Sue's Special Education Blog

Have you heard this term a lot lately? It seems lately that every teacher I talk to or work with is explaining to me that 3 or 4 of their students have some form of Asperger's. However, all children do come in their very own individual, special and unique packages and finding labels doesn't make their uniqueness go away.

The bottom line is, find out what works to help this child reach their full potential which of course differs from child to child. When a label has been assigned to an individual, do the research and find the evidence based strategies that work best for the individual child. Here, you'll find some background information on Asperger's, what academic implications you'll encounter and some best practice strategies to implement.

When speech recognition is implemented appropriately, it can be of tremendous value to students with disabilities. However, if the voice isn't trained properly it can lead to immense frustration. If speech technology is something your students may benefit from, get all the facts before you get started. The Adaptive Technology Resouce Centre at the University of Toronto provides you with everything you need to know about Speech Recognition.

Across the nation, teachers and students are counting the weeks and days until the summer holidays. However, key here is 'staying motivated' and 'keeping students motivated' One strategy I like is the 'Race to 20' behavior worksheets. A goal is selected and the child tries to reach 20 days of checkmarks for the goal to receive a reward or incentive.

See also, these fun end of year worksheets.

Link your learning to some fun Mother's Day Activities. You'll find an Acrostic Poem, Word Activities, Certificates and much, much more.

See also, Mother's Day across About.Com

MID, is sometimes referred to as mild mental retardation. Many of the characteristics of MID correspond to those of learning disabilities. The intellectual development will be slow and often difficult, however, don't give up as students with MID have the potential to learn within the regular classroom given appropriate modifications and/or accommodations. There is no fix but just like all students, never let go of the belief that they can learn. The goal with these students is no different than any other, bring them from where they are to the next step - from point A to point B so to speak.

The American Heart Association is making the recommendation and said that children should have an electrocardiogram to assess heart disease risk before taking stimulant medicines such as Ritalin to treat ADHD. Stimulant medications like Ritalin can elevate the heart rate and blood pressure, which could cause cardiovascular problems for young children who have heart conditions. See the full story in Time online.

ADHD is a biologically based condition causing those inflicted with the disorder to have difficulty in one or more of the the following areas: weak attention span, hyperactivity, impulsivity, inability to focus and remain on task, fidgits, often on the go, talks excessively, tends to interrupt others often, climbing or moving constantly, extremely restless.

Parents sometimes take the blame themselves, wondering what they did wrong and students often wonder why they always land up in the principal's office. It often seems that kids with ADHD are just wired differently and wound up constantly. However, Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover, the Home Edition has sure made his mom proud. Ty was one of those individuals who received many negative messages from school. However, behavior modification techniques along with medication allowed Ty to tap into his creativity. Read the full story: The Creative Side of ADHD

Vowels that is! To this day, I remember having to pencil in the long and short symbols over the vowels in a list of words. For instance, bake and take would have the hypen like symbol over the a and has and hat would have the curved symbol over the a. And, along came oil, tart, elf and were etc. Are they long? Are they short? Neither, they are the consonant/vowel controlled vowels. The r changes the sound of the vowel. So what does this mean? As parents and as educators, it means that we need to focus on all the vowel sounds just as we focus on all of the consonant sounds. This week, I've prepared a list of 'r' controlled vowel words to help.

See also: Vowel word family printables

Providing intervention at the right time and for the right reason is key to special education. Also, the earlier the better. Intervention can take place in many different formats such as the way you instruct or direct students, adding peer support, the overall design of the lesson, the increased one to one or hands on time along with specially designed assessments and tests. See more on using interventions.

See also, my four recommendations for special education resources for special educators.

Are you experiencing those restless end of year June behaviors already? I know I'm sure seeing it. Now's the time to really tap into your creativity to keep learners enaged through to the finish line. You may need to have more hands on learning with differentiated instruction. How about trying a few rewards/incentives for those great behaviors, they're terrific motivators. Another great strategy is the 'countdown' tracking great behaviors. Worksheet # 4. Have your students set goals for the end of the year with one of these 3 worksheets.

However, remember these 2 things: students just want to know that you care and they want to have some fun while learning. Find those activities that are hands on and engaging, use some 'gamey' approaches and tap into lots of oral learning strategies to keep them learning to the finish line.