The Impact of a Child with Special Needs on a Family

A child with learning difficulties has many obstacles to overcome to succeed. But what affect does a child with a learning disability have on his/her family. The level that it would affect a family would depend on the type and severity of the learning disability. Richard Lavoie, well known for his work with students with Learning Disabilities and the video F.A.T. City, said that the impact of a student with learning difficulties on a family is like the family sleeping on a water bed. When one person moves on a waterbed, it affects everyone on the bed. The difficulties a child is dealing with at school often continue into the home.
When a child is diagnosed with special needs or when parents are informed their child will be born with special needs there is an emotional upheaval that takes place in their life. Researchers tell us that many parents go through a grieving process. Mourning for the “normal” child they had hopes and dreams for, worrying about the child’s success and future. At the same time their mind is accepting the fact that their child has a disability, they are considering the affect it will have on their family. Many have no scope to what extent their lives will be changed, the emotional drain it can have, and dynamics it will change in their family.
This adds stress to the family and can all too often lead to marital issue between the parents. Lavoie even mentioned the parents going through the stages of grieving will not always be at the same stage adding conflict in the home. As parents deal with normal activities the extra needs and care for a child with special needs can stretch already exhausted parents to the breaking point.
The siblings of a child with a disability will have changes in their lives too. The parents will need to spend more time with this child and may inadvertently neglect needs of the other children in the home.
A child with severe special needs can also isolate a family to some extent. The family does not go out or do as many things as they would if their child did not have special needs. Even going to the grocery store can be difficult, with a parent needing someone else to go for them or needing help to go to such a simple place.
This child will also be a blessing. One they love so much, that they do not know what they would do without them. The family wishes that the child did not have to deal with physical, emotional, and social needs. But knowing they cannot change those aspects of their child’s life, they endeavor to finds ways to help the child succeed and cope with their difficulty.

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Are They Ready?

The difficult economic times have had an effect on everyone including Christian schools. Enrollments are down in many Christian schools, teachers have been laid off, and some schools will close. Many parents, who desire for their children to be educated in a school where they can learn more about their Christian faith, are finding that they are no longer able to pay for their children to go to a private school. Where will these children go next year? Many parents say they will home school their children until they can afford to send them back to a Christian school. But other parents are making the hard decision to send their children to public school.

Are the public schools ready? I think that the public schools have not anticipated the large influx of children they will receive who previously went to private schools. There has been much talk of laying off public school teachers and having larger class sizes. But have they thought about the multitude of private school students in the “Bible Belt” area, where a lot of private school abound, that will be going to public schools next year. This influx of students will increase the tax dollars that the schools receive from the government. Will it be enough to prevent teacher lay offs and keep class sizes the same? Only time will tell.

But more importantly, are the children ready? Change is difficult for many children. Not only will they be going to a new school, it will be one where they do not teach about God, some rules and values will be different as will the academics. Some changes will be beneficial for the children, but many parents do not feel they out weigh the negative. Are the children ready spiritually? Will they be able to stand firm in the beliefs that their families and churches have taught them or will they be swayed by peer pressure into making poor choices? These parents will do what they have always done. They will pray for the Lord to take care of their children and give them wisdom to do what is right.

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Photo Story

Using computers in the classroom opens up an exciting avenue of learning. Many teachers use Photo Story 3, a free download from Mircosoft Office: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx . It is colorful and user friendly. It can be adapted to any age level. In Photo Story, students create a story using photos, text, and music. They learn how to research a topic, sequence their story, site a source, and locate pictures while they work on reading, writing, and science or social studies skills. Then they practice oral skills by presenting their project to the class. This is a great resource. It teaches many computer skills while working on academic ones as well. It is a fun and easy way to incorporate technology in the classroom.
This technology was presented in a workshop at the Upstate Technology Conference in SC. I was impressed by the computer skills this first grade teacher was able to teach in her classroom. She has an assistant that comes in when needed and has trained her students how to help each other. By the end of first grade they were able to download the program to their computer, if it had been erased by another class, create Photo Stories by importing pictures and creating text. It was a very interesting session and I look forward to trying Photo Stories with my nephew who has autism and in my classroom next year.

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Sensory Integration

I attended a session at the Upstate Technology Conference in SC on Sensory Integration. The speaker was Kate Beals from the SC Interagency for the Deaf-Blind Project. She is an occupational therapist who was very informative and passionate about her subject. She has a son who deals with sensory issues and understands how difficult this can be for a child.
K. Beals talked about the importance of recognizing the 7 senses: sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, light touch [what we feel on our skin], and deep touch [what we feel in our joints and muscles], head or vestibular sense [the movement and position of the head in space which is sensed in the inner ear]. Children with sensory issues often react negatively to light touch and find relief in deep pressure upon their body which is sensed in deep touch.
She described the central nervous system as sensory in and motor out. We use the 7 senses to learn about our environment. These senses send messages to the brain. The brain sends motor commands out to the body. People who do not have sensory issues are able to focus on the information they need. The brain of someone with sensory problems has trouble filtering out or ignoring excessive stimuli. Being bombarded with the stimuli can agitate a child to the point of inflicting pain on those around him and himself. Beals said a child with sensory issues is only defending themselves against an assault on their senses. If we can minimize the stimulants for these children, we can minimize the resulting negative behavior. Recognizing stimulants that agitate a child and helping the child avoid them or deal with them is crucial.
I found it very interesting when she discussed pain and how to help these children with it. Only one message at a time can flow on the central nervous system to the brain. When a child is experiencing pain from excessive stimuli, deep pressure is often effective in calming the child. The body senses the deep pressure and that message flows to the brain blocking out the pain.
Beals stated that seventy percent of people with learning disabilities have sensory issues. This usually includes children with CHARGE Syndrome, Autism, Aspberger’s Syndrome, and PDD. It can also include children with CP, Down Syndrome, and children who are born prematurely. As teachers, we often have students in our class who are over-responders to stimuli which can result in disruptive behavior or meltdowns. Suggestions for decreasing arousal were predictable routine, quiet environment, deep pressure, firm touch, uncluttered environment, working against resistance-such as carry a box of books, the scents of vanilla or bananas, soft classical music, and responding to the child’s communication attempts.
For more information on this topic Kate Beals welcomes your emails at kbeals@scsdb.org .

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Technology--Native or Immigrant

Are you a native or an immigrant? As the world of technology grows, permeating our environment. My principal asked us to stop and wonder who the natives are and who the immigrants are. The upcoming generation is more literate in technology than their parents and teachers. They speak in a foreign language of wiki, twittering, and skyping. The world is quickly moving from personal interaction with each other to computer emails, texting, blogs, and the internet. It is called the wave of the future and if we do not step on board we will be left behind. Those of us who think we are the natives in our environment of business and schools are beginning to realize we are the immigrants, the ones who do not understand the native culture or language. To truly connect with our students we need to adjust to the culture of our changing environment. We need to step into the world of technology and learn to use it as a tool for learning. A good teacher will always use the best teaching strategies to teach his students. He is constantly looking for ways to get them interested. What better way to get a child interested in a lesson than the avenue most of them excel in, an avenue that they find interesting and fun? Technology. Are you an immigrant or a native?

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Dealing With the Stress of a Test

For some students a test is very stressful. They want to get a good grade, but each time they sit down to take a test, the answers seem elusive or they feel they studied the wrong information. Many students struggle with academic grades. Some students must work very hard to achieve success. Each step toward success is a hard won battle.
As the test gets closer, some students become very upset that the facts they are reviewing will not stay in their brain. Some even become ill at the thought of how they are going to do on the test. What can we do to help? Good help does not start the night before the test. There are several stones we can use in building the road to success. The first one is the most important—the student. Is he/she motivated to try? Does he believe in himself---that he can succeed? The second stone is a support group around the child. Teachers, parents, siblings, and friends can all play a role in helping a child feel like they can achieve success by encouraging them to do their best and believing in them. (A child’s best may not be an “A”, but if they do their best, then it should be labeled as success.)
The teacher’s role in the classroom is enormous. Is she using techniques that engage the student s in learning and help them with learning good study strategies? Good preparation can help with dealing with the stress of taking a test—good notes, recalling activities that were used in teaching the lesson. Also, many teachers give a guide to what will be on the test. A student should use these tools to help them study. Now a student must decide which study process works best for them: making note cards to review, memorizing lists, studying with a friend.
Even when a student uses all these helps, they can still get discouraged. That is when the good support group should step in. They can remind the student of all the good prep work they have done and remind him to believe in himself that he can succeed.
Test day. The room is silent as students scribble furiously on their paper with many of them wondering if their best is going to be good enough to get the grade they desire. Even if the result is not what the student hoped for, it is important to be sure the child is resilient in bouncing back to try again and maybe try a different technique to help him do better next time.

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Should I Medicate My Child?

This question is being asked a lot in homes today. The school nurse has lists of students who are to receive medication at school. But, are we too quick in our society to do the quick fix of taking a pill or is medication something some children really need to succeed in school?
This area is a little murky for parents who struggle with the idea of medicating their children for educational purposes. They see the troubles their child is encountering in school and want to do what is best for them. The decision they make will have a lasting effect on their child and his/her education. It is a weighty responsibility and not one to be taken lightly.
Some of the negative aspects are the side affects of medication and the need for medication to increase in dosage as the child gets older. Some common side effects of Ritalin are headache, nausea, and drowsiness according to http://adhd.emedtv.com/ritalin/ritalin-side-effects.html . Another concern is for students who have a behavior problem, are they being put on medication when discipline would work just as well or better? Some feel the medication is used to drug the child to make them calmer instead of dealing with the behavior problem.
Teachers can tell you they can see a real difference in some students who are on medication. They can tell it really helps the students perform better in class. With other students, some teachers cannot tell a real difference or they feel the medication just drugs the child and makes them too lethargic. This may mean that the medications need to be adjusted up or down depending on the specific student. As teachers, we are not doctors and can only make observations of what we see. Only the child’s physician can recommend to the parents what is best for their child.
I, personally, am on the leery side of medicating students too quickly, especially for a behavior problem. In my classroom, I always encourage parents to try behavior management strategies first. If these do not work then we move on to other alternatives.
The decision, and it is not an easy one to make, is ultimately in the hands of the child’s parents.

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Things We Take For Granted

I recently lost power at my home for the evening and realized, yet again, how much I love having power. It is mind boggling the things we do that require power. I found myself walking into a dark room and flipping the light switch, even though I knew the power was out. I could make a very long list of the things I could not do because I did not have power. It would include everything from cooking supper to taking a hot shower to enjoying air conditioning and light. We use power so much that we do not truly appreciate it until it is gone.
This made me begin thinking of other things we take for granted and do not realize it until they are gone. Transportation came to mind. We run and hop in the car to go somewhere all the time until we are stranded without a vehicle. Jobs are another example, especially in these difficult economic times. We may not always enjoy our job. All of us have had days that we wonder if we should just go home and maybe tomorrow will be better. But, without that job, the bills do not get paid and a once bumpy but happy life is now in great jeopardy. Unfortunately, friends and family may fall on that list of things we take for granted. We do not know what the next day or even the next hour holds for anyone of us, and we should never take our friends or family for granted. Tragedy can strike too quickly and then a loved one is gone, teaching us that every day is important.
Do we take our physical ability for granted? The ability to walk across the room, type a report, hear a bird sing, or see a beautiful rainbow are all certainly things that we often take for granted. My nephew has autism. He has difficulty with processing information, communicating, making friends, going to school. He is not alone. Thousands of children are affected by a disability. How many times do we take for granted the wonderful things the Lord has given to us? I am thankful for the opportunity to learn more about ways to help these children in my classroom.
Take a moment and stop and think. Are there other things we take for granted?

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The Impact of a Teacher

None of us truly know the full impact we will have on a student's life, but we know that we want that impact to be for good. We want to be an encourager, one who explains the material well, one who makes learning easy, and one who inspires a student reach new heights along the path to their full potential.
As we look back on our own lives, only a few teachers stand out and they usually fall into two categories: the teachers who helped us to be a better student and person, and those who made school difficult. What makes these teachers so different? When we think of the teachers we loved being in their classroom, we remember that they cared about us. They showed us this in their words and actions. When we think of teachers who made us hate or dread going into their classroom, we remember the incidents when we were embarrassed, the comments that cut and lingered, and how we felt during those incidents. Just like the teacher stated in the F.A.T. City video that we watched in class, a sarcastic comment we say, we will forget in the next minute, but the student will always remember.
The teacher runs the classroom, sets the atmosphere in the classroom, and can impact lives. The video showed many examples of how a teacher, through carelessness, can negatively impact a student, especially a student with learning disabilities.
Think back to those classrooms whose doors we walked through. Which classrooms did we love and which ones did we dread? Which classroom will my classroom be? The choice is mine. As a teacher, I am the pivotal point in the room and I can have a great impact on a student’s life with my words and actions. I need to be sure that I am careful with both so that I cam impact student’s lives for good.

F.A.T. City Video--processing

I really enjoyed the video. I have seen part of it before, but it is great to see again and again. It is very enlightening and helps you to be more aware of the needs a student with learning disabilities has. I liked the helpful hint the teacher gave to remove anxiety from a class discussion.

The teacher pointed out the difficulty a student with learning disablities has with processing information and how this can add to the tension the student feels as he is trying to process the information given in a class discussion, at the same time, understand a question being asked and being ready to respond with an answer. He suggested taking the student aside privately and discuss the difficulty the student is having in class discussions. Address how the student is afraid the teacher is going to call on him, the students may laugh at him, or the teacher may be upset with him when he is not ready to give an answer. The teacher made an agreement with the student to only ask him questions when he was standing right in front of his desk. This helped to alleviate the tension and anxiety the student was feeling and made him more comfortable in the class, so he could focus on the discussion. The teacher also said this would lead to more confidence in the student and an ability to answer more questions.