (2006) state:

Encourage your child to play with and use pens, paper, paint, water, balls etc. Through play, young children learn naturally. Play activities provide opportunities for your child to explore, interact and solve problems. (p44)

References

Dockett, S, and Perry, B. (2006). Starting School: A Handbook for Early Childhood Educators. Pademelon Press: Castle Hill.

Kienig, A. (2002). The importance of social adjustment for future success. In H. Fabian & A. Dunnlop (Eds), Transitions in the Early Years, p23-37. Routledge Falmer: London.

Margetts, K. (2002). Planning transition programmes. In H. Fabian & A. Dunnlop (Eds), Transitions in the Early Years, p111-122. Routledge Falmer: London.

Newman, S. (2004). Stepping Out: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Child with Special Needs. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

...

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Helping teachers know your child and visa versa…

One of the things Gina said in her guest blog about Mac’s transition to school was:
“First term was very much about … settling in and literally giving the teachers and aides time to ‘learn how to drive Mac’.”

This is a very significant point when we are thinking about our child’s transition either to school or to high school. As Seefeldt and Wasik (2002) explain, teachers need to get to know the unique strengths and difficulties of their students to make adaptations so they can be included effectively in the classroom. And your child needs to adjust to the new adult or adults that will be a big part of their weekdays for the next phase of their life.

This will take time.

We also need to recognise that the process may take longer and be a little more difficult if your child is transitioning to an inclusive or mainstream classroom rather than a specialist one.


A note for teachers of inclusive classrooms

Including a child with different needs into your classroom can be a challenging task. But here are some things to think about that may help with the process.

1- Collaboration and teamwork
As teachers we are often used to working alone, having full control over what happens in our classrooms. However, when we include a child with a disability we need to be ready to listen, learn and adapt. We can learn a lot from parents about a child’s likes, dislikes, abilities and communication strategies. This is essential information to help us engage the child in the classroom.

We need to be open and willing to learn from specialist staff such as support teachers and speech therapists. For example, you may have a support teacher for integration who will be helping the child make the transition to school or high school. They may have some strategies and ideas for you to incorporate into your lessons. Working with them will play a significant part in helping the inclusion process successful.

Some children will have a teacher’s aide for a certain number of hours per week. Just remember that a teacher’s aide is not a trained teacher. You still have the primary responsibility for curriculum planning and assessment for the child, in collaboration with a learning support team. A teacher’s aide is there to assist you in the day to day implementation of the program and supervision of the child.

For both teachers and parents, Who's Going to Teach My Child is a useful document to help you become familiar with different types of services. It is a document written by the NSW Department of Education.

2- Attitudes
Attitudes play a very big part in the success of inclusion because there will be challenges and the road may be a bit bumpy at first. As teachers we need to retain the following:

- a recognition that it is the right of every parent and child to choose to be educated in an inclusive environment. This is called equal opportunity. You can read more about this in part 4 (p17) of the Disability Standards for Education 2005.

- a realistic, but optimistic view of our abilities. Know what support you can get, but also know that your skills as a teacher can be used for children of all abilities so long as we have a basic understanding of the child’s unique characteristics. This might involve reading about or going to an in-service course to learn about the disability the child has been diagnosed with.

- openness to and respect for ideas and information from parents and other support staff.

- a willingness to creatively and collaboratively problem-solve. This often means prioritising – dealing with one set of difficulties at a time, taking small steps to ensure you and the child are not overwhelmed.

- a sense of humour LoL


Helping teachers get to know a new student

Butt and Cosser (2004) discuss a program established by the Derby City Special Educational Needs Support Service for children transitioning to school. One of the strategies they used to help teachers get to know students with special needs who were transitioning into their classroom was a personal passport.

They stated that these passports could be in the form of a simple notebook, or a small pocket photo album. The smaller, the better as this could mean that a teacher can carry it around and show it to all other teachers and staff who will need to interact with the child on the playground, in the library, on assembly, at the canteen and so on.

The elements of this passport included:

Child’s name and title page – a photo can ensure easy recognition by school staff as they work on the playground etc.

Important things about me – This information is important to ensure health and safety issues are addressed, or staff are aware of things that could help calm a child if they are upset.

Family and friends – again, photos might be helpful. Identifying siblings or peers attending the school who know the child is important in helping the child settle in and feel safe in their new environment.

Things that make me happy and how I show you
Things that may upset or frighten me and how I show you
What I need to help me understand what you are saying
Systems of communication – These four elements are about understanding the triggers and functions of the child’s behaviour. For many children this is essential information to assist in preventing explosive behaviour or melt-downs. It can be a key tool in ensuring a peaceful, smooth-running day. Being able to effectively communicate with a child is essential, so we need to understand if they have different ways of communicating.

Things I am learning to do by myself
Things that are rewards for me - knowing the student’s abilities and strengths give the teacher a starting point for working with the child. It ensures that they have realistic but high expectations for the child. It also means that they will use rewards that the child will respond to, the only really effective reward.

A profile of the child is often developed by a learning support team and presented in different formats. However, we need to ensure that the information in the profile is presented to all the people who need to know, is positive and not labelling or demeaning the child, and is easy to read.

That is perhaps why a personal passport has become so widely used in some countries/counties. It has all these characteristics. It can also be adapted for any age group (below is an example from http://www.allenshea.com/AllStatesPassport.pdf). And it is something that a teacher could do with a whole class if they wanted to do a get-to-know-you exercise to promote empathy and inclusive behaviour.

Helping a student get to know their teacher

As with the familiarisation with the physical setting, photos are one of the most effective tools to help children identify and get to know their new teachers (Butt and Cosser, 2004).

As soon as you chose a school, start developing a photo book of the important adults your child will need to get used to and trust. You might not know who your child’s teacher may be – sometimes the school doesn’t know until the final sorting of enrolments just before school starts. So start with people like the principal. Then, as soon as you find out who they are, add the child’s teacher and teacher’s aide.

If your child is going to a mainstream high school, they will need to get to know a range of teachers. One way of helping your child recognise their teachers, when they will be interacting with them etc is by using photos, folders and colour-coding.

For example, Mr Sims is your child’s Maths teacher. You have a red folder for Maths. On the child’s timetable, Maths is coloured in red. Just inside the front cover of the Maths folder, stick a small photo of Mr Sims. If your child has good literacy skills and has met the teacher before, then a photo may not be important. It may just be a matter of writing the teacher’s name inside the folder with the times and rooms where Maths occurs.

Meeting the teacher

Try to set up meetings between your child and their teacher before the school year starts. Most schools have orientation visits – but one visit may not be enough. And in many cases the Kindergarten teacher will change from year to year. So orientation visits to the classroom will help the child experience the environment, but won’t necessarily help them get to know their teacher.

So, if your child is transitioning to school, along with the photo book you should try to set up meetings between your child and their teacher before they attend school. You might ask to visit the playground when they are on playground duty. You might ask to visit their classroom, even if they are not teaching Kindergarten that year. And, hopefully, the teacher should be invited to any meetings you have with the school to discuss your child’s transition so that you can get to know them as well.

The transition to high school is a bit different due to the range of staff that might be working with your child. So it is best to find a staff member who can be a mentor for your child. For example, the year advisor. This staff member is responsible for the pastoral care of a particular grade. If, on meeting this staff member, you can see that your child is going to respond well to them, then they may be a great mentor for your child.

A teacher-mentor can be someone to whom your child can go whenever they are feeling uncomfortable. So it would be important to:

- Set up a few informal meetings between your child and the staff member before the school year starts. That staff member may be the one who helps to show the child around the school.
- If possible, supply your child with that staff member’s timetable or a way your child can find them whenever needed once school starts. For example, it may be agreed that your child goes to the front office when they need help, and the administration staff contact or help the child find the teacher-mentor. This procedure would need to be discussed and perhaps clarified in a note supplied to the staff working in the administration office.

For your information, here are the NSW DET guidelines on mentoring.


So, in conclusion, helping children get to know their teachers and visa versa is again about starting as soon as you can, using photos, sharing information and recognising that there will be a period of time that will be a bit “bumpy” as everyone gets used to each other.


References:

Butt, A., and Cosser, C. (2004). Supporting transition: Preschool setting into first placement. In M. Blamires and J. Moore (Eds), Support Services and Mainstream Schools, p 68-77. David Fulton Publishers: London.

Seefeldt, C. and Wasik, B.A. (2002). Kindergarten: Fours and Fives go to School. Merrill Prentice Hall: Ohio


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Transitioning… what worked for Mac?

A mum’s reflection one year on – a guest blog by Gina from Inky Ed!

Mac is six years old in Kindergarten at his local school. Mac has severe CP [cerebral palsy] and significant cortical vision impairment. He has no language and little to no purposeful movement.

We had embedded Mac into mainstream day care since he was three. We were strategic in our choices of centres in the hope Mac might eventually go to school with many of the kids. And we were lucky. Mac knew 13 of the 40 children starting kindergarten. They were confident with him and not phased by his multiple, severe disabilities – he was ‘just Mac’. For some, he was also their safe haven, feeling vulnerable they would seek him out and hang onto his wheelchair until they felt better. Others were very proud to call him their friend (maybe even a little ‘superior’) as they explained about how his muscles don’t work properly and about how he drinks from a hole in his belly.

Already having a network of friends made building more relationships much easier – the other children were seeing interactions between Mac and his friends modelled naturally and constantly. In fact, at times a moderator was required to ‘manage’ the process – so keen were the kids to interact with Mac. And Mac, we he was just thrilled to be going to a ‘party called school’ every day. Some of the children he had known socially for years. They knew how to tube feed him. It was wonderful to remove the unnecessary ‘fear factor’ many adults feel about tube feeding by highlighting if they ran into any problems they could seek out one of the other five year olds who could help them out. We also knew some of these five year olds would be fabulous ‘dobbers’ if the adults were doing things “wrong” because of course they knew, as five year olds do, how to do everything.

For the actual orientation days in the year prior we paid for one of Mac’s aides from day care to attend with him. No one else was taking their parents, it allowed Mac to send the message “I’m not precious, I don’t need my Mum and Dad, I’m not sick or frail… but I do have a disability”. It was also so we could enjoy the process as the other parents do – it was nice to enjoy the ‘fleeting sense of normality’ to drop him off with a kiss on the cheek and walk away, just as everyone else did.

First term was very much about setting expectations (they should expect him there all day, every day), settling in and literally giving the teachers and aides time to ‘learn how to drive Mac’. The school were keen to learn all they could.

We worked as a team – the school had willingly admitted this was new for them, but they wanted to learn. This was refreshing to hear – at the heart of all this is attitude and an expectation that all children can learn. We are very fortunate our school staff all strive to have a ‘growth mindset’ – they want to learn as much as they want to teach.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but we have kept communications lines open and every ‘negative’ has been used to learn/develop/change/shift to a positive. The key things we have found help is that as parents we need to understand the system and then help the school manoeuvre within it. The school needs to understand the process and educate the parents and share information. And teachers, well they simply need to be confident they ‘know how to educate’ and not get ‘flummoxed’ by the disability – and as parents we need to support them as best we can.

The introduction of technology, strategies to help him access his curriculum and adapted teaching techniques has been gradual and natural. We certainly aren’t completely there, but we have set a nice groundwork for future years.

Mac has recently spent a week with alternative and augmentative communication expert Rosemary Crossley. “Wow”… now we really have some goals to strive for and IEPs to ‘reset’. With her intensive focus on finding appropriate switch sites for Mac, determining how he can give consistent and purposeful answers based on auditory scanning techniques and testing his knowledge and maturity we have allowed ourselves to increase our expectations for Mac significantly.

So we will all start term four with a renewed focus. With a new ability to consistently answer ‘yes and no’ using technology rather than his more discreet ‘yes’ facial expression Rosemary believes Mac needs to access the same curriculum as the other children at the same rate. More focus will go on ensuring the curriculum is accessible to a child who is essentially blind. Less modifications (or dumbing down) will occur and Mac will essentially need to start working a little harder.

We think he will still enjoy the ‘party atmosphere’ of school… he just won’t be given as many chances to ‘get out of the hard stuff’ from here on in.

It is an exciting time for us all…

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Encouraging your child to respond

This post extends on the previous one, which discussed Newman’s (2004) advice for talking to your child who has communication difficulties. I want to focus in this post on her ideas about how to react when your child responds to you to ensure more communication attempts on their part.

1- “Respond immediately and positively” (p108)

Praise any attempts, even if they are not correct. Also, use “active listening” skills to ensure your child feels rewarded for their communication attempts, and to clarify meaning if you are unsure what they mean.

Active listening, according to Friswell, involves first stopping all other activity and intently focusing your attention on your child.

Second, look at the child – make eye contact, get down to their level by kneeling beside them if necessary.

Third, listen without interruption. Children struggling with communication may need more time to produce speech. Wait patiently, without rushing them or trying to finish their words or sentences. However, you may need to make encouraging sounds (uh-huh?) or use body language such as smiles and nods to give immediate feedback and encourage your child to persist with their communication attempt.

Finally, once they have finished, respond. In responding, make sure you focus on the positives first. A good rule to go by is: praise then re-phrase.

For example:
Jilly says, “Want duce in up.”
Adult responds, “Very good, Jilly. You want juice in your cup?”

This allows your child to confirm their meaning using a nod or shake of the head.

2 – “Be over the top in your response” (p109)

To begin with, it can be important to get overly excited about communication efforts alongside providing immediate rewards for any communication attempts. This Utube video has a good illustration of this, though the communication is using the PECs system rather than words.

However, be conscious that for some older children struggling with communication over-the-top praise can be received negatively as they may feel you are drawing undue attention to their difficulties. Like with everything, be tuned in to what motivates your child or student and respond accordingly.

3 – “Don’t correct pronunciation or what she has said” – re-phrase instead.

This is a widely accepted approach.

For example:
Jilly says, “Want duce in up.”
Adult responds, “Very good, Jilly. You want juice in your cup?”
Jilly nods. Adult provides her with juice in her cup.

There are some good examples of re-phrasing in this Utube Video.

However, the Lindamood program has suggested that correction of pronunciation is important. This links in with the importance of directly teaching children with disabilities new skills, rather than expecting them to simply “pick up” these skills through indirect modelling. It is also about children experiencing communication in a multi-sensory way – feeling and seeing sounds as well as hearing them. And, further, it is about helping children break down and sequence sounds in words. The program encourages children to look at the shape of the mouth, to feel how the tongue, lips and breath create the sound alongside simply hearing sound.

So an alternate approach may be:

Jilly: “Want duce in up.”
Adult: “Very good, Jilly. You want juice in your cup?”
Jilly nods.
Adult (using the gesture system discussed previously): “You say, ‘I want JJJuice in my CCCup.’” stressing the key sounds and drawing attention to the mouth movements that go with it.
Jilly: “duce in cccup.”
Adult: “That’s great! JJJuice.”
Jilly: “Jjuice.”
Adult: “Well done!!” and rewards Jilly with juice in her cup.

This way you are rewarding both her attempt at communication, and her correct speech.


References:
Friswell, J. (nd) Active Listening with Children in the Early Years. Retrieved 22nd September, 2009 from: http://clg.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=15186020

Newman, S. (2004). Stepping Out: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Child with Special Needs. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

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Talking to your child

Based on Newman (2004) pages 107 – 108

Newman discusses a series of things you need to consider when talking to your child who has communication difficulties. Here is my summary of her advice, and some hints about how you can achieve these:

1- Get your child’s attention – which usually means eye contact.
For children with sensory integration issues, pointing their ear towards you may be there way of paying attention. Or you may want to hold their hand and wait until they are still before you speak.

2- “Speak clearly and simply using natural intonation.” p107
Exaggerating expression or speaking/yelling loudly will not help your child to understand, even if they have a hearing impairment. It will only distort the sounds. Using inappropriate volume will also mean that your child will not learn about the different use of intonation and volume for different contexts. Eg. you might talk loudly outside, but use what teachers may call an “inside voice” indoors. You yell when you are angry or warning others, but speak calmly or with a smile in your voice in play situations.

3- “Repetition and consistency is very important.” I addressed this in the previous post.

4- Talk about everyday events and experiences, such as favourite games, videos, dinner, bathing and so on. Newman (2004) states, “Give her the language for what she is doing: ‘You are having a bath.’” (p107). If you repeat this regularly, your child will learn to connect the language with the experience.

5- Talk about the things your child is interested in. Watch what your child is looking at and label it, describe it. We have probably all done this with our very young children – “Look at that cow! Mooo! Moooooo! It is eating grass!”

6- Make sure your child can use the context to help them understand what you are saying. So if you are at the dinner table and you want to talk about what has happened during the day, make sure you have some cues such as photos.

7- Use body language to support your words. Use natural gestures to reinforce words, such as waving to reinforce the words “Bye-bye.” Makaton signs were designed for this purpose.

8- Pause and maintain eye-contact to encourage your child to respond. It may take longer for your child to process what you have said, and produce a response.

… I will talk more about helping promote children’s responses in my next post.


Reference:
Newman, S. (2004). Stepping Out: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Child with Special Needs. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

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Doing what you are told

One day, in a state of complete exhaustion, I got up to complete my final routine before crawling into bed. In my head I planned to do as follows:
Put cheese in fridge
Put rice crackers in cupboard
Clean teeth
Crawl into bed

As I discovered when I next was looking for my favourite snack, what I actually did was:
Put cheese and rice crackers in fridge
Clean teeth
Crawl into bed

This is an example of cognitive planning going wrong… and an illustration of how executive function can be affected by fatigue. Children whose executive functioning has been affected by factors such as fatigue, anxiety, ADHD or other factors/disorders may find it hard to carry out a sequence of steps even if they do remember the main points of what they have been told.

Doing what you are told

To follow instructions we need to be able to identify the important items, plan and organise the information so we can follow-through with the instructions. Then, finally, we need to be able to concentrate and monitor our actions (ie. I should have realised that the rice crackers really didn’t belong in the fridge). All this is managed by something we call executive functioning (Hagemann, Hay and Levy, 2002).

Executive Function (Hagemann, Hay and Levy, 2002):

Executive function is part of the working memory system. It is a cognitive function that helps us helps us decide what to remember, and what to discard. It helps us put the information in the right order. And it helps us stay on track.

So if a teacher says, “Well, kids, now it’s time to pack up. I want you to put your pencils in your pencil-tin, your books in your tote tray and then come and sit on the floor ready to have a story.”

A student whose “executive function” is working well might have a thought process that goes something like this… “pencils away, book in tote, sit on the mat”. They will then do this in the required order, and be sitting quietly at the front of the room ready for the teacher.

A student whose executive functioning is not operating in the same way, you may find they carry their books and pencils with them to the mat, or they get out their tote tray and put it on their desk. Alternately, they could get distracted half way through and need multiple reminders to get back on track because they aren’t monitoring their own behaviour.

For other children it may just be that they take much longer to work through the process, having to work hard at remembering each step.

Executive functioning is identified as one of the key functions that is affected in children with attention deficit disorders like ADD and ADHD. This means that the children often act impulsively, without thinking about the instructions or consequences of their actions. It also contributes to the fact that they prioritise what’s going on outside the window rather than listening to the instructions you are giving (which, of course, links back to the difficulties with paying attention).

So this is just one more thing to consider when we give instructions….

Next time I am going to post a letter from a parent who has a child with ADD. It provides some great insight. If you want to contribute a similar letter, please email it to me at amandag7@optusnet.com.au

I hope this blog is helpful to you. If it is, make sure you vote on the poll on the left. I also look forward to your questions and suggestions for future topics.

If you want to find out more about me and what I am up to, you might want to visit www.learn2bebuddies.com.au


References

Hagemann, E., Hay, D.A., and Levy, F. (2002). Cognitive Aspects and Learning. In S. Sandberg (Ed), Hyperactivity and Attention Disorders of Childhood, p214-241. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

You might also want to visit:
http://www.ldinfo.com/executive_functioning.htm
http://www.ncld.org/content/view/1200/480
http://www.ldonline.org/article/Executive_Function_Fact_Sheet

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Do you understand what I'm saying?

Image from "Dave is Brave" www.learn2bebuddies.com.au . Copyright Amanda Gray and Daniel East.

Jenny has just arrived home from the gym feeling stiff and sore. Tom has just come inside as the coldness of the evening has made it too uncomfortable to work any longer in his garden.

Jenny rubs her lower back. “Uhhh! I feel old!”

“Brrr. I’m freezing, too! I’m going to have a shower.”

Jenny watches him go with a perplexed look on her face. “What?”
Image from

Interpreting

Even if we hear what a person is saying, and are paying attention, sometimes we don’t correctly interpret what they are saying.

To interpret or work out what a person is saying you have to be able to make sense of the sounds you hear. You need to change the isolated sounds into words, then put those words together based on their sequence and how they are said to get the full meaning of what you have been told (Anderson, 2000).

Minor misunderstandings like that between Jenny and Tom can occur because of trouble hearing. But they also often occur because we all bring our own ideas or context to communication.

Jenny’s context was that she was sore and tired. Tom’s was that he was cold. So he interpreted the word “old” to mean “cold”.


What makes it hard to interpret sounds?

The size of your vocabulary
You need to share the same vocabulary with the person to whom you are talking (Anderson, 2001). Children can have a smaller vocabulary for a wide range of reasons. Children with developmental delays such as that associated with Down Syndrome may take longer to learn words in a way that means they can “retrieve” them easily. This means that they may have a smaller vocabulary (Buckley, 1993; Chapman, 2006).

We pick up most of our vocabulary through experiences with language and conversations (Cross, 2001). Children who have difficulties hearing will have smaller vocabularies due to limitations placed on their language experiences. Children for whom English is their second language will also have a smaller vocabulary.

Some conditions like dyslexia can influence how we process sounds (Stein, 2001). So while children with these conditions may be able to hear the sounds, it might take them longer to work out what these mean. These children may also have a smaller vocabulary, or mix up sounds more often. They may also struggle to hear changes in tone of voice, which will be discussed below.

Children who have Autism Spectrum Disorders may also have a smaller vocabulary. This is mainly due their limitations in social and emotional reciprocity, or empathy (Scott, Clark, Brady, 2000). This means that the motivation for their communication will come from their own interests, not based on an understanding of how communication influences their relationships with others (Autism Association of South Australia, 2009).

For example, a child with Aspergers may have a special interest in Maths and logical problems. This child may then have a big vocabulary relating to this subject. But in the context of other subjects, including language related to everyday tasks and social interactions, their vocabulary might be quite small.

These difficulties can also lead to problems with the other things you need to know in order to correctly interpret what people are saying (discussed below).

Your knowledge of the patterns of language
To understand what people are saying you need to have a good knowledge of how words fit together in a sentence. You also need to know how tone of voice can change what they mean. As discussed in a previous post , this can be difficult if you have trouble paying attention to and interpreting others’ facial expressions and body language.

Your knowledge of the subject being discussed
As mentioned previously, knowing the context of a discussion is important in helping us interpret what is being said (Anderson, 2001). It helps us put the sounds together and chose the right words to fit the context. It also speeds up the process of changing the sounds into meaningful sentences.

So if you have a child who is tired, or bored, or struggling to pay attention they are more likely to misinterpret what you are telling them to do.


The process of interpreting sounds and words relies on our skills in remembering and retrieving information we have learnt (Hick, Botting & Conti-Ramsden, 2005). I will talk more about memory in the next post.


References:

Anderson, C. (2001). Pragmatic Communication Difficulties. In R. MacKay and C. Anderson (Eds), Teaching Children with Pragmatic Difficulties of Communication, p24-38. David Fulton Publishers: Hampshire.

Autism Association of South Australia. (2009). What is Autism? Retrieved 16th May, 2009 from:http://www.autismsa.org.au/html/disorders/autism.html


Buckley SJ. (1993) Language development in children with Down syndrome - Reasons for optimism. Down Syndrome Research and Practice,1(1), p3-9. Retrieved from http://www.down-syndrome.org/reviews/5/

Chapman RS. (2006). Language learning in Down syndrome: The speech and language profile compared to adolescents with cognitive impairment of unknown origin. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 10(2), p61-66. Retrieved from http://www.down-syndrome.org/reports/306/

Cross, L. (2001). Early Communication Development. In M.S. Lue (Ed.) A Survey of Communication Disorders for the Classroom Teacher, p35-54. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.

Hick, R.F, Botting, N., and Conti-Ramsden, G. (2005) Short-term memory and vocabulary development in children with Down syndrome and children with specific language impairment. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 47, p532–538. Retrieved http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FDMC%2FDMC47_08%2FS0012162205001040a.pdf&code=7abb5653813d8fc667d2aaa56a4c8e16

Scott, J., Clark, C., and Brady, M. (2000). Students with Autism: Characteristics and Instruction Programming. Singular Publishing Group: San Diego.




Stein, J. (2001). The Neurobiology of Reading Difficulties. In M. Wolf (Ed) Dyslexia, Fluency and the Brain, p 3-22. York Press: USA.

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