Over the past week, I wanted to focus all of my attention on the principal of the school I work at. She is a very valuable person to the IEP team and I was very interested to see her stance on the assessment process. When I first sat down with her, I explained that I am doing an advocacy plan for my internship class. I told her that my topic was autism and that my main focus was on the assessment and placement process. The questions I asked pertained to the assessment and placement of children with autism. I was very curious to hear her responses because I didn’t have any idea where she stood. After hearing her answers, I was pleasantly surprised. The first question I asked her was, “how do you feel about the assessment and placement process at the school?” Then I asked her if there was anything that she suggests to improve it, if it needed improving. She agreed with me, that the assessment isn’t thorough or long enough. Although I feel that the assessment process should be done at the school setting as well as the home setting, she disagreed. She felt that the children act completely different at their home setting and the team wouldn’t get accurate results. However, she did feel that the assessment should be done over multiple visits, and not just in one day/one hour. She even felt that one hour was too long for the child. She suggested that the assessment be done over 3 different visits on different days. She thought that about 30 minutes each visit would be fine. Another great suggestion she had was that the child should be observed with other children, if possible. If the IEP team was able to observe the child with at least one other child, then they could see their social and play skills. These two things are hard to see when the child is being observed alone.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Observing and Interacting With Program Director(s) and Other Administrative Staff in Your Setting
Over the past week, I wanted to focus all of my attention on the principal of the school I work at. She is a very valuable person to the IEP team and I was very interested to see her stance on the assessment process. When I first sat down with her, I explained that I am doing an advocacy plan for my internship class. I told her that my topic was autism and that my main focus was on the assessment and placement process. The questions I asked pertained to the assessment and placement of children with autism. I was very curious to hear her responses because I didn’t have any idea where she stood. After hearing her answers, I was pleasantly surprised. The first question I asked her was, “how do you feel about the assessment and placement process at the school?” Then I asked her if there was anything that she suggests to improve it, if it needed improving. She agreed with me, that the assessment isn’t thorough or long enough. Although I feel that the assessment process should be done at the school setting as well as the home setting, she disagreed. She felt that the children act completely different at their home setting and the team wouldn’t get accurate results. However, she did feel that the assessment should be done over multiple visits, and not just in one day/one hour. She even felt that one hour was too long for the child. She suggested that the assessment be done over 3 different visits on different days. She thought that about 30 minutes each visit would be fine. Another great suggestion she had was that the child should be observed with other children, if possible. If the IEP team was able to observe the child with at least one other child, then they could see their social and play skills. These two things are hard to see when the child is being observed alone.
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Hello Christy,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your interview. I am always interested in hearing about your information on autism. I agree that children should be placed on needs and not labels. I have learned that children with special needs all have different needs, even if their diagnoses are the same. I do agree with the principal that most children will not behave the same at school as they do in the home. I also like the idea of having assessment done over two or three visits. I think multiple visits would provide a better idea of the students true abilities, thus providing a more accurate placement.
Hey Vertina!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you enjoy reading my posts! I really enjoy writing about autism! :) To hear that children should be placed based on their needs and not their "label, was the greatest peice of information that I've heard so far. I just wish all schools that assess children would follow this rule. If they did, then we wouldn't have as many issues as we do!
Hi Kristy!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing about autism...especially since I worked with an autistic boy for 3 years as a one on one. All the research was so interesting. I definately agree with the principal at the school you are doing your internship that an hour is too long for a child. I have always been an advocate for splitting the assessments into parts.
I look forward to reading your research paper.
Great blog!!
Hi Lisa!
DeleteI enjoy blogging about autism! Ive never blogged before and its great to be able to express my feelings about something I feel so strongly about.
I agree with you that assessments should be done at home and at school. I think it is interesting that the principle would disagree. However, it is also understandable that some children do act differently in a school setting than at home. I think that is why it is also important to do them outside of school. You are getting more of who the child actually is, and how they use their knowledge outside of school as well as inside of school. What type of school do you work at? Is it only a special education school? It is a good thing that you stepped out of your comfort zone to ask what what you needed to ask. I think this will help you out in the future when you start talking to parents and teachers more about specific children.
ReplyDeleteHi Danielle!
DeleteI work at a school that is for special ed and multi-needs students. It ranges from preschool to 8th grade. It is a great school and I'm very lucky to be working there. The staff is great and everyone truly cares about the kids. That's what it's all about! :)
Great Post! I do agree that the assessment should be done in shorter periods and also in the home. The child may not do well for the person assessing them because they are not familiar with that person. At least if it done over a period of time and hopefully with the same person, the child will be familiar with that person.
ReplyDeleteHello Christy,
DeleteYou stated that you learned from this interview that the child be assessed and placed based on their needs, and not their label.
I feel that it is important that we do not label our children, but we should provide supports that will help them. Children need respect and understanding not labels.
Assessments should be completed over several visits, and the parent should be a part of some of the assessments but not all. In our school all of the children are tested in September, many children who have never been to school before may not test well. We have teachers who will re-test the child after forty five days as we give them a chance to get adjusted to their new environment.
When an IEP is given at our school we have the child as well as the family go through a process. I can imagine that it can be very scary for the child as well as the family to find out that the child may have special needs.Autism, assessment, and placement id crucial if the child is expected to fit not only in the classroom but into society. I had a child with a mild case of autism, he had autism spectrum. The parent stated that she noticed that as a baby he did not speak or behave as her other children did. it took a lot of advocating for her child on her own however she seemed to be relieved when at school we were there for support and help.
The parent was so grateful that she had our teachers as support, We attended the IEP meetings at the local public school, and we were there when the child had to go for services. I remember the mother thanking me for my help, as she stated that she didn't know what she would have done had her child not received the services he needed. Good luck with your plan.
Hi Monica!
DeleteI think that it is great that your school supported that parent. It has got to be so overwhelming for the parents when they initially get the diagnosis. It is our job to support them and to be there for them to guide them through the process.
Hi Rosalie,
DeleteI agree with you that children might be nervous or scared during the assessment because of unfamilar faces. I can't imagine a 2 year old entering the room with several strangers and asked to do things. It has to be so scary for them!
I also feel that there is really needs to be more time observing and assessing students before a decision is made about placements or if they are going to be medicated. Many times the team is pressed for time and rushes through the assessment process not really take their time to observe the students in many situations. I have a student in my class presently that has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and is medicated at the age of three. When I first met this child with his mother in their home he was very active and distructive. She said he had been kicked out of several day cares so she currently has him in an at home day care with fewer kids. She was concerned how well he'd do with sixteen other students in the class.
ReplyDeleteMy assistant and I were very surprised to see how well he has done in our classroom. He is cooperative, friendly, eager to learn and has fallen into the classroom routine very well. He has just developed more than any of us thought he would. Of course we undertand that he is medicated when he's at school, and large social groups are still an issue for him but I feel that more time had been given to observing him before they used medication on such a young child.
Hi Margaret,
ReplyDeleteDon't get me started on medications!!!!! I absoultely 100% agree that children should be observed over a long period of time before they are medicated. Too many parents these days just want to medicate their children to calm them down. It's horrible! But I also feel that some kids truly need it.
We have been warned before about some kids entering the classroom. The parents say that their child is out of control and just wish us luck. But to our surprise, they were totally different at school. They liked and needed the structure that we provided in our class. Sometimes children just need school and then they behave better. You never know!
I think it is very important to assess children over a period of days as well as having documentation from interventions, anecdotal records from teachers as well as parent input for a child to be identified as having developmental issues. For identifying a child with autism we really need to be careful because it seems to me that we are 'over identifying' children. Autism is the disability at the present time receiving the most money from the government so there is so much attention given to autism that it is felt there is over identification.
ReplyDeleteThe principal is very important when it comes to IEP's and the program in general. The principal is the one in my opinion who makes the last decision on if the child should be screened for any developmental delays. The principal is basically the person to have the last word, which is the same for the director of the program if they are the highest in commmand.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the principle that the assessment should be done over multiple visits, not just one screening. One screening can give you results, but to make sure different assessments and screenings should be done, before making a final decision. And the assessment should be done by a trained professional as well.
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