You Know You're Teaching an SPD Kiddo When . . .

I still get comments on the "You Know When..." lists of mine, so I thought I would post one for the teachers out there--

All of those men and women who have spent the last few weeks getting to know our darling kiddos as students in their class.

You Know You're Teaching an SPD Kiddo When...(a list for teachers and all of us who watch our kids struggle in school)

1. He chews his pencil, both the eraser and the lead, all day long.

2. He can’t seem to stay seated for over 30 seconds.

3. He constantly wants to get a “drink” but really he is just playing in the sink.

4. During circle time he sits virtually on top of the kid next to him.

5. You have to remind him that he cannot touch the hair of the girl next to him—no matter how cool it looks.

6. You implement Handwriting Without Tears program the first day — because you can’t read anything he writes.

7. He wears the same pair of Soft sweatpants (made to look like jeans) every single day.

8. He is the only one in class standing at his desk.

9. He BLURTS out the answers to every question, and talks all through story time.

10. At recess he climbs on the very TIP TOP of the jungle gym, where he is NOT allow.

11. He spends more time under the table than sitting at it.

12. He lit up when he saw the ball pit in the resource room.

13. He refuses to eat in the cafeteria on “Sloppy Joe Day” because it smells awful.

14. The collar, the sleeves, and a strange place directly in the center of his shirt are all dripping with spit from being chewed on all day.

15. Everyone around him gets a HUGE bear hug, whether they like it or not.

School Starts Successfully!

I can't believe it is finally here.  We finally started school.  All three of them.  And aside from the total logistical nightmare of transporting three kids to three different schools, not to mention the picking them up and being home in time to get the bus chaos, we made it.  We made it!

Gabriel

This is the first year in the history of being Gabe's mom that I am not stressed.  Thank god.  School is just one of those things, that every year, no matter how well laid the plans are, we seem to get off track.  Not this year.  As you all know, Gabriel is at a private therapeutic day school that caters to children of various abilities.  Which means that this year, I don't have to worry about accommodations or IEPs.  I can worry about other things (ha!), like anger management, frustration tolerance, and social skills.  And know that this school, is teaching those things too.  Yay!

Gabe came home the first day covered in something green -- all over his shirt sleeves and up onto his chest.  His nails were caked in something white like clay, and he was grinning ear to ear.  Why?  It was a sience experiment about making the color green.  Then, he quickly announced that he was taking Baking Class!  But, just so you know, they don't start cooking until next week.  I mean, after all, this is the first week of school. 

I also got Gabe back into private speech therapy -- definitely a draw back of his private school is no therapy offerings.  His private speech therapist, (shameless plug), Liz Chapdelaine is amazing.  I can't wait to get him going with some heavy duty speech again. 

Navigating Difficult IEP Meetings Successfully, Interview with author Jeff Cohen

While looking for an expert to speak with about IEP Meetings, I happened upon the book Guns A’Blazing: How Parents of Children on the Autism Spectrum and Schools Can Work Together – Without a Shot Being Fired, by Jeffrey Cohen. I immediately liked the title, because most families I talk with do attend meetings with their ‘guns’ (at least in their holster) – and few are able to actually leave them at home.

So I looked up the author, Jeffrey Cohen, to learn a little more about him, and here’s what his Amazon page said, “Jeffrey Cohen started life as poor street urchin, orphaned and taken in by a gang of pickpockets led by an older man named Fagin. No, wait. That's someone else, entirely.”

And I laughed out loud. Really hard. Which was just refreshing, because you know what, this parenting a special needs kid is HARD – and you all know my motto: If you can’t laugh at my life, you have no sense of humor.

1001 Great Ideas -- Interview & Giveaway with Ellen Notbohm

During the first week of school last year, Nick’s Kindergarten teacher walked up to me, and almost under her breath like we were about to share a secret she said, “Do you know of any good books on how to teach a child with Autism?”

And sheepishly I said, “No.” Quickly followed by, “Not off the top of my head, but let me look into it.”

I was disappointed that I didn’t have a go-to book to recommend. I should have immediately known what to suggest to her – something that would be succinct, easy to understand, quick to read, effortless to implement and even more important – well organized so that she could go back week after week and year after year to look up what she needed.

Well, it took me all school year, but I finally found my go-to book: 1001 Great Ideas for Teaching & Raising Children with Autism or Aspergers by Ellen Notbohm and Veronica Zysk – Not to mention a foreword by Temple Grandin, PhD who says the book is “Genuine, commonsense advice that all parents and educators can quickly and easily use!”

And who argues with Temple Grandin? Surely not me.

I asked Ellen Notbohm, who has also authored 10 Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, 10 Things Your Student With Autism Wishes You Knew and The Autism Trail Guide: Postcards from the Road Less Traveled, if she was available for an interview, and I was thrilled to have her say yes. I mean, really, this is a woman who has 1800 great ideas on how to help my kids – this rates right up there with a new handbag and a kid-free vacation for me!

Now, normally I’d say you should take notes, but with 1800 ideas jam packed into this book, Ellen can’t possibly rattle them all off here (no, really, she can’t). But, good news:  Future Horizons has offered to give away a copy of her book! Look for details on how to win at the bottom of this post – or if you aren’t that patient (like me), hop on over to Future Horizons and buy your own copy now.

Either way, you are in for a treat!

Tribute to My Grandmother

In honor of Mother's Day, I am going to post this tribute I wrote many years ago about my grandmother, my mother's mother, a woman who died when my mother was 11, but who's spirit lives on inside her and me -- and if I am really lucky, my children too.

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Ellinwood Kansas was the heart of the heartland. You could stand on my grandmother’s porch and see miles of wheat fields rolling over gently sloping hills. Ellinwood is as small as it gets; no one locks their doors, they leave their keys in their cars and you will see children playing outside long after dark. When I visited Ellinwood in the summers of my childhood, I was in awe of their Harvest Festival and amazed by the number of people who stopped me in the street to ask me if I was a “Herter”. Generations of my family grew up in that small town, and still live there today, but it was the one woman from Ellinwood that I never met who's memory inspires my advocacy even today.