For the entire month of April, in honor of Autism Awareness Month, kindergarten.com is giving away 24 free apps on iTunes. The apps are ABA flashcards and follow the verbal behavior model. The pictures on the flashcards are true photos and real to life. There are many different things you can do with these when working with your child or student. I have downloaded all of them and wish that today was not my last day at TLC; I really could have used these with my students.

Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested.

Cheers and happy flashcarding!

It is that time again, the dreaded parent-teacher conference, or as I like to call them (especially after working in a low socioeconomic-status area in the US) care provider-teacher conferences. While at the University, we had many classes that covered this topic…. creating successful meetings between you as a teacher and the care providers of the children you teach. I am happy to state (with my mouth agape) that, while in Malaysia, all of my meetings have gone extremely well. In my opinion, at least.

I have asked myself, especially with such a positive experience in Malaysia, why can things go so bad? In the US, boy did I have some rough meetings. The circumstances creating all of these difficult meetings is a post for another time, and hopefully I will provide some insight into the differences between being a teacher in the US and in Malaysia at some later date.

With that said, I want to give some advice for teachers to help facilitate a successful care provider-teacher meeting. As an administrator for 4 years in the US, I not only had to chair pleasant meetings, but challenging meetings too. Often these were IEP meetings had anywhere from 5-15 people present. Over the years, I have learned some great strategies for facilitating a positive meeting with care providers.

Prior to the meeting, teachers should:

• Seek care provider input when scheduling meetings. Be flexible and prepared to meet before or after school hours to accommodate care provider schedules.
• Send home an agenda and any reports that will be reviewed.
• Ask care providers to email or write a note to you about any specific questions they want to cover during the meeting.
• Mention any specific things you want to cover that may be sensitive topics or challenges, prior to the meeting so care providers are not taken by surprise when you bring it up. For example, “Miss Rorey, I want to let you know that at the meeting we will be discussing the sensitive topic of Cody’s aggressive behavior. At the meeting I want to take some time to provide you information about what is happening in class and brainstorming some strategies with you for school and home. I just wanted to inform you ahead of time so that you are  prepared.”)
• Call or send a message about two days early reminding care providers of the meeting.
• Decide if the student will be present for the meeting. If the student is older and it is an IEP meeting, I encourage you to include them, even if for just a short part of the meeting.
• Set-up the room so that the caregivers are seated on equal level as the teacher and in comfortable, normal size chairs (if possible.)
• Have reports proofread, copied and ready to hand out. If you are unsure of how many people are coming, make a few extra copies.
• Prepare student work samples to show care providers the work that is done in class. Use a variety of activity samples and include average work, not only the best work.
• Be prepared. Know your stuff. Practice if needed. Review and discuss difficult topics with colleagues. Get an outsiders opinion on something that you are unsure about before sharing it with care providers.

During the meeting teachers should:

• Relax. If you follow the above suggestions, there will be less stress on the day of the meeting and this will put both you and the meeting team at ease.
• Welcome care providers with smiles, ask them to be seated and conduct introductions of everyone present.
• Take notes. Write down agreements, assignments and time lines.
• Start with the meeting by mentioning positive, unique things that the child brings to the classroom. Mention improvements you have seen over time.
• Show examples of student work that corresponds with what is being reviewed and discussed.
• Summarize reports and show the data to back up what you are reporting. Do not read the report.
• Provide descriptions of student behavior and performance objectively without bias.
• Before moving to another topic, ask care providers for input or ask if they have any questions.
• Refrain from using educational jargon and acronyms. Explain everything in detail, but do not talk down to care providers. They are not only adults, but the ultimate expert when it comes to their child.
• Do not point fingers or blame parents. Instead, state a challenge, discuss what you have tried already and brainstorm additional ideas to try together.
• End on a positive note.
• As the meeting comes to a close, review the notes. Be sure to review any assignments, tasks or agreements and expected time frames.
• Schedule a follow-up meeting if necessary.
• Make copies of the notes and pass them out.

After the meeting, teachers should:

• Follow up with assigned tasks and check in with others who had assigned tasks too. If necessary, once a task is completed, notify the team of the outcome.
• After about 3-4 weeks, provide information to the care provider about any new strategies implemented and how the student is progressing.
• Take data so that when you have to write the next report, the data is there and just needs to be analyzed and summarized.

During my 6 years at Spectrum Center in California, I worked with some incredible therapists. Three of my colleagues wrote a book that I would like to recommend to you. The authors are America X. Gonzalez and Lois Jean Brady, who were two of our speech and language therapists, and Jim Elliot, who was our adaptive physical education specialist. I fondly remember seeing America’s cheerful face during all of our student events and collaborating with Lois on IEP goals and student programs. I can vividly hear Jim bounding down the hallway with his bells jingling merrily before I saw his smiling face round the corner to greet me.

The concept of the book is that students with autism learn certain concepts better when movements are attached to concepts during instruction much better than typical table and chair learning alone. There is more on this concept found on the YouTube channel autismhangout. On this channel, there is a video with Lois on her book along with many other videos relating to autism. I encourage you to watch it and get some ideas.

I have not purchased the book yet, but only for the sole reason that Cody and I are trying to minimize our baggage when we move back to the US in May. As soon as we get back to California, the book is going to be waiting for me and hopefully I can get my book signed by these three awesome therapists!

Way to go America, Lois and Jim! You are doing great things for so many students.

If you want to purchase this book (and I highly recommend it) go to amazon and have it delivered right to your door.