For the last week, I have been blogging about Dr. Ross Greene and his
approach to handling challenging kids. His focus has been on lagging skills,
and unsolved problems occur when those skills are outstripped by the demands of
the environment. Problems are solved when the adults and kids look at the
skills that are lagging and come up with solutions together. It has been an eye
opener because as I revisit and write about what I've learned, I have come to
realize it's not much different than what happens inside these
walls.
Bridgeway has been focusing on skills deficits when it
comes to behaviour for years. When there is a behaviour issue at our
school, students are asked to see our behaviour specialist. They sit together,
discuss the situation and work together to come up with solutions. Over time,
behaviours start to become less frequent.
But the focus on
skills doesn't stop at the behaviour room. Because all of our students have
learning disabilities, they all have skill deficits, whether it's in math,
reading, social skills or behaviour. Every teacher and staff member focuses on
the student and the skills that she/he may be lacking. Reading classes teach
the child at the skill level they're at, and work to build those skills. Social
skills classes help children learn the skills that they haven't developed
because of where they are in their cognitive development. Teachers in
curriculum know what skills deficits each child is facing, and adapts their
teaching to accomodate.
How do we know where to start? Each of
our students comes to us with a psycho-educational assessment, which is a
professional measure of their skill deficits (and strengths) done by a
psychologist. We do some additional testing so we can develop just the right
balance of support of skills and use of strengths in a student's individual
program. We keep working with a skills focus until kids start to learn - and
succeed! It's a pretty amazing thing.
Of course, skills development can benefit any child, not just the ones inside Bridgeway. That's why we started Turning Tides Community Outreach. Through this program, we can offer social skills supports to children and youth in the community through after school or summer camp programs. We can also offer academic and organizational skills suppots to children and adults through our tutoring programs. And we can help parents and teachers support those new skills by providing them with training. For more information on how we might be able to help you or your family, contact the Turning Tides office at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
Rhonda
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Plan B - Or solving unsolved problems together
Finally, we're at the meat of Dr. Greene's presentation - helping challenging kids to be less challenging. I'm sorry to have
been so long-winded on this one, but wanted to share the information I have
learned. I'm going to tie Dr. Greene's approach to Bridgeway and Turning Tide's approach soon,
but first I wanted to get into some detail on Plan B. I can't cover it all, so
if you're interested in learning more, please check out Dr. Greene's website or pick up
his books - The Explosive Child and Lost at
School.
Rhonda
Plan B is the collaborative problem solving approach I mentioned a few days ago, and is the recommended approach to helping a challenging child with lagging skills. This approach makes the child a fully-invested participant, solutions are more durable, and (over time), the child - and often the adult - learn the skills they were lacking all along.
A quick note now on when the best time to start this process would be. It's not in the middle of a heated moment, which would be reactive intervention. Plan C might be a better approach in those moments. Instead, Plan B is most effective when it's done proactively, or when things are calm.
There are three basic steps in the Plan B process, with the first being the Empathy step. The goal is to gather as much information as you can to get the clearest possible understanding of the kid's concern or perspective on a given unsolved problem. Ask the child what they're being bugged about or getting in trouble for - those are the unsolved problems! Stay neutral, but get specific - when, where, with whom, etc.
Now kids aren't always going to open up, and Dr. Greene has some suggestions for drilling for information. I won't get into the details here, but he has some terrific "How To" videos on his site. You can see those here. He also has a Plan B Cheat Sheet worth checking out too.
So once the information is gathered, it's time for the next step - Define the Problem. The goal of this step is to ensure the adult's concern or perspective is entered into consideration. The definition of the problem at this stage is - two concerns that have yet to be reconciled. This is tough because as adults, we usually want to skip this part and go straight to solutions. Kids tend to do the same thing, triggering what's called dueling solutions - also known as a power struggle. You can't start thinking about solutions until the concerns of both parties are clarified.
The third and final step is The Invitation Step. The goal here is to brainstorm solutions that will address the concerns of both parties. It's called the invitation step because the adult is inviting the child to solve the problem together. You want to address the concerns of both parties, and offer the child an opportunity to propose solutions. Remember, you're not a genius - you don't know how the problem will be solved.
Solutions should be realistic and mutally satisfactory. It will take time, and it's hard! Don't forget, the aim isn't to determine what happens in the heat of the moment, but solve the problem so the heat of the moment doesn't occur at all.
So that's it! There is a lot more detail available in Dr. Green's books or his website, and if this feels like something you'd like to try, I'd encourage you do check it out. But you will need bravery, persistence and continuity. As Dr. Greene says, you'll need practice, and the process is incremental.
Good luck!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
Plan B is the collaborative problem solving approach I mentioned a few days ago, and is the recommended approach to helping a challenging child with lagging skills. This approach makes the child a fully-invested participant, solutions are more durable, and (over time), the child - and often the adult - learn the skills they were lacking all along.
A quick note now on when the best time to start this process would be. It's not in the middle of a heated moment, which would be reactive intervention. Plan C might be a better approach in those moments. Instead, Plan B is most effective when it's done proactively, or when things are calm.
There are three basic steps in the Plan B process, with the first being the Empathy step. The goal is to gather as much information as you can to get the clearest possible understanding of the kid's concern or perspective on a given unsolved problem. Ask the child what they're being bugged about or getting in trouble for - those are the unsolved problems! Stay neutral, but get specific - when, where, with whom, etc.
Now kids aren't always going to open up, and Dr. Greene has some suggestions for drilling for information. I won't get into the details here, but he has some terrific "How To" videos on his site. You can see those here. He also has a Plan B Cheat Sheet worth checking out too.
So once the information is gathered, it's time for the next step - Define the Problem. The goal of this step is to ensure the adult's concern or perspective is entered into consideration. The definition of the problem at this stage is - two concerns that have yet to be reconciled. This is tough because as adults, we usually want to skip this part and go straight to solutions. Kids tend to do the same thing, triggering what's called dueling solutions - also known as a power struggle. You can't start thinking about solutions until the concerns of both parties are clarified.
The third and final step is The Invitation Step. The goal here is to brainstorm solutions that will address the concerns of both parties. It's called the invitation step because the adult is inviting the child to solve the problem together. You want to address the concerns of both parties, and offer the child an opportunity to propose solutions. Remember, you're not a genius - you don't know how the problem will be solved.
Solutions should be realistic and mutally satisfactory. It will take time, and it's hard! Don't forget, the aim isn't to determine what happens in the heat of the moment, but solve the problem so the heat of the moment doesn't occur at all.
So that's it! There is a lot more detail available in Dr. Green's books or his website, and if this feels like something you'd like to try, I'd encourage you do check it out. But you will need bravery, persistence and continuity. As Dr. Greene says, you'll need practice, and the process is incremental.
Good luck!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Monday 12 December 2011
So what skills should we be focusing on?
So we've figured out that lagging skills are behind challenging behaviours,
and they emerge when the demands in the environment outstrip the skills a child
has (aka, The Unsolved Problem). We can't move on to coming up with solutions
until we figure out what skills might need support. How to do that? Dr. Greene
has a solution. Read on for more info.
Rhonda
To help us figure out what lagging skills we might be dealing with, Dr. Greene has developed a one-page assessment tool he swears we can all use - the ALSUP, or Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems. It's a list of lagging skills and unsolved problems. Where do you get your hands on one? Right here. Dr. Green has made this tool and several others available on his website www.livesinthebalance.com. I would definitely encourage you to go to the site and explore - after you're finished reading this blog, of course!
So why fill out the ALSUP? It's to engage us (the adults) in a conversation, and helps us focus on the things we can actually do something about. Dr. Greene suggests that the goal is to have a meaningful discussion about the degree to which each lagging skill applies to a particular child. If you identify a lagging skill, the next step is to identify examples of when you're seeing it (the unsolved problems, which are conditions in which behaviours are occuring) and the degree to which it's occuring.
Once that conversation has taken place, you can then move on to finding new ways to handling unsolved problems. Dr. Greene identifies three options - Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.
I'll start with Plan A. This is the imposition of adult will, and you're doing it if you're saying "No," or "You can't" or if you're insisting tasks are completed, or you're taking away things like TV time until something is done. This is pretty common, and won't generally set the stage for challenging behaviour in an ordinary kid. However, Plan A is not the preferred approach for challenging kids, despite the name. In fact, it's more likely to cause an explosion. Why is that? Because as Dr. Greene points out, challenging kids don't have a Plan A brain. If the child doesn't have the skills to handle Plan A, you've placed a cognitive demand on him that outstrips his capacity to respond appropriately. Plan A doesn't usually help to get the homework or other tasks done, and isn't helping the child to be more flexible, tolerate frustration more adaptively or solve problems more effectively. It just sets the stage for more explosions. The common sense solution - if Plan A isn't working, stop using it.
I'm going to skip Plan B for a moment and go straight to Plan C. That's when you drop expectations completely, at least temporarily. This isn't the same as giving in. That's when you start with Plan A and throw your hands up in frustration. With Plan C, you're intentionally and proactively decided to drop a given expectation, either because it's unrealiztic or you have other higher-priority expectations to pursue. This can be really hard, but if you're not dealing with the explosions, you can start working on development of other skills. Which leads us to...
Plan B! This is the plan Dr. Greene refers to Collaborative Problem Solving. It's fairly detailed, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you wait one more day for more info!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
To help us figure out what lagging skills we might be dealing with, Dr. Greene has developed a one-page assessment tool he swears we can all use - the ALSUP, or Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems. It's a list of lagging skills and unsolved problems. Where do you get your hands on one? Right here. Dr. Green has made this tool and several others available on his website www.livesinthebalance.com. I would definitely encourage you to go to the site and explore - after you're finished reading this blog, of course!
So why fill out the ALSUP? It's to engage us (the adults) in a conversation, and helps us focus on the things we can actually do something about. Dr. Greene suggests that the goal is to have a meaningful discussion about the degree to which each lagging skill applies to a particular child. If you identify a lagging skill, the next step is to identify examples of when you're seeing it (the unsolved problems, which are conditions in which behaviours are occuring) and the degree to which it's occuring.
Once that conversation has taken place, you can then move on to finding new ways to handling unsolved problems. Dr. Greene identifies three options - Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.
I'll start with Plan A. This is the imposition of adult will, and you're doing it if you're saying "No," or "You can't" or if you're insisting tasks are completed, or you're taking away things like TV time until something is done. This is pretty common, and won't generally set the stage for challenging behaviour in an ordinary kid. However, Plan A is not the preferred approach for challenging kids, despite the name. In fact, it's more likely to cause an explosion. Why is that? Because as Dr. Greene points out, challenging kids don't have a Plan A brain. If the child doesn't have the skills to handle Plan A, you've placed a cognitive demand on him that outstrips his capacity to respond appropriately. Plan A doesn't usually help to get the homework or other tasks done, and isn't helping the child to be more flexible, tolerate frustration more adaptively or solve problems more effectively. It just sets the stage for more explosions. The common sense solution - if Plan A isn't working, stop using it.
I'm going to skip Plan B for a moment and go straight to Plan C. That's when you drop expectations completely, at least temporarily. This isn't the same as giving in. That's when you start with Plan A and throw your hands up in frustration. With Plan C, you're intentionally and proactively decided to drop a given expectation, either because it's unrealiztic or you have other higher-priority expectations to pursue. This can be really hard, but if you're not dealing with the explosions, you can start working on development of other skills. Which leads us to...
Plan B! This is the plan Dr. Greene refers to Collaborative Problem Solving. It's fairly detailed, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you wait one more day for more info!
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Sunday 11 December 2011
Don't blame the parents - or the kids!
There was a time when challenging behaviour in children was linked to poor
parenting. There was a belief that behaviours due to passive, permissive,
inconsistent or non-contingent parenting (no consequences). In other words,
because of poor parenting, kids learned that challenging behaviour is an
effective means of getting something, or escaping or avoiding something. But
now that we know that challenging behaviours happen when the cognitive demands
being placed on the child outstrip his/her capacity to respond adaptively, we
know that our parenting isn't to blame. Finally, one less thing to feel guilty
about!
So now that we know why, what should we do about it? Here's a little bit more context and Dr. Ross Greene's solution - Collaborative Problem Solving.
RhondaSo we've figured out that lagging cognitive skills are the root of challenging behaviours, and challenging behaviours emerge when the lack of skills clashes with the demands of the environment. If the skills are there - no behaviour. If the skills aren't there, but there's no demand either - no behaviour. No skills and demand - challenging behaviour. That's pretty straightforward. But how do we fix it? That's the question that had me squirming in my seat at last week's presentation by Dr. Greene.
But he had a bit more information to share first. (And yes, it's another mantra!) Incompatibility episodes cannot be viewed outside the context of development. The goal of intervention is to move development forward. Cognitive skills don't develop equally - we have neuroscience to prove it - but they can be developed with intervention. But we have to start where the child is now to get to the endpoint. (In other words, it's not the child's fault their brain developed differently!)
OK, we're almost ready for the how, but not quite yet. Let's answer the last question - the one I mentioned wasn't as important as the rest - What do challenging kids do when they're challenging? Basically, there are a variety of challenging behaviours when the clash of forces occurs, distinguished primarly by their severity. That could be anything from whining and sulking to head banging, cutting, or suicide - and everything in between. All the things humans do in response to unsolved problems. Dr. Greene calls those behaviours The Spectrum of Looking Bad. We all look bad when our skills are outstripped by the demand placed upon us, it's just a matter of degree. Don't forget - the behaviour itself is less important than the reasons for the behaviour.
OK, so the how. I can't explain it all today (yep, you guessed it, another blog posting is coming your way!). Dr. Greene calls his approach to helping challenging kids collaborative problem solving. Sounds straightforward - working together to solve problems. But it's a little more detailed than that, and relies on the adults to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach. Details tomorrow, but here are the general goals of the approach:
Lenses come first
- make sure that caregivers understand why incompatibility episodes occur (lagging skills and demand for those skills).
Get organized
- identify the specific situations in which incompatibility episodes occur (unsolved problems)
- create mechanisms for communication, continuity and proactive intervention.
Get busy
- solve problems and teach skills,
Tomorrow, a bit more info on assessing lagging skills and unsolved problems.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
So now that we know why, what should we do about it? Here's a little bit more context and Dr. Ross Greene's solution - Collaborative Problem Solving.
RhondaSo we've figured out that lagging cognitive skills are the root of challenging behaviours, and challenging behaviours emerge when the lack of skills clashes with the demands of the environment. If the skills are there - no behaviour. If the skills aren't there, but there's no demand either - no behaviour. No skills and demand - challenging behaviour. That's pretty straightforward. But how do we fix it? That's the question that had me squirming in my seat at last week's presentation by Dr. Greene.
But he had a bit more information to share first. (And yes, it's another mantra!) Incompatibility episodes cannot be viewed outside the context of development. The goal of intervention is to move development forward. Cognitive skills don't develop equally - we have neuroscience to prove it - but they can be developed with intervention. But we have to start where the child is now to get to the endpoint. (In other words, it's not the child's fault their brain developed differently!)
OK, we're almost ready for the how, but not quite yet. Let's answer the last question - the one I mentioned wasn't as important as the rest - What do challenging kids do when they're challenging? Basically, there are a variety of challenging behaviours when the clash of forces occurs, distinguished primarly by their severity. That could be anything from whining and sulking to head banging, cutting, or suicide - and everything in between. All the things humans do in response to unsolved problems. Dr. Greene calls those behaviours The Spectrum of Looking Bad. We all look bad when our skills are outstripped by the demand placed upon us, it's just a matter of degree. Don't forget - the behaviour itself is less important than the reasons for the behaviour.
OK, so the how. I can't explain it all today (yep, you guessed it, another blog posting is coming your way!). Dr. Greene calls his approach to helping challenging kids collaborative problem solving. Sounds straightforward - working together to solve problems. But it's a little more detailed than that, and relies on the adults to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach. Details tomorrow, but here are the general goals of the approach:
Lenses come first
- make sure that caregivers understand why incompatibility episodes occur (lagging skills and demand for those skills).
Get organized
- identify the specific situations in which incompatibility episodes occur (unsolved problems)
- create mechanisms for communication, continuity and proactive intervention.
Get busy
- solve problems and teach skills,
Tomorrow, a bit more info on assessing lagging skills and unsolved problems.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Saturday 10 December 2011
The clash of two forces - Or when challenging kids are challenging
So are you starting to get the feeling that I really like Dr. Green and his
philosophies? It's common sense, but often hard for us to see when a child is
melting down in front of us. A little understanding definitely goes a long way,
so I'll be sharing Dr. Greene's wisdom for at least a few more
days.
Rhonda
So have you noticed that challenging kids aren't always challenging? They can work and cope in certain situations, but others will set off the negative behaviours. Why is that?
The answer, according to Dr. Greene, is "The Clash of Two Forces." Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? It's not really, just a bit of common sense:
Challenging episodes occur when the cognitive demands being placed upon a person outstrip the person's capacity to respond adaptively.
That's it. I'm sure we've all had moments when the circumstances we're in lead us to think, "I can't handle this." We're recognizing that we may not have the skills to do what we need to do.
Dr. Greene calls the "when" of challenging behaviour The Unsolved Problem. He defines unsolved problems as, the specific conditions in which the demands being placed upon a person exceed the person's capacity to respond adaptively. I'm not going to swim across the Halifax Harbour because I don't have the swimming skills and stamina to do it. Why should we expect a child with no emotional regulation skills to keep it together when they're feeling disappointed?
That leads us to another mantra - Behind every compatibility episode is a lagging skill and a demand for that skill (an unsolved problem).
When we're presented with an unsolved problem, we solve it. It's no different for challenging behaviours. That's the third question Dr. Greene presents (remember the list I shared a few days ago?) - What are we going to do differently now that we know why challenging kids are challenging? We'll get to that answer over the next few days.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
So have you noticed that challenging kids aren't always challenging? They can work and cope in certain situations, but others will set off the negative behaviours. Why is that?
The answer, according to Dr. Greene, is "The Clash of Two Forces." Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? It's not really, just a bit of common sense:
Challenging episodes occur when the cognitive demands being placed upon a person outstrip the person's capacity to respond adaptively.
That's it. I'm sure we've all had moments when the circumstances we're in lead us to think, "I can't handle this." We're recognizing that we may not have the skills to do what we need to do.
Dr. Greene calls the "when" of challenging behaviour The Unsolved Problem. He defines unsolved problems as, the specific conditions in which the demands being placed upon a person exceed the person's capacity to respond adaptively. I'm not going to swim across the Halifax Harbour because I don't have the swimming skills and stamina to do it. Why should we expect a child with no emotional regulation skills to keep it together when they're feeling disappointed?
That leads us to another mantra - Behind every compatibility episode is a lagging skill and a demand for that skill (an unsolved problem).
When we're presented with an unsolved problem, we solve it. It's no different for challenging behaviours. That's the third question Dr. Greene presents (remember the list I shared a few days ago?) - What are we going to do differently now that we know why challenging kids are challenging? We'll get to that answer over the next few days.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Friday 9 December 2011
Kids do well if they can
The mantra - kids do well if they can - is one that I have been repeating to
myself over the last several weeks. The idea that even challening kids have this
innate desire to do well, rather falling into behaviours because they don't want
to do well, is so refreshing. But what is getting in the way? Again, some
advice from Dr. Greene...
Rhonda
Why are challenging kids challenging? You could look to a clinical diagnosis for the explanation - oppositional definance disorder, ADHD, bipolar, etc. - but it doesn't really answer the question. If we start with Dr. Greene's statement - kids do well if they can - it can help us look at a challenging child a different way.
The first step in the process is to stop focusing on the diagnosis and start focusing on the skills the child is lacking. Maybe they are impulsive, have difficulty considering the impact of their actions, or struggle with planning and problem solving. Maybe the behaviour is not because they don't have the motivation, but because they don't have the skills to deal with certain situations.
Imagine if you were trying to succeed at work but didn't have the skills to do what you needed to do. Would you be on time for work every day if you had no sense of time? Could you take on that big project if you didn't have problem solving or planning skills? How would you feel if you tried, over and over again, to get job tasks like these like this done, but kept failing - and getting in trouble for it?
Before we can get to the bottom of what is making any child so challenging, Dr. Greene suggests we must answer the following questions:
Challenging kids are challenging because they're lacking the skills not to be challenging...they are delayed in the development of crucial cognitive skills - often including flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving. Challenging behaviour communicates that the kid doesn't have the skills to respond to problems more adaptively.
So you can see why discipline and punishment doesn't work - it's not addressing the root of the problem. In fact, it's probably making it worse.
How can we help? We don't know that until we can get through the rest of the questions Dr. Greene has laid out. Tomorrow's blog - when are challenging kids challenging?
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Rhonda
Why are challenging kids challenging? You could look to a clinical diagnosis for the explanation - oppositional definance disorder, ADHD, bipolar, etc. - but it doesn't really answer the question. If we start with Dr. Greene's statement - kids do well if they can - it can help us look at a challenging child a different way.
The first step in the process is to stop focusing on the diagnosis and start focusing on the skills the child is lacking. Maybe they are impulsive, have difficulty considering the impact of their actions, or struggle with planning and problem solving. Maybe the behaviour is not because they don't have the motivation, but because they don't have the skills to deal with certain situations.
Imagine if you were trying to succeed at work but didn't have the skills to do what you needed to do. Would you be on time for work every day if you had no sense of time? Could you take on that big project if you didn't have problem solving or planning skills? How would you feel if you tried, over and over again, to get job tasks like these like this done, but kept failing - and getting in trouble for it?
Before we can get to the bottom of what is making any child so challenging, Dr. Greene suggests we must answer the following questions:
- Why are challenging kids so challenging?
- When are challenging kids challenging?
- What are we going to do differently now that we know why challenging kids are challenging?
- What do challenging kids do when they're challenging?
Challenging kids are challenging because they're lacking the skills not to be challenging...they are delayed in the development of crucial cognitive skills - often including flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving. Challenging behaviour communicates that the kid doesn't have the skills to respond to problems more adaptively.
So you can see why discipline and punishment doesn't work - it's not addressing the root of the problem. In fact, it's probably making it worse.
How can we help? We don't know that until we can get through the rest of the questions Dr. Greene has laid out. Tomorrow's blog - when are challenging kids challenging?
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Dealing with Challenging kids - Thank you Dr. Greene
For the next few days, we'll be featuring a guest blog by Rhonda Brown, Director of Communications at our sister organization, Bridgeway Academy. She attended a full-day presentation last month in Halifax by Dr. Ross Green, child psychologist and author of "The Explosive Child" and "Lost at School." She'll share her thoughts on what she learned here in the blog. You can also read about his philosophies on his website - www.livesinthebalance.org.
Enjoy!
By Rhonda Brown
I have always believed that kids who misbehave, disengage, drop out, or otherwise resist being successful in school are dealing with something more than a lack of interest, laziness or a failure to try. They actually lack the skills they need to be successful. It's a philosophy that Bridgeway shares, and that's why we focus on skill development (academic, social and behavioural) with our students. Dr. Greene shares this point of view - and has the neuroscience to back it up!
But don't take it from me. I'll have Dr. Greene explain in his own words, which are from the very first paragraph of his book, "Lost at School".
The wasted human potential is tragic. In so many schools, kids with social, emotional, and behavioural challenges are still poorly understood and treated in a way that is completely at odds with what is now known about how they came to be challenging in the first place. The frustration and desperation felt by teachers and parents is palpable. Many teachers continue to experience enormous stress related to classroom behaviour problems and from dealing with parents, and do not receive the support they need to help their challenging students. Half of teachers leave the profession within their first four years, and kids with behavioural challenges and their parents are cited as one of the major reasons. Parents know there's trouble at school, know they're being blamed, feel their kids are misunderstood and mistreated, but feel powerless to make things better and are discouraged and put off by their interactions with school personnel.
Dr. Greene goes on to talk about how our school discipline models are broken, and getting tougher with kids isn't working. He cites some amazing statistics - zero tolerance polices designed to make schools safer or offer a more effective way of dealing with behaviour have actually increased behaviour and dropout rates. But schools continue to hand out expulsions and suspensions - 110,000 and 3 million respectively each year in the US.
But what Dr. Greene made clear is that it doesn't have to be this way. Here again are his words:
"I interact with hundreds of challenging kids every year. These kids would like nothing better than to be able to handle the social, emotional, and behavioural challenges being placed on them at school and in life, but they can't seem to pull it off. Many have been getting into trouble for so long that they've lost faith that any adult will ever know how to help them.
Dr. Greene gave us a few key mantras during his presentation on Thursday. Here's the first: Kids do well if they can. It's up to us as adults to figure out why so we can help.
Tomorrow, I'll share some of Dr. Greene's advice on what each of us dealing with a challenging child needs to figure out before we can help.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Enjoy!
By Rhonda Brown
I have always believed that kids who misbehave, disengage, drop out, or otherwise resist being successful in school are dealing with something more than a lack of interest, laziness or a failure to try. They actually lack the skills they need to be successful. It's a philosophy that Bridgeway shares, and that's why we focus on skill development (academic, social and behavioural) with our students. Dr. Greene shares this point of view - and has the neuroscience to back it up!
But don't take it from me. I'll have Dr. Greene explain in his own words, which are from the very first paragraph of his book, "Lost at School".
The wasted human potential is tragic. In so many schools, kids with social, emotional, and behavioural challenges are still poorly understood and treated in a way that is completely at odds with what is now known about how they came to be challenging in the first place. The frustration and desperation felt by teachers and parents is palpable. Many teachers continue to experience enormous stress related to classroom behaviour problems and from dealing with parents, and do not receive the support they need to help their challenging students. Half of teachers leave the profession within their first four years, and kids with behavioural challenges and their parents are cited as one of the major reasons. Parents know there's trouble at school, know they're being blamed, feel their kids are misunderstood and mistreated, but feel powerless to make things better and are discouraged and put off by their interactions with school personnel.
Dr. Greene goes on to talk about how our school discipline models are broken, and getting tougher with kids isn't working. He cites some amazing statistics - zero tolerance polices designed to make schools safer or offer a more effective way of dealing with behaviour have actually increased behaviour and dropout rates. But schools continue to hand out expulsions and suspensions - 110,000 and 3 million respectively each year in the US.
But what Dr. Greene made clear is that it doesn't have to be this way. Here again are his words:
"I interact with hundreds of challenging kids every year. These kids would like nothing better than to be able to handle the social, emotional, and behavioural challenges being placed on them at school and in life, but they can't seem to pull it off. Many have been getting into trouble for so long that they've lost faith that any adult will ever know how to help them.
Dr. Greene gave us a few key mantras during his presentation on Thursday. Here's the first: Kids do well if they can. It's up to us as adults to figure out why so we can help.
Tomorrow, I'll share some of Dr. Greene's advice on what each of us dealing with a challenging child needs to figure out before we can help.
If you would like more information on skills programs at Bridgeway and Turning Tides Community Outreach please visit our websites or contact us. You can reach Bridgeway at 902-465-4800 and Turning Tides at 904-404-TIDE (8433). You can also email Rebecca at rebecca@turningtides.ca.
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Bill Strickland - Hope & Possibility
Bill Strickland believes in hope and possibility. He believes that the impossible can be made possible. Officially, he is a "nationally recognized as a visionary leader who authentically delivers educational and cultural opportunities to students and adults within an organizational culture that fosters innovation, creativity, responsibility and integrity." He has created an arts, education and job-training program in Pittsburg, which he hopes to replicate around the world.
Bill Strickland will bring his vision to Halifax this spring as one of the keynote speakers at Emergent Learning: Turning Tides in 21st Century Education. Before he gets here, we'll explore his ideas, his books and his success stories on our blog. Here's a terrific introduction as Bill speaks about his story and the story of Manchester Bidwell Corporation. Enjoy!
Bill Strickland will bring his vision to Halifax this spring as one of the keynote speakers at Emergent Learning: Turning Tides in 21st Century Education. Before he gets here, we'll explore his ideas, his books and his success stories on our blog. Here's a terrific introduction as Bill speaks about his story and the story of Manchester Bidwell Corporation. Enjoy!
Monday 28 November 2011
Should my child have a tutor?
By Angela
Rudderham, Director of Turning Tides Community Outreach
Every parent wants their child to succeed in school and have a future full of opportunities and possibilities. We send them to school each day with all their supplies and a balanced lunch and trust that our educators will work to develop our child’s true potential and foster in them a desire to learn.
Unfortunately, not every child’s true potential is unlocked from simply attending school.
The right tutoring service will be able to match your child’s needs with the right program. They should understand the importance of rappot building between the student and the tutor. The tutor should be willing to work with your child’s teacher, provide regular updates and reports and improvements should be noticed after a few months. Be wary of services that will not let you observe or listen in on sessions at least once or have no way to measure the acquisition of new skills.
There is little doubt that anyone can benefit from tutoring. Do your homework and shop around. Ask questions and compare services and prices until you find the right fit.
Angela is a behaviour and social skills specialist who has developed programs for students, as well as support workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals. Turning Tides Community Outreach offers tutoring services to meet the academic, social, behavioural and organizatonal needs of any child. For more information or advice, please give Angela a call at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
Every parent wants their child to succeed in school and have a future full of opportunities and possibilities. We send them to school each day with all their supplies and a balanced lunch and trust that our educators will work to develop our child’s true potential and foster in them a desire to learn.
Unfortunately, not every child’s true potential is unlocked from simply attending school.
In fact, 15-year-olds in Nova Scotia scored
statistically lower than the Canadian average according to Statistics Canada
Labour Force Survey 2006. Math scores in Nova Scotia were some of the country’s
lowest as found in Measuring up: Canadian Results of the OECD PISA Study Ottawa, Statistics
Canada, 2007. Literacy was the lowest in the country and the dropout rate
was 8.6% says Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey 2010. Only 28% of students
from Nova Scotia will go on to university and 8% will go on to a college or
trade education (Labour force survey 2006).
All of this evidence tells us our children will most likely need other supports to ensure their success. The question is, when is additional support necessary?
All of this evidence tells us our children will most likely need other supports to ensure their success. The question is, when is additional support necessary?
You may want to consider tutoring if:
Your child still needs help mastering basic skills. Teachers will move
forward whether your child has mastered the skill or not. If basic skills are
not mastered than the student will struggle when relying on them to solve more
complex problems. These skills need to be re- taught until mastered.
Your child struggles with organization, working independently or lacks
study skills. Often the brightest students who learn quickly may lack
organizational skills or become overwhelmed when faced with a testing
situation. Anyone can benefit from learning how to organize notes, break down
large assignments, meet due dates or discover how they best take in
information.
Your child has a learning disability. This will interfere with the learning
process in areas such as the intake, storage, processing, retrieval and/or
output of information. A tutoring service that has extensive experience and
training in helping students with learning disabilities should be able to show
the student how they learn best and provide strategies for independent success.
Your child is struggling with big life changes. A move, divorce, new school,
family issues can all contribute to your child being distracted from their
school work. Working closely with a tutor will ensure a smoother transition.
Your child struggles with behavioral, social or emotional needs. Often these needs can
contribute to missed instruction time. A tutor with experience working with
students who have had similar needs will often have a large tool box of
strategies to draw from to keep your child engaged and on track.
Your child has missed a lot of school due to medical or other reasons. A tutor can go back and teach what was missed and help the student
gain back the confidence that they may have lost. They can also work around the
student’s schedule.
You want to give your child the competitive edge to get ahead. There is always room for
improvement. Striving to do our personal best is an excellent habit to develop
at any age.
Your child needs homework support. Parents, homework and the
student can sometimes be an unpleasant combination to say the least. In most
homes both parents are working or have other major responsibilities and there
just isn’t time to give your child the homework support they need without it
taking on a rushed or negative tone. Let someone else be the “bad “guy and save
your parent/ child time for the important stuff like hugs and kisses.
The right tutoring service will be able to match your child’s needs with the right program. They should understand the importance of rappot building between the student and the tutor. The tutor should be willing to work with your child’s teacher, provide regular updates and reports and improvements should be noticed after a few months. Be wary of services that will not let you observe or listen in on sessions at least once or have no way to measure the acquisition of new skills.
There is little doubt that anyone can benefit from tutoring. Do your homework and shop around. Ask questions and compare services and prices until you find the right fit.
Angela is a behaviour and social skills specialist who has developed programs for students, as well as support workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals. Turning Tides Community Outreach offers tutoring services to meet the academic, social, behavioural and organizatonal needs of any child. For more information or advice, please give Angela a call at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
Monday 14 November 2011
Do you know the signs a child may be struggling with a Learning Disability?
By
Angela .E. Rudderham
A very intelligent person can have
a glitch in one or more of these areas. When trying to identify whether a child
may have a learning disability leave intelligence out of the indicators and
think about the following.
A recent study called, “Putting a Face on
Learning Disabilities”, used Statistics Canada survey data and focus groups
with adults and children with learning disabilities, as well as with parents of
children with learning disabilities. The results are that undiagnosed learning
disabilities often lead to long-lasting psychological harm.
Without intervention, support or accommodations children are less likely to succeed in school, and adults less likely to graduate or be employed, and more likely to report suicidal thoughts, depression, or anxiety. When you have a learning disability it is not just a matter of “trying harder” - further intervention is necessary for the student to learn what he will need to achieve success.
Without intervention, support or accommodations children are less likely to succeed in school, and adults less likely to graduate or be employed, and more likely to report suicidal thoughts, depression, or anxiety. When you have a learning disability it is not just a matter of “trying harder” - further intervention is necessary for the student to learn what he will need to achieve success.
It's not uncommon for students to struggle in or
dislike school. It's not uncommon that a student may not excel in a particular
area of school or not achieve marks that reflect their true potential. So how
do parents and educators spot the sometimes subtle warning signs that a student
may have a learning disability?
A learning disability doesn't mean the student is slow.
So many times I hear people deny a child’s possible learning disability in
statements such as, “No he definitely wouldn’t have a LD, he is very bright and
intelligent.” This does not mean he is exempt from a learning disability.
Plenty of highly intelligent people have been diagnosed with a learning
disability. In fact one of the first steps professionals take in diagnosing a
learning disability is to determine the child’s potential (IQ) and compare it to the
child’s performance. They do this through a series of tests called a psycho
educational assessment. They are looking
for any issues in the learning process.
They will look at how the individual:
ü Takes in information. There
could be a problem with how the brain interprets what the eyes see; this is
called visual perception disorder. It could be an issue taking in sounds; this
is referred to as an auditory perception or auditory processing disorder.
ü Makes
sense of or processes information. Someone who has difficulty in this area
may have trouble organizing their thoughts or struggle with the ability to
infer meaning.
ü Stores information. The
individual may have deficits in the area of short term memory, working memory
or long term memory.
ü Is using or getting information
out.
Difficulty coordinating the muscles of
the hand (a grapho-motor problem) greatly affects a student’s hand writing.
Getting thoughts onto paper can also be a problem for those who have trouble in
this area. Language output issues, including problems organizing thoughts,
finding the right words, and expressing themselves can be detected.
- Did your child struggle learning phonemes
(individual units of sound) and graphemes (letters, numbers)? Or do they
have difficulty learning how to blend sounds and letters to sound out
words? Problems remembering familiar words by sight or difficulty with
reading comprehension?
- Do they struggle with forming letters and
numbers or have difficulty with basic spelling and grammar?
- Do they experience difficulties learning math
skills and doing math calculations?
- Is it difficult for them to remember facts?
- Is organizing materials (notebook, binder, papers),
information, and/or concepts a challenge?
- Do they have trouble understanding oral
instructions and an inability to express them self verbally?
- Do they struggle with making, maintaining or
repairing friendships?
- Do they often lose or forget materials, or do
work and forget to turn it into the teacher?
- Do they struggle to plan out the steps and
time lines for completing projects, especially long-term projects?
- Do they have difficulty organizing thoughts
for written reports or public speaking?
- Have they developed behaviors that help them
to avoid their school work?
- Do they frustrate easily?
Is your child's LD affecting their social skills?
By Angela Rudderham, Director of Turning Tides Community Outreach
Angela is a behaviour and social skills specialist who has developed social skills and behaviour programs for students at Bridgeway Academy. Through Turning Tides Community Outreach, she is now offering social skills programs for all youth, as well as support workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals. For more information or advice, please give Angela a call at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
One thing I know for sure is that every
good parent wants their child to be happy.
I also know that children who are rejected by their peers have a very
difficult time finding happiness. They dread going to school with fears running
through their minds, “I’ll probably
be picked last in gym again and I’ll hide out in the washroom during lunch to
avoid getting teased.” Or “My teacher hates me, she never sees what anyone does
to me, and she seems to only catch me when I defend myself!” With these very real concerns who can
concentrate on academics?
I hear these concerns everyday from new
students who start our program at Bridgeway, a school for students with
learning disabilities. Learning disabilities or LD’s, can contribute to varying social difficulties
that can play a huge factor in a student’s daily life that many of us may not
fully understand. A student with a
non-verbal learning disability (NLD), for example, may not be able to interpret
non-verbal communication such as understanding what facial expressions mean (interpretation),
how close to stand to someone when speaking with them (proxemtics), or how
their body language is being interpreted by others (perception). In some cases
a student may even misunderstand the emotional attachment to words (distortion). Since
the experts tell us that at least 75% of our communication is delivered though
non-verbal communication this tells us that these students are missing out on a
great deal of information regarding themselves and others. Imagine the social ramifications of not receiving the message that the
person you are speaking with is no longer interested in speaking with you. Or maybe the group that has surrounded you to
compliment your new clothes is actually laughing at you.
We also have students with attention
deficit disorder. One area a student with ADHD - combined type may struggle with is impulsivity. This means
that as soon as the child has an impulse they may act on it before their brain
has had time to consider things like rules, the feelings of others, or the
outcome of their actions. The student with ADHD may grab things before asking,
break rules repeatedly, or even swing at someone who accidentally stepped on
their toes in a line–up. Adults who are under-informed regarding ADHD may scold
or punish these children, causing even more feelings of rejection. Students
with language processing deficits, measurable cognitive limitations, complex
learning disorders and hyperactivity are more likely to experience social
deficits.
When students first arrive at Bridgeway,
they are shocked to find out how different their experience is at our school.
We train our staff to understand how
a student’s learning disability or ADD directly affects their relationships
with others. In our program we focus on what can be done to help students learn
the skills necessary to engage socially.
Just like the skills that accompany hockey, social skills can be broken
down and taught, practiced and reinforced to create skill acquisition and
generalization.
Sending your child to their room or taking
away their favorite toy for socially unacceptable behaviors just doesn’t work.
You wouldn’t teach spelling by asking your child to spell a new word and then
punishing them when they misspell it. Instead, you would provide them with the
correct spelling and have them practice it until it becomes routine. This strategy
will work for your child’s social mistakes as well. When your child chooses a
socially unacceptable behavior immediately find a private place to rehearse the
socially appropriate behavior. Model it for them, have the child practice it;
provide positive feedback concentrating on the cause and effect of the
desirable and undesirable behavior. Look for numerous opportunities in public
or on TV where you can show your child someone else using the correct behavior.
Remember to keep it light and very positive. Make a game out of it! Don’t worry
with a little invested time you can find an abundance of information out there
for assisting your child with their social deficits. Check out your local library or online search
engines. Understanding will create the ‘Bridgeway
for Change’
Angela is a behaviour and social skills specialist who has developed social skills and behaviour programs for students at Bridgeway Academy. Through Turning Tides Community Outreach, she is now offering social skills programs for all youth, as well as support workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals. For more information or advice, please give Angela a call at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
Friday 4 November 2011
Sir Ken Robinson - The Element
We believe that everyone has gifts and talents, even if they struggle in other areas. We can always help in the areas that need support, but it's just as important to get in touch with our talents and our passions and let them shine.
That's what Sir Ken Robinson's book, The Element, is all about. Since we'll be welcoming Sir Ken to Nova Scotia in April 2012, we thought it might be a good idea to find out more about his ideas and share them with you. Rhonda Brown, Bridgeway Academy's Director of Communications is reading The Element now and will be blogging about it. She'll share her thoughts as a guest blogger for us over the coming weeks.
If you've read Sir Ken's books, or listened to his presentations online via the TedTalks, let us know what you think!
That's what Sir Ken Robinson's book, The Element, is all about. Since we'll be welcoming Sir Ken to Nova Scotia in April 2012, we thought it might be a good idea to find out more about his ideas and share them with you. Rhonda Brown, Bridgeway Academy's Director of Communications is reading The Element now and will be blogging about it. She'll share her thoughts as a guest blogger for us over the coming weeks.
If you've read Sir Ken's books, or listened to his presentations online via the TedTalks, let us know what you think!
Tuesday 1 November 2011
How does a learning disability affect the parents of a child?
By Angela Rudderham, Director of Turning Tides Community Outreach
Research indicates that parental reaction to the
diagnosis of learning disability is more pronounced than in any other area of
exceptionality. Consider: if a child is mentally or physically
handicapped, the parent becomes aware of the problem in the first few weeks of
the child's life. However, the pre-school development of the learning disabled
child is often uneventful and the parent does not suspect that a problem
exists. When informed of the problem by elementary school personnel, a parent's
first reaction is generally to deny the existence of a disability. This denial
is, of course, unproductive. The father tends to remain in this stage for a
prolonged period because he is not exposed to the child's day-to-day
frustrations and failures.
Research conducted by Eleanor Whitehead suggests that the parent of an LD child goes through a series of emotions before truly accepting the child and his problem. These "stages" are totally unpredictable. A parent may move from stage-to-stage in random. Some parents skip over stages while others remain in one stage for an extended period. These stages are as follows:
DENIAL: "There is really nothing wrong!" "That's the way I was as a child--not to worry!" "He'll grow out of it!"
BLAME: "You baby him!" "You expect too much of him." "It's not from my side of the family."
FEAR: "Maybe they're not telling me the real problem!" "Is it worse than they say?" "Will he ever marry? go to college? graduate?"
ENVY: "Why can't he be like his sister or his cousins?"
MOURNING: "He could have been such a success, if not for the learning disability!"
BARGAINING: "Wait 'till next year!" "Maybe the problem will improve if we move! (or he goes to camp, etc.)."
ANGER: "The teachers don't know anything." "I hate this neighborhood, this school...this teacher."
GUILT: "My mother was right; I should have used cloth diapers when he was a baby." "I shouldn't have worked during his first year." "I am being punished for something and my child is suffering as a result."
ISOLATION: "Nobody else knows or cares about my child." "You and I against the world. No one else understands."
FLIGHT: "Let's try this new therapy--Donahue says it works!" "We are going to go from clinic to clinic until somebody tells me what I want to hear.!"
Again, the pattern of these reactions is totally unpredictable. This situation is worsened by the fact that frequently the mother and father may be involved in different and conflicting stages at the same time (e.g., blame vs. denial; anger vs. guilt). This can make communication very difficult.
The good news is that with proper help, most LD children can make excellent progress. There are many successful adults such as attorneys, business executives, physicians, teachers, etc. who had learning disabilities but overcame them and became successful. Now with special education and many special materials, LD children can be helped early.
Research conducted by Eleanor Whitehead suggests that the parent of an LD child goes through a series of emotions before truly accepting the child and his problem. These "stages" are totally unpredictable. A parent may move from stage-to-stage in random. Some parents skip over stages while others remain in one stage for an extended period. These stages are as follows:
DENIAL: "There is really nothing wrong!" "That's the way I was as a child--not to worry!" "He'll grow out of it!"
BLAME: "You baby him!" "You expect too much of him." "It's not from my side of the family."
FEAR: "Maybe they're not telling me the real problem!" "Is it worse than they say?" "Will he ever marry? go to college? graduate?"
ENVY: "Why can't he be like his sister or his cousins?"
MOURNING: "He could have been such a success, if not for the learning disability!"
BARGAINING: "Wait 'till next year!" "Maybe the problem will improve if we move! (or he goes to camp, etc.)."
ANGER: "The teachers don't know anything." "I hate this neighborhood, this school...this teacher."
GUILT: "My mother was right; I should have used cloth diapers when he was a baby." "I shouldn't have worked during his first year." "I am being punished for something and my child is suffering as a result."
ISOLATION: "Nobody else knows or cares about my child." "You and I against the world. No one else understands."
FLIGHT: "Let's try this new therapy--Donahue says it works!" "We are going to go from clinic to clinic until somebody tells me what I want to hear.!"
Again, the pattern of these reactions is totally unpredictable. This situation is worsened by the fact that frequently the mother and father may be involved in different and conflicting stages at the same time (e.g., blame vs. denial; anger vs. guilt). This can make communication very difficult.
The good news is that with proper help, most LD children can make excellent progress. There are many successful adults such as attorneys, business executives, physicians, teachers, etc. who had learning disabilities but overcame them and became successful. Now with special education and many special materials, LD children can be helped early.
Pointers
for parents of children with learning disabilities:
1. Take the time to listen to your children as much as
you can (really try to get their "Message").
2. Love them by touching them, hugging them, tickling
them, wrestling with them (they need lots of physical contact).
3. Look for and encourage their strengths, interests,
and abilities. Help them to use these as compensations for any limitations or
disabilities.
4. Reward them with praise, good words, smiles, and
pat on the back as often as you can.
5. Accept them for what they are and for their human
potential for growth and development. Be realistic in your expectations and
demands.
6. Involve them in establishing rules and regulations,
schedules, and family activities.
7. Tell them when they misbehave and explain how you
feel about their behavior; then have them propose other more acceptable ways of
behaving.
8. Help them to correct their errors and mistakes by
showing or demonstrating what they should do.
9. Don't nag!
10. Give them reasonable chores and a regular family
work responsibility whenever possible.
11. Give them an allowance as early as possible and
then help them plan to spend within it.
12. Provide toys, games, motor activities and
opportunities that will stimulate them in their development.
13. Read enjoyable stories to them and with them.
Encourage them to ask questions, discuss stories, tell the story, and to reread
stories.
14. Further their ability to concentrate by reducing
distracting aspects of their environment as much as possible (provide them with
a place to work, study and play).
15. Don't get hung up on traditional school grades! It
is important that they progress at their own rates and be rewarded for doing
so.
16. Take them to libraries and encourage them to select
and check out books of interest.
17. Have them share their books with you.
18. Provide stimulating books and reading material
around the house.
19. Help them to develop self-esteem and to compete
with self rather than with others.
20. Insist that they cooperate socially by playing,
helping, and serving others in the family and the community.
21. Serve as a model to them by reading and discussing
material of personal interest. Share with them some of the things you are
reading and doing.
22. Don't hesitate to consult with teachers or other
specialists whenever you feel it to be necessary in order to better understand
what might be done to help your child learn.
Angela is a behaviour and social skills specialist who has developed programs for students, as well as support workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals. For more information or advice, please give Angela a call at 902-404-TIDE (8433).
Monday 31 October 2011
What ADHD Students Wish Their Teachers Knew - Part 2
We shared some insight yesterday in what it feels like to be a student with ADHD in the classroom, and what one student wishes her teachers knew about her. Here are the rest of those points.
What ADHD Students Wish Their Teachers Knew - Part 2
Written by Lisa Gridley
From CADDAC.ca
Continued from part 1, which we shared yesterday.
I'll need your help to learn and practice: organization skills (things like writing assignments in my agenda, planning them out, completing them, and getting them back to you when they're due), note taking, study skills and test taking strategies. When you mark my work, please look for areas that I am struggling with and show me how I can do better.
It's really hard for me to remember lots of instructions when you give them all at once. Please give me one instruction at a time. For assignments, it really helps if I have written instructions so I don't have to try and remember everything.
The medication that I am taking helps me to focus and calms my hyperactivity. But as I grow, my medication may need to be adjusted. You can really help by letting my parents know if you notice that my medication is not working as well as it did.
Even with the help of medication, I still feel the need to move. Movement helps me to learn. Sometimes it helps if I can stand while you're teaching. Sometimes I really need to work off the energy because it feels like I've got high voltage electrical currents running up and down my arms and legs. Let's develop a private signal that lets you know that I'm really needing a break from sitting still - I could run something to the office for you, hand out or collect papers or wipe off the board. Or you could involve the whole class in a stretch break and no one would know that it's really just to help me.
Do not take away recess or gym as punishments. I desperately need physical activity several times a day to work off the excess energy that I have and relieve the stress of having to sit still for so long. Without this time to 'blow off steam', I am more likely to have increased hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour.
The other thing that helps is if I have something to do with my hands. Clay, a stress ball or even an elastic helps my body to get rid of the extra energy.
Finding a good seat in your classroom is important. I may need to sit at the front of the room so that I'm not distracted by what all the other students are doing and so that I'm closer to you when I need help. Or I may do better at the back of the room so that I'm not always turning around to see what's going on behind me. Being at the back also takes away my 'audience' and allows me to stand up if I need to without distracting the other students. I also need to sit somewhere away from other distractions like windows and pencil sharpeners and other students who are struggling. And it helps if I can sit beside a student who can help me when you're too busy because when I need help, it's hard for me to wait.
If you see that I've lost my focus, please give me a private signal to get me back or walk by my desk and touch my shoulder. Or say something like, 'Now this is very important, so please pay attention.' Please don't ever humiliate me by using sarcasm or sayings like 'Earth to _______'.
I can be very sensitive to small noises and sensations like the hum of fluorescent lights, the temperature of the room, the tags inside my clothes or the sound of the kid behind me as he writes. Sometimes, I just can't concentrate because these small things are so distracting. It helps if I have a quiet place to go to if I feel the need or if you see that I'm having trouble concentrating but please give me the choice to go there. Do not force me to go there because it will only humiliate me in front of my friends. If you offer this 'quiet place' to the whole class, it helps me to accept the option without feeling centered out.
I have trouble making transitions from one task to another especially if I'm doing something that I enjoy. Sometimes I can hyper focus and it's hard for me to stop and change tasks. You can help me by giving me advance notice that we will be starting something new in a few minutes. It gives me the time that I need to work on putting the brakes on in my mind. Changing from doing something active to doing seatwork (coming in from recess or gym) is especially hard for me. Help me by slowing me down gradually and rewarding me when I settle quickly.
Handwriting is difficult for me. Please let me print if I want to. Using a computer is even better because I can think faster than I can write and a computer will help me to get my thoughts down without having to worry about mistakes and organization which can be corrected later.
What ADHD Students Wish Their Teachers Knew - Part 2
Written by Lisa Gridley
From CADDAC.ca
Continued from part 1, which we shared yesterday.
I'll need your help to learn and practice: organization skills (things like writing assignments in my agenda, planning them out, completing them, and getting them back to you when they're due), note taking, study skills and test taking strategies. When you mark my work, please look for areas that I am struggling with and show me how I can do better.
It's really hard for me to remember lots of instructions when you give them all at once. Please give me one instruction at a time. For assignments, it really helps if I have written instructions so I don't have to try and remember everything.
The medication that I am taking helps me to focus and calms my hyperactivity. But as I grow, my medication may need to be adjusted. You can really help by letting my parents know if you notice that my medication is not working as well as it did.
Even with the help of medication, I still feel the need to move. Movement helps me to learn. Sometimes it helps if I can stand while you're teaching. Sometimes I really need to work off the energy because it feels like I've got high voltage electrical currents running up and down my arms and legs. Let's develop a private signal that lets you know that I'm really needing a break from sitting still - I could run something to the office for you, hand out or collect papers or wipe off the board. Or you could involve the whole class in a stretch break and no one would know that it's really just to help me.
Do not take away recess or gym as punishments. I desperately need physical activity several times a day to work off the excess energy that I have and relieve the stress of having to sit still for so long. Without this time to 'blow off steam', I am more likely to have increased hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour.
The other thing that helps is if I have something to do with my hands. Clay, a stress ball or even an elastic helps my body to get rid of the extra energy.
Finding a good seat in your classroom is important. I may need to sit at the front of the room so that I'm not distracted by what all the other students are doing and so that I'm closer to you when I need help. Or I may do better at the back of the room so that I'm not always turning around to see what's going on behind me. Being at the back also takes away my 'audience' and allows me to stand up if I need to without distracting the other students. I also need to sit somewhere away from other distractions like windows and pencil sharpeners and other students who are struggling. And it helps if I can sit beside a student who can help me when you're too busy because when I need help, it's hard for me to wait.
If you see that I've lost my focus, please give me a private signal to get me back or walk by my desk and touch my shoulder. Or say something like, 'Now this is very important, so please pay attention.' Please don't ever humiliate me by using sarcasm or sayings like 'Earth to _______'.
I can be very sensitive to small noises and sensations like the hum of fluorescent lights, the temperature of the room, the tags inside my clothes or the sound of the kid behind me as he writes. Sometimes, I just can't concentrate because these small things are so distracting. It helps if I have a quiet place to go to if I feel the need or if you see that I'm having trouble concentrating but please give me the choice to go there. Do not force me to go there because it will only humiliate me in front of my friends. If you offer this 'quiet place' to the whole class, it helps me to accept the option without feeling centered out.
I have trouble making transitions from one task to another especially if I'm doing something that I enjoy. Sometimes I can hyper focus and it's hard for me to stop and change tasks. You can help me by giving me advance notice that we will be starting something new in a few minutes. It gives me the time that I need to work on putting the brakes on in my mind. Changing from doing something active to doing seatwork (coming in from recess or gym) is especially hard for me. Help me by slowing me down gradually and rewarding me when I settle quickly.
Handwriting is difficult for me. Please let me print if I want to. Using a computer is even better because I can think faster than I can write and a computer will help me to get my thoughts down without having to worry about mistakes and organization which can be corrected later.
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