Comments on: So Much To Talk About

By: Making a Little Big Difference

Making a Little Big Difference — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:16:18 +0000

[...] and we talked about setting up an afterschool schedule for Charlie incorporating the use of his Language Master to prompt his speech. Charlie was running up and down the hallway—-thumping all over the [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:09:06 +0000

We haven’t started that yet but it sounds promising (and also a potential legal headache, but if it’s to help kids learn better, those headaches can be be worked through, I think). I visit Charlie’s room regularly and his teacher makes twice-monthly home visits—those really help to keep a conversation going.

By: Regan

Regan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:06:21 +0000

One of the unfortunate things with the concerns, and sometimes rightfully so, with confidentiality and liability, that I wonder why we don’t make more use of the technology that is increasingly available.
Sometimes words fail, or fail to be recorded, but uploaded video from a cell phone or webcam would seem to be able to make some things much clearer to all concerned.
Just something that I think about from time to time. Does anyone use this type of cyber communication?

By: Misha

Misha — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:41:48 +0000

J’s teachers and I have used a communication book since he started at the school in 2nd grade because I insisted on one. It was rough at first but then we got together and revamped it. It’s now used with all the kids in the autism program.

Even so, I call J’s teachers about twice a week to fill them in on a rough night, morning or weekend, or if something is going on that may affect his behavior at school. I also call to just find out how he’s doing. I like that communication better because we’re able to discuss more things.

By: This Week’s Top Posts

This Week’s Top Posts — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:35:30 +0000

[...] So Much To Talk AboutGood parent-teacher communication is essential in a school program for kids like Charlie, who struggle to talk and to otherwise communication. [...]

By: Daisy

Daisy — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:59:57 +0000

I find email to be a more and more useful form of ongoing communication, both with my child’s teachers and with my students’ parents. I’m now in a school where many families don’t have email, and I have to communicate through an interpreter. No matter what the situation, it’s so important to open up the lines of communication early and often.

By: Therapy Moms and Psychoanalysis (for autistic children)

Therapy Moms and Psychoanalysis (for autistic children) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:23:55 +0000

[...] own son, who can talk a little but not well enough to explain his emotions or fears or to tell me what he did at school today, would be a good candidate for this sort of treatment. New York city psychoanalyst Susan P. [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:41:22 +0000

@Marla, I feel very lucky—I remind myself all the time, not to send too many messages and to be patient for responses. One advantage of email is very practical: My handwriting has declined to a scrawl and typing is not only faster, but far more legible!

@Eleanor, what a relief to be in the right placement….

@alex s, it’s very nice to “meet” you! I have struggle a great deal to get the communication between the teacher and me “just right” (and have made numerous errors in the past) It’s so important for us, again, because my son Charlie does not have a lot of language and what he does have, he uses to describe the present and what is in front of him—-talking about what happened earlier in the day is not something he is yet doing. We had a lot of trouble in a previous school district and I know that there were many reasons for this, but so often it seemed that Charlie’s teacher and I were trading notes that did not help to make things better.

By: Marla

Marla — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:35:45 +0000

Sounds like you have an excellent teacher working with Charlie. You are very lucky. The last school M was in we began getting phone calls asking if I let her stay up watching T.V. all night. The counselor had asked M some questions because M was tired all the time. I am sure M’s answers were beyond interesting. Apparently, me telling them about her seizures and insomnia was not explanation enough. They had to find things to blame me for. I was beyond upset. That was one of the precursors to us pulling her out for homeschooling.

Good schools and good teachers make all the difference.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:11:35 +0000

The parent/teacher communication issue has long been a really huge one for us. There’s the simple reality of Charlie’s very limited speech and communication skills. When he started to have some really serious behavior issues when he was about 7, the communication book became a sort of site of contention (sigh). I felt we so needed to know why Charlie had engaged in head-banging or anything aggressive; these are not easy things to write about day and day out. I do think that issues of not having time or training and more affected all this—–it made for a very difficult situation.