Since my first year of being in the Special Education program at college, I learned fast that not everyone totally understands special education. So many people out there do not see a disability but a suborn/lazy child. It's hard to want to look past those ideas and look into the child's history and see what could be the problem.
With Jane reeking havoc in the first grade classroom, that is what so many parents were doing also! Jane did not have an IEP and no one could figure her out. Finally I got to come into the picture to help her. Those were longs days of running back and forth from the first grade classroom to my students in my special education room. I'm not sure if that was the hardets part or hearing what the parents had to say about the student was... No parents even tried to explain to their child that Jane could have a disability... Parents were calling into the school and complaing that she should be out of the school because she is causing so many distruptions.
After getting to spend some time with her I was not totally convinced that she has Aspergers but there were definitely signs there. Eventually we got the forms filled out to have her tested and we were correct! Jane was another child living with Aspergers! She was not use to this classroom setting, the schedule and structure and we as teachers were not ready for her learning styles!
Luckily teachers began to want to understand her more and what would work best for her in the classroom. After we made some changes to her routine and ect. she began to be the student who knew so much about different subjects and was the interesting one to question and go off of.
Though there are still those day to day issues with her behavior... the school teachers she works with are finally understanding her cognitive development and how we can use it to her and the classroom advantage!!
Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like once Jane was diagnosed with her disability there was a nice improvement in here classroom behavior and more importantly her learning! Once you and the classroom teacher were more aware of her condition and how that directly effects her cognitive development process, appropriate accommodation could be made for Jane. By doing this, you were ensuring that her needs were being met and that material was being presented in a fashion that will allow her success in the structure of the classroom. Understanding the cognitive developmental process and research of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner helps to gain more insight into why Jane may have acted out before accommodations were made. Hopefully continued success will occur for Jane and all of her peers and teachers.