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Tag Archives: community

3 Simple Ideas: Teachers Check In on Families Staying Home

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by kolubcbad in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

community, Covid-19, education, special education, special needs, teachers

Today as I online and supervised a special education teacher via a Zoom chat, we talked about her ideas and mine for teachers supporting special needs students and their families from behind our computer screens right now.

Note that she is doing a LOT. Families are doing a lot. And many teachers have families too and we’re all a bit swamped. Most of us are trying to practice grace- both giving it and operating from a place of grace ourselves, being easy on ourselves when we don’t finish everything… but it’s still hard. So here are 3 easy ideas that might make a difference. If you’ve done them, GREAT. Just move on. 😊 If you haven’t, it can’t hurt. If you have young children at home you can ask your kid’s teacher for a little guidance on the first 2 and they’ll probably be happy to help you out.

  1. Arrange the environment to help students understand what’s going on. Number 1 is to give parents guidance on “arranging the environment”. Something teachers do before school starts is to arrange the classroom. Ever notice that when you walk in your student’s room, that there are usually separate little areas? There’s an area for work, and it’s where your child learns to sit down and do learning activities. Maybe there’s a little table and chair there, and some baskets for papers or materials. Then there’s an area for breaks, which you can usually notice by its comfortable chair or bean bag or rug, and perhaps some books or games that are just for fun times. If you’re a teacher working with kids at home, ask families if there is a designated area for work, and one for play. Give families some suggestions that are easy and similar to what you do in your classroom. It’s easy but it can go a long way toward normalcy, helping students get ready to do their work, and helping caregivers and parents help their kids get in to the new routine.
  2. Send home important visuals, or give a really quick tutorial on how to create one.  I’ve been surprised by how sometimes therapists and teachers forget that they always have a certain thing on the table that reminds students how to sit, listen, or be a part of the classroom. Maybe you feel it’s not that important at home, or that it’s just more work. But students really thrive when you help their learning behaviors to “generalize”… by putting things in the environment at HOME that they are used to seeing at school. If your school has a simple visual schedule or job aid that reminds students what to do with their eyes, hands, body and mouth while it’s “time to work”, send it home. Parents can even draw one with markers or crayons if they don’t have a printer. Now’s not the time to get too fancy or require too much. In behavior analysis we might call this “programming common stimuli”, when we use a helpful reminder across environments. But it’s just a super simple tool you have that you can give parents during your check-in or start-up session.
  3. Do a check-in with parents/caregivers every time you see the family. Some teachers are having groups with students, which is amazing. You may also be doing quick individual check-ins. A few days ago I wrote about how child abuse and neglect are escalating right now, as families are facing increasing pressures and hardships from all sides, and the typical “reporters” are not seeing the kids in person to make social services calls. (It’s a great time to learn more about what your school can do to help teachers develop a process for this). One simple idea is to have a quick script you go through every time you make contact with a caregiver, especially one of a family you know is always at risk. Put THREE THINGS by your computer: First, put the script by your computer. Second, put a simple datasheet there beside it. (A simple datasheet might include the list of families you contact, dates you ran through the script, and star any families you need to follow up on based on the outcomes of the script. Then when a family answers a question that needs follow up, you can share referrals or make a call to connect them to a resource). Third, put a list of resources and phone numbers related to the script questions. These might need individualization based on your area, but here are some ideas.

Example of using the check-in idea:

Margot is a teacher of special needs kids in elementary school. She writes a script with questions like this: “How are you doing? … What is most concerning to you right now? … Do you have at least one way that you can get a break when you need it? … Are you worried about where you might get food? … Are you feeling ok emotionally or do you need someone to talk to? …  Is there anything your child is doing that you think needs a follow up phone call? …. Is everyone in your family safe right now?”  

Then Margot shared the script with her team and each teacher and paraeducator was assigned one family per day to check in on. The team brainstormed and wrote a list of important phone numbers and websites in the event that a family indicates they need basic assistance like food; they are feeling extra stressed and need a mental health support check-in with a teletherapist; or someone in the household is hurting them and they need to make a phone call to a domestic abuse hotline.

Finally, the team distributed a quick reference sheet with the script on top, a log in the middle, and resources (phone numbers and websites) on the bottom. Each team member recorded the results of their check-ins in case follow up was necessary to help a family they checked on.

That’s it. You can see an example Check-In and Follow Up Log sheet below. Let me know your own ideas and thank you for all your hard work! And just email me if you’d like to obtain an editable version of the sheet.

Dr. Kolu of Cusp Emergence interviewed by Awake Labs

19 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by kolubcbad in adults, Behavior Analysis, children, Community, data, Education, job aids, resources, trauma, trauma-informed behavior analysis, Uncategorized

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Tags

collaboration, community, partners, self-advocates, trauma, trauma-informed behavior analysis, visual tools

This post is part of the series on Trauma-Informed Behavior Analysis by Dr. Camille Kolu, Ph.D., BCBA-D.

TIBA quote

Sometimes you meet someone who does work that you can really get behind. Over the past month, I have enjoyed learning about Awake Labs, a Canadian company providing easy and elegant solutions to self-advocates, families and teams who need to track information, data, and progress in the context of clients’ stories and strengths. Their Reveal Stories are an interesting way to do this. Awake Labs partners with community educators, providers, and medical professionals, offering ways to collect data and graph progress. During our conversations this month, Paul Fijal of Awake Labs also interviewed me about my work with trauma and behavior analysis, posting our interview on their blog. Check it out!  

https://awakelabs.com/

 

Resource Wednesday: Paradigm Behavior, for family-supportive resources beautifully designed by a friendly BCBA

09 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by kolubcbad in Autism, Behavior Analysis, children, Early Intervention, Education, enriched environment, play, resources, Social Interaction, teaching behavior analysis, Uncategorized

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Tags

behavior analysis, children, community, paradigm behavior, parents, play, resources, teaching behavior analysis

At CuspEmergence, we love finding resources or information we can share with our families and community. Imagine our excitement when we discovered this close-to-home resource, an entire website devoted to helping parents become even more amazing at playing, communicating, and connecting with their children! Paradigm Behavior maintains a website and resource library where families can learn, with the support of a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who is a parent herself. Christina posts blogs, resources for supporting play, and online coaching for families interested in developing play skills, language, and more. Paradigm Behavior maintains a well-stocked Playroom, which could teach students and supervisees cutting their teeth in behavior analysts a thing or about connecting with families and using materials in effective ways.

The resources we found were helpful even to seasoned behavior analysts, taking much of the work out of connecting parents with individualized resources that were at once friendly and helpful. We think you’ll love them as much as we do

Check out ParadigmBehavior.com.

Lessons from a Sensory-Friendly Stylist

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by kolubcbad in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

autism, community, haircut, self-help, sensory

ImageIn a word, this stylist notices.

 As I sat in her chair and we talked, we learned about each other. She learned that I worked with persons with autism across the spectrum and across the lifespan. She learned that I was interested in her experiences with her own family members and clients with autism.

 And I started to learn more about “sensory friendly”.

 What does she notice? On one occasion, a client affected by autism sat in her chair. She noticed his hot neck, burning up and red, creeping up from his collar to his ears. She gave him a cool towel. He visibly relaxed and softened into his chair. As she provided more and more ways for him to be comfortable in her chair, the stylist also noticed what he was interested in. She shares his enthusiasm for Star Wars and the two discuss it whenever he gets a haircut. She joined with him in discussing something that interested him, and she “took his mind off” the haircut.

He learned to tolerate haircuts in his chair and now occasionally turns down the cold towel.

How important is it to be “friendly” as a business? Maybe it doesn’t seem like a life-or-death situation.

But as any parent whose child screams bloody murder at the mention of a haircut, or a dentist, knows– it feels like it sometimes. And postponing dental work until a child can be put “completely under” is expensive, and doesn’t teach coping skills for going to the dentist through the lifespan. I know many parents who do their child’s haircut in the basement, where no one can hear the screams, and where the sensory stimulation and its fallout is more controllable.

We’re fortunate in the Boulder and Broomfield area to have several excellent pediatric dentists in our area who practice friendly supportive dentistry. There are “sensory friendly” films, and autism supportive places to eat.

How is it in your area?

If you’re a business, is there a small way you can “be the change” you need in your neighborhood?

Thanks, Felicia at Finishing Touch Spa and Salon! 

 If you’re a community member, can you advocate for those small changes and value them when you see them? (The website myautismteam has a provider list and online family network).

Closing comments

“Sensory” and “Behavior” are both misunderstood concepts, especially when people equate “sensory” or “behavior” to something intrinsically negative, or when people use “sensory” or “behavior” as an explanation for something else. When someone says “he had a behavior” or “it was sensory”, we haven’t explained anything.

Perhaps when a behavior analyst pays attention to how a person interacts with his environment, that behavior analyst is interested in the sensing of stimuli.

Perhaps when a sensory friendly teacher pays attention to how a student is affected by sensory stimulation, that teacher is interested in behavior.

The sensory-friendly stylist paid close attention to how her client’s facial expressions, body rigidity, tenseness, nervousness, fidgeting, breathing, and rapidity or fluidity of speech changed when she modified or provided sensory input.

 In a word, she noticed.

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