Spec Ed Kids & Their Families Teaching Future Spec Ed Teachers
April 13, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
You’re planning to be a special education teacher or a school psychologist: Which of the following scenarios would better prepare you to work with autistic students: (1) read textbooks and journal articles, do research in the library, write papers; (2) spend time with a family with a special needs child, both at home and in a public setting.
I’m all for (2) (though, being a professor, I would emphasize that everything in (1) is necessary—-but (2) provides something invaluable). And a class on autism and intellectual disability at William and Mary College offers students just such an option as (2) in the Family Mentor Experience. Assistant Professor of Special Education Kelly Whalon teaches the class and participation in the program is optional. Students are required to spend time with two different families and to keep a journal and contact log and write a reflection paper at the end of the semester.
An article from William and Mary College opens with 16-year-old Michael, who has autism, whizzing around on his special three-wheel bike, with graduate student Chris Osterhout hurrying after him.
Although many of the students involved in the Family Mentor Experience have had some interaction with special-needs children in the past, this opportunity is something much different, said Kim Heath, a special education graduate student.
“It is an amazing opportunity to talk ‘off the record’ with parents about the trials of family life and school interactions,” she said. “It is an opportunity for families to give input that ultimately will impact new special education teachers who are entering the educational system at a time of rapid change.”
She added, “We often perceive special education as being a top-down system—meaning decisions come from so far away from the student—when actually, the people who know the student best should be the starting point that individualized education builds from. I can learn so much from a parent that can’t be learned by reading a textbook.”
A friend who is a professor a Midwestern colllege teaches an undergraduate class that has a similar component, in which students are paired with families of autistic children and spend time together with them. Autism is currently not a topic on the syllabi of my current teaching schedule of classes in Latin, ancient Greek, and classical civilization. As a number of students at my college are education majors, something like the Family Mentor Program is part of the kind of training I would like Charlie’s future teachers to have—a little “first-hand” experience can go a long way.
A pal of mine and his class trained for 5 years to be dentists. It was only in their final year that they were permitted to get near potential patients – big fall out from that experience. When they qualified and went out into the working world there was an even greater fall-out.
In view of the high burn out figures for spec ed teachers, I think the two pronged approach would help prevent a lot of casualties.
Cheers
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes!
I’m rather unique, I gather, in that I knew I wanted to teach kids with special needs BEFORE my brother was born when I was 9. The fact that he was born with Down syndrome simply shoved me into that world faster than I would have been introduced to it otherwise.
First hand experience is INVALUABLE. And, in fact, I think first hand experience with young adults with disabilities is even more important — because especially if you plan to work with young kids, it’s helpful to have an idea of the future, and of what not to do. I student taught at a high school, and I can’t tell you the number of kids that were overcompliant or prompt dependent.
Seeing someone in an environment other than school, also, may reveal strengths that you won’t see at school. Patrick LOVES to do laundry (he likes to “see the shirts be covered with water” – whatever floats his boat!) but his teachers had no idea he could even do laundry, and did not believe us when we mentioned it.
Also, no textbook can REALLY be better preparation than hands-on, in-the-field, nitty-gritty, real life work…or doctors wouldn’t have to be interns. Reading that x, y, and z are common in autism or Down syndrome doesn’t make it true. Reading that prompt dependence is bad isn’t REAL until you see the kid that won’t take a bite of food until someone taps her on the elbow.
And, in particular, most textbooks are very negative. If you read about “moderate mental retardation,” for instance, you would not guess that my brother can use his TiVo better than our mom (including programming events, saving things, and searching the on-screen guide for programs), that he can read enough words and has learned to glean enough information from pictures and their captions to enjoy a book on Walt Disney’s fascination with trains, or that he would be the one in charge of our mom’s heart medication (because he has a better memory for it than she does).
Textbooks don’t tell you everything. In fact, textbooks tell you very little other than generalizations. Generalizations mean nothing, especially in a world as complex as that of kids with special needs.
Jennifer,
I think you may have taught us all a boatload. Sounds to me like you have a real grasp on special-needs needs that we would love to see in most of our kids’ teachers. You certainly sound like you have gone above and beyond that which can be learned in a book….what most of our children and siblings crave.
Care to move to Texas? I know of a good school district that would welcome you….
AJ
AJ –
Thank you, but I’m heat-phobic! (The 117 degree heat wave in So Cal last year about did me in, I must say — and teaching summer school in a room with faulty air conditioning did NOT help.)
Plus, I’m planning to go back to school and become a speech therapist specializing in kids with Down syndrome (which is what I wanted to do all along, but that’s a long story!).
I’ve been heavily involved in my brother’s education all long, but particularly after our father died in 2000 (I was a senior in college; Patrick was in 7th grade).
I was also often his primary caregiver when we were kids as my dad was self-employed and my mom worked for her father’s small company. I remember staying home from school in 5th grade to care for him (he would have been about 2) when our mom was sick.
I suspect myself to be somewhere on the autism spectrum (but when I was little, hyperlexic and poor social skills but verbal and able to hide any repetitive behavior didn’t look like what people thought autism was), and after Patrick was born, reading about educating people with Down syndrome was my “thing” for a while — especially a few books on speech development that have influenced me to this day.
My focus all along has been 2 things: (1) encouraging his interests (who would have thought he’d buy a 400 page non-fiction book about trains?), because, really, math is math and reading is reading, and who cares if you’re doing math because you want to save to buy a monorail model, or if you read a book on Disneyland history, and (2) making him be as independent as possible.
When he was little, we walked to Carl’s Junior every weekend (Hardee’s on the east coast); as soon as he was tall enough, he had to get his own sodas. As soon as he was able to speak clearly enough, he had to order for himself (#1, hamburger absolutely plain, no cheese, no nothing, just the meat and the bun — and believe me, “absolutely” was a mouthful for a kid with multiple articulation issues!), and so forth.
(Of course, knowing kids, I always made these things sound like priveleges, so he’d be excited. “Wow! You’re big enough to push the cart! How lucky!” or “Wow, the parking lot is crowded…how great that you’re old enough now that I can give you $5 to run in and get your bread yourself while I drive around the parking lot!”)
But I’m getting long-winded here.
If anyone wishes to chat more, my email address is spoowriter @ gmail . com
Jennifer, if only more teachers were like you….care to move to Indiana?
I would love to have my son’s teachers come and “live” a little of our life and “take a walk in my shoes” for a week or so, it would be an eye-opening experience for them, I am sure.
If you were to give any advice to a parent who is dealing with a spec ed teacher who thinks she “knows my child” and doesn’t listen to a thing I say about him…what would it be…how could I reach her and get her to pay attention to what I am saying about my son…her ego seems to be big enough for two people.
Having a meeting w/ teachers on Monday to see if we can’t “clear the air” and get everyone working together for the good of the student.
I think both (1) and (2) are important, but a little more of (2) should be an essential part of the curriculum for spec ed teachers…what a difference it could make.
landonsmom –
Do you have access to a video camera? When we offerred to videotape Patrick doing the laundry independently, his high school teachers backed off a bit. (I still believe it was his least productive years in school, so I definitely feel your pain…at one point, they declared we was walking agressively because he was bumping into people – they forgot that he has slow visual processing and essentially no vision in his left eye…*I* would bump into people under those conditions in a croweded high school hallway!).
In any event, his girlfriend’s parents did the same when she was young — she was reading at home and her teachers did not believe her mom…they tried the videotaping thing and it worked well.
The thing about teaching, as a professor of mine once said, is that it’s an art and a science. You can teach the science (prompting methods, ect.) but the art (the gut instinct) is much harder to teach.
Also, and you may not want to hear this, but keep in mind that kids ARE different at home and at school. That doesn’t discount the things YOU know about your child — but it may be that s/he behaves differently at school. Especially if s/he has difficulties in generalization, this could be the problem.
Now, if it really is that the teacher just has an idea in her head about your child, that may be hard to work with short of inviting her to see the presence/absence of whatever behavior or skill you’re disagreeing about. In which case, again, I feel your pain — Patrick’s high school teachers did awful things to my blood pressure!
At last!!!!!!!!!!!!
I worked in the special ed and community health system in Michigan before I had Rebekah as well. I am convinced that I would be 100 times better at my job now. I did have a cousin with Downs syndrome who was severley retarded and when he was born the family was told he would do nothing. Through a lot of training and hard work he is now 23 and has a job where he works on a crew and makes money. He is still living at home but the plan is for him to move into an assisted group home. It is a completely different perspective when you sit in a CSE meeting and you are not on the side of the school.
I have a completely different appreciation on how difficult it is to be the parent where your emotions are involved and it is not just about the programs and getting them through school but taking care of the whole child. As well as the time parents may have to devote to certain activities especially when siblings are involved. There were times when recommendations were made to completely change the home enviroment and I know that the school was not considering anybody but the special ed child and how it would effect them.
I would imagine that special ed teachers would appreciate this insight as well and all colleges should consider this.
I KNOW I’m not speaking about everyone, but many special ed teachers are just there for the paycheck, not that their hearts aren’t in the right place…but it is HARD WORK really changing the lives of kids who take intensive individualization. And many administrators are the WORST, mainly because they are so afraid of being sued. The primary focus then becomes shoving the kids through school without ticking off their parents.
I hate to admit it, but in my work I see many people who justify their attitudes by thinking…why bother? They will not contribute to society, anyhow. My aides told me of teachers who would use the kids to amuse themselves, not having any respect for them as persons.
In some cases I am aware of, it takes a maverick teacher who believes in the kids who will give that kid with CP a way to communicate; who will not give up on that kid with autism, and will respect his boundaries while waiting for clues, I was a maverick teacher, but because I gave all my energy to the kids rather than the other teachers…well…
I may sound bitter, but I’m not. Even though I’ve found a new job, I am proud of what I accomplished. I also planted a seed…
It’s good to see the family’s side, it’s also good to fill the slots with parents/families of handicapped kids so things can move forward at a much faster pace.
We only have a lifetime to change the world…
Good luck, Jennifer!!!!! You believe in yourself, girl!
Wow! I am a regular education teacher who often teaches special education students through inclusion. Raising a special needs child and socializing with other similar families has made a huge difference in my success with these kids. I welcome them without the fear or dislike you’ll see in (too many) teachers. The good side of the story is this: there are more like me out there. You just have to find them or train them.
I think some colleges are getting it about how the students need more field experience before they go out in the real world (it’s not just that way for special ed, either). My husband taught for 37 years at one of our illustrious state u’s where they churn out teachers like mad. They did not do any field work until student teaching. Now they send them out doing (at the very least) observations well before they have any methods classes, and their autism department is supposed to be getting involved with the community and mentoring kids – but not necessarily in their homes, the college is developing programs they can do in the school itself.
Jennifer, you sound like a natural. I’m an autistic adult with most of a teaching degree (I got ridiculously sick and can’t be around kids 5 days a week or else I get sicker. Blah. I miss working in special ed classes…I did autistic support, Life Skills, and Behavior Disorder in college).
Good for you for making some CHANGES. I had the crappy prognosis too (my family buried the report and said dirty words about it)…and I saw other kids with “NO POTENTIAL” stapled to their shirts by doctors or teachers, when the light of “TEACH ME” was shining through their faces. You’re one of the ones who goes to the light.
There is hope! Whew. Now I can feel a touch less guilty about that whole sick all the time thing *lopsided grin*