Barto's World

Non-Public Schools in MI

2009-11-04T16:55:00.002-05:00

MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and
Early Intervention Services will conduct public hearings to receive
comment on the following proposed administrative rules and documents:

Special Education Programs and Services Administrative Rules
(2009-043ED)
Criteria for Specific Learning Disabilities
Nonpublic Services Plan

The rules are promulgated by the authority conferred on the
superintendent of public instruction by sections 1701 and 1703 of 1976
PA 451, MCL 380.1701 and MCL 380.1703, and Executive Reorganization
Order Nos. 1996-6 and 1996-7, MCL 388.993 and MCL 388.994. The
proposed changes will bring the administrative rules into alignment
with the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and
update outdated language.

In addition, the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic
Growth, State Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules will conduct
public hearings to receive public comments on the following proposed
administrative rule:

Due Process Procedures for Special Education (2009-049ED)

The rule is promulgated by authority conferred on the State Office of
Administrative Hearings and Rules by sections 1701 and 1703 of 1976 PA
451, MCL 380.1701 and 380.1703, and Executive Order 2005-1, MCL
445.2021. Rule 340.1883(3) contains an incorrect rule reference. The
current subrule references Rule 340.1881, a rule that was rescinded in
2005. Hence, this subrule must be amended to reflect the correct
reference (R 340.1724f).

The proposed rules are accessible on the Michigan Department of
Education, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services
Web site at www.michigan.gov/ose-eis under Spotlight. These rules
are published in the November 15, 2009, Michigan Register. The rules
are proposed to take effect upon the filing with the Secretary of State.

Public hearings for both rule sets will be held at the following sites:

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 3:30 8:00 p.m. at Wayne State
University Law School, Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium, 471 W. Palmer,
Detroit, Michigan 49202; and Wednesday, December 2, 2009 from 3:30
8:00 p.m. at Ingham Intermediate School District, Thorburn Education
Center, Conference Rooms B & C, 2630 West Howell Road, Mason, Michigan
48854.

Oral or written comment may be presented in person at the hearing or
submitted in writing by mail, e-mail, or facsimile no later than 5:00
p.m., December 18, 2009. All comment will be reviewed and considered
in the final version of the rules. Comments may be submitted to the
following:

Public Comment
Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services
Michigan Department of Education
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, MI 48909
Email: mde-ose@michigan.gov
Fax: 517-373-7504.

If special accommodations are needed to participate in the public
hearings, contact Meredith Hines at 517-373-0924 or email at hinesm@michigan.gov
by November 16, 2009.

Textbooks vs. Digital Media

2009-08-27T22:39:00.002-04:00

There is a current discussion along this thread on the Independent Schools Network which cites an article that was published in the Times: "In a Digital Future, Textbooks are History".

I love validation I must say and this was one of those times. Our school has not used textbooks for most courses for at least five years. Part of it was a cost factor combined with the amount of differentiation we do on a daily basis with multi-age classes for students with learning disabilities. Another reason was that there is rarely one textbook that includes what we want for all units in a good format. We determine the content and then supplement and with the advancement in technologies, we use quite a bit of digital text. Continuing to grow in this fashion, we are also finding that by posting links to this "text" on our wikispace, etc.. we are also negating the "I left it at school/home" factor and use an on-screen reader for those who need support that way. It's been quite powerful really!

Full Disclosure?

2009-08-12T22:31:00.002-04:00

Who needs to know you have or don't have ADHD? How do you explain without sounding like you're making excuses? Edge Foundation has a blog with resources for answering this exact question! Disclosing your ADHD: pros and cons

What is ADHD Really?

2009-08-12T22:11:00.004-04:00

Through a tweet, I found a great site out of Canada! Teach ADHD is a resource for teachers to begin to bring research into the classroom for kids with ADHD. What is the science behind how their brains work? How will this be seen in a classroom? What is the impact of these struggles?

ADHD is more than being active or distractable. Great resource!!!

Attention; Activity; or ADDed Awareness?

2009-07-23T09:20:00.001-04:00

"But why do I always get yelled at?” Please catch me doing something right and praise me for my specific positive behavior. Remind me (and yourself) about my good points, when I’m having a bad day. - from an ADHD Bill of Rights published in The Bigger Picture of ADHD/ADD That You Might Not Know.

When I describe my job to people and mention ADHD, I often hear things like "Oh, kids on medication"; or "Oh wow. You must be a saint."; or, "Hyper kids huh?". At other times, I've noticed ADHD becoming almost a buzz word for any person who forgets something, loses track of a thought, has a messy desk or has an energy build-up (even when it's really a caffiene build up). While those things may be not far off truth in appropriate context, they are certainly not a good full picture of what it is like to have ADHD or to work with those who do. In no way do these descriptions capture the talent and creativity in their energy; their unique way of looking at the world that can instigate change when children with ADHD become adults with ADHD.

In my web wanderings this week, I came across a wonderful posting that outlines a good understanding of the full picture of ADHD: The Bigger Picture of ADHD/ADD That You Might Not Know. I have to include that I am not very familiar with the site it is posted on having just seen it for the first time. I do not know who the author of this post was, but I do know that the content is accurate and extremely user-friendly information that can be (and maybe should be) passed on.

Teaching Kids Rather Than Grades: Is that Possible?

2009-06-27T15:12:00.004-04:00

Found some interesting commentary and link on a fellow blogger's site, regarding teaching to the development of the learner rather than grade placement based on age.

The End of Grade Levels
I believe there are solid pluses to this idea, which are some of the same reasons multi-age classes can be powerfully successful: less stigmatism for meeting, or not, some benchmark that has been placed on that grade level; the opportunity for students to learn more from each other; and teach kids to learn and truly work with others rather than segregate based on age. A discussion I started to have frequently this spring with some of our students was that only during your school years will you be surrounded by people your own age. In the workplace, or even college, you will have folks of all ages in your classes or environment and it is better to learn how to deal with both the positive and negatives of that, than it would be for me to not schedule freshmen in the juniors' classes when needed.

And, as with anything, there are certainly some negatives to prepare for: the stigma of not "keeping up" with peers will remain depending on how actual groupings are created; the the application of the concept so that slower learners are challenged and don't end up floating through an even bigger black hole of education.

Done correctly, we can instill a solid love of learning and build self-esteem which only benefits everyone. Many private LD schools have achieved this for quite some time. The challenge is how to set the expectations, implement them AND have people feel comfortable trusting that system.

Change is challenge and excitement all rolled together!!!

Screen Readers

2009-06-27T14:50:00.003-04:00

We use Universal Reader frequently at school, but have still struggled sometimes with a screen reader for a pdf file. Thanks to Twitter, I found a link with tips for setting yourself up for a screen reader for pdf files: RNIB.

Enjoy!

New Case Law

2009-06-23T22:16:00.001-04:00

According to a recent posting at Wrights Law, IDEA language requires that all states "to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities' to ensure that they receive needed special education services.". On June 22, 2009, the Supreme Court ruled on a case that will directly impact the delivery of a Free and Appopriate Education and determining what it means to have a disability in a public school. To read more of the Wrights Law article click here.

Focusing on the Need for Esteem

2009-05-20T09:19:00.003-04:00

Children of the Code is a project I have been following since it started. It is growing and serves as a vast resource for those interested in teaching or learning more about how children read.

The Children of the Code project has five major components:

1. A Television, DVD and Web documentary series;
2. A college, university, and professional development DVD series;
3. A cross-indexed website/database containing videos and transcripts of our interviews with the world's leading experts in fields related to reading;
4. A variety of professional development events for educators;
5. A series of presentations for parents, policy makers, and the general public.

video tour of CoTC project

RtI Resources

2009-05-10T20:55:00.005-04:00

LDA of Michigan has developed an RtI Blog to extend the learning available at our annual conference. This blog is focused on the topic of Response to Intervention (RtI)and is being offered as an outreach service of the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan to professional organizations and educational professionals. Enjoy!

disABILITY!!!!

2009-05-06T22:49:00.003-04:00

Bringing more awareness to learning disabilities:

There are many misconceptions about people with learning disabilities which can best be eased by education and/or personal experience. How easy it is for us to inwardly recoil when we hear “learning disability” and perhaps make a quick judgment about another person. How mistaken we are to assume that one with learning disabilities or even mental health problems is less of a person. The way Boyle has taken what seems to be a disability and has turned it into ability is the perfect example of the above definition of inspiration.

I really didn't know who Susan Boyle was, but I know that she has accomplished great things. That rocks!

Spaces for Teaching

2009-03-01T13:58:00.006-05:00

A recent post on Edutopia (Re-Creating Teaching Spaces, 2/5/09) has me thinking about space. I have read quite a bit about making sure our schools and classrooms are conducive to learning and usually this is geared to thinking about the students. What about the teacher? I always ran my classroom as a community of learners and that included me, the teacher.

I do not have the best skills as creating what may look like an orderly environment to outsiders, but it worked well. Often there were things hanging from the ceiling or posted on the cupboards - student artwork or organizational tools from one project or another. Student personalities blended with mine and it was a community; this was also the way I survived best.

It was important for me to be respectful of all my students and their needs. It was also important for me to tend to my needs if I expected to be good for anything all day long. The goal is learning; and how does that happen best. . . .

Stephen Hurley's posting got me thinking because a school is the workplace of a teacher. We have to live there as much, if not more than, the students. All is better if we provide openness for student needs. Why is it then that many teachers feel that their space is not supposed to be reflective of themselves? Why are all classrooms suppposed to look the same (or are they)? How is orderly defined in each classroom? I do think about this idea frequently, because I want to make sure to not overly-distract my students.

This fall, I transitioned into a different position this fall and now have an office rather than a classroom. I slowly eeked my personality into my office and no matter what I do, I cannot get away from piles. Neat piles, but piles none-the-less. As I moved things out of my classroom and tried to decide what to take home and what to store at school somewhere, I had haphazardly hung a plastic chestplate of armor (from our study of the middle ages)on a protruding nail in my office. I figured I would replace it with a calendar or some tasteful work of art for my professional space. That was August. The chestplate still hangs, without any context for new visitors, but my students prefer it there. My niece explained to me that it helps the office feel more like me. They still think it's not busy enough to reflect me, but they'll settle for leaving the chestplate on the wall. I'm okay with that - though I doubt that that type of learning community could ever be properly assessed on a test or report card....

"ADHD is not a disorder of attention"......

2008-12-05T21:20:00.007-05:00

... it is an issue of neurological self-regulation. How true, how true. ADHD is often becoming a buzz-word if someone acts impulsively or acts in a way that may seem disorganized to another person.

Once the concept of a "disability" enters the conservation, often a slight feeling of discomfort can enter the conversation with it. It completely depends on the experience of the individuals in the discussion as to what their perception of a disability is and ADHD is no exception. One of our parents explained to me once how frustrated she was when her son (I'll call him Jimmy Joe)took driver education. She mentioned to the instructor that her son had ADHD. She was ready to suggest that he sit near the front if he needed and that the Mr. X might just want to do a check periodically that Jimmy Joe was following the class discussions. Before she could do this, the instructor responded that "that [was] okay, you can come read him the tests". She was stunned and frustrated because Mr. X had assumed that Jimmy Joe couldn't read.

Another boy I knew was told when he was in middle school that he really shouldn't plan on going to college because his ADHD was "pretty severe you know" so he "really wouldn't get much". He was automatically treated as if he wasn't capable of the learning required in an academically rigorous setting.

In my web wanderings this evening, I stumbled across the NASET (National Association of Special Education Teachers) site and found a wonderful overview of ADHD. The more people can be educated in what ADHD really is, the more individuals with ADHD do not have to feel so stigmatized. Part of the overview explains:

The thinking difficulties associated with ADHD do not have to do with intellectual ability. Instead, they arise out of problems with concentration, memory, and cognitive organization.

To read this accurately, read it again. Intellectual ability is independent of concentration, memory and cognitive organization issues. . . . . . . . . an encouraging thought.

to Read More

Advocacy and the State of Special Education

2008-10-31T12:44:00.002-04:00

This is from a notice I receive via email. There are changes occurring the will directly affect special education more so than most changes over the past 10-15 years or so.

This Week's Live Chat
The State of Special Education in the U.S.

When: Monday, Nov. 3, 3 p.m. Eastern time. | Where: http://www.edweek-chat.org

Submit questions in advance.

EPE Research Center director Christopher Swanson will moderate a wide-ranging discussion among leading experts on the critical issues shaping special education in the nation's schools.

The nation's schools educate more than 6 million students with disabilities, about nine percent of the school-age population. Nearly one-third of those disabled students are of traditional high school age. A new report from the EPE Research Center, to be released Monday November 3, examines a variety of challenges central to understanding special education in the nation's high schools, including the types of educational settings in which services are provided, the diagnosis of disabilities, overrepresentation of particular student groups, school discipline, academic achievement, high school completion and transitions into adulthood.

This is the first in our monthlong series of online chats in which leading experts in the field will engage in a lively, in-depth dialogue on critical issues facing special education today.

More information on the monthlong chat series and the new report is available here.

About the Guests:

Candace Cortiella is director of the Advocacy Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Patricia Guard is the acting director of the Office of Special Education Programs, the division of the U.S. Department of Education serving the needs of children and youth with disabilities.

Patti Ralabate is a professional associate for special needs at the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union.

No special equipment other than Internet access is needed to participate in this text-based chat. A transcript will be posted shortly after the completion of the chat.

Inquiry, Inquiry, Inquiry

2008-09-13T16:58:00.003-04:00

I read a Teacher Leaders Network article at TeacherMagazine and I was not only laughing when I was done (the author has a very enjoyable style) but inspired. This teacher is writing to new teachers, but uses some very clear examples for simple strategies for being successful in teaching. It's not really curriculum focused, but there is more to surviving than curriculum like finding supplies, physical environment, attitude and incorporating life skills. To read more, check out Teaching Secrets: Thriving in the Science Classroom by Anne Jolly

"Going with the Flow"

2008-08-24T22:39:00.004-04:00

(photo taken by Will, 8th grade, 2008)

Our teachers report for in-service tomorrow and a friend sent me a book excerpt that I am going to use to focus our direction for this school year. I went to Flickr and set as A Fave a bunch of pictures that illustrated this passage and then made a slideshow at bighugelabs. I thought I'd post the passage and the slideshow here an an example of how I'm using things I've learned in this class. The passage is kind of long, but I liked how it reminds us that we have to balance the destination with the experience.

I am not sure that I cited the author of the pictures well enough, but live and learn I suppose......

Slide Show

From The Not So Big Life by Sarah Susanka

Going With the Flow

“Think of leaves on the surface of a stream. They’re floating along, carried by the current. Some drift from one side to the other as the stream flows along, whereas others appear to be floating more or less down the central channel. If you follow one particular leaf with your eyes, however, you’ll discover that a leaf that’s moving fast at one minute will be aimlessly sidelined a few minutes later, and a leaf that is slow moving at this minute will become speedy the next. Every leaf has its natural passage downstream, but if you were to try to write a script for each leaf and coordinate it with the scripts for all the other leaves, you would have a monumental task on your hands. If, in addition, you thought you were responsible for getting each leaf to its proper destination and if you believed that your not doing so would result in all the leaves bumping into one another and blocking their collective progress downstream, you’d be thinking like a typical micromanager, a ‘time obsesser”. If, on the other hand, you believed that no leaf should be forced to flow if it didn’t want to and that it was up to you to hold back the flow so that each leaf could exercise its free will, you’d be thinking like a “time resister”.

Neither approach is tenable. The river and the leaves will move and flow just the same, and all you’d be doing by obsessing or resisting would be burning yourself out.

At my Minneapolis architectural firm, we developed a personnel and project-management system that was based more on the dynamics of an unrestricted leaf flow than on time management. Although we were often met with raised eyebrows from colleagues in other companies when we described the system, it worked beautifully and continues to do so to this day. In most firms, the task of scheduling personnel typically falls on a single individual – usually one of the partners. With larger projects, where a number of people work on a single assignment for months at a time, this works well, but for a firm like ours, with many projects with unpredictable ebbs and flows, the normal management model for architectural firms was highly inefficient. So ours was a system invented out of necessity.

As the staff grew from two to five to ten and up to around forty-five by 1999, when I left, it became clear that if all of us – principals included – wanted to continue to engage in the activity we love most, designing, we’d have to develop a system that allowed for individuals to communicate easily and regularly with one another about their workloads, personnel needs, and time commitments. Trying to track and orchestrate personnel requirements for all the projects we had going at any one time would have been more than a full-time job, and not one that any of us would have relished.

By the time we were about ten people strong, the typical approach to scheduling wasn’t working well, so we decided to implement a weekly lunch meeting for all employees, at which we would share our current work needs and obligations. They beauty of the system was that it allowed all of us to identify our needs from our particular perspective and permitted the firm as a whole to responds. So a draftsman was able to let all of us know that in two weeks he’s be available to work on a new project because his current work was coming to an end. A project architect was able to indicate that she needed an architecture student with good model-making and drawing skills to help with two remodeling projects. Another project architect could let us know that one of his biggest projects had been put on hold that he needed more work ASAP.

As each person spoke, others around the table could indicate their availability or their ability to provide work for someone else. And without any apparent effort, matters always seemed to work out. The meetings allowed us to see into the near future without making complex charts, and they kept us from attempting to fix and make concrete a flow that was constantly moving and changing…..

What most of us don’t fully understand but this system acknowledges, more or less by accident, is that when things are allowed to flow, they get resolved. They resolve themselves in the moment and not through planning or trying to take control of the process. When leaves are allowed to move freely, as our workload lunch meetings proved time after time, they find their way downstream almost effortlessly. In so doing, for purposes of this metaphor, , they are perfectly present in their activity of floating. They are doing what’s in front of them to do – moving with the current – and in the process, as a by-product of their engagement, they’re moving downstream. The objective of each leaf is not movement downstream, but engagement with the current, which results in the experience of floating.

It’s when we try to make a script to follow exactly or when we ignore the passage of time entirely that we get into trouble, just as the leaves would if they tried to get to the right place at the right moment or if they struggled to stay put rather than where the current was taking them. We assume that what’ important is the movement downstream – the destination – when in fact it’s the involvement with ourselves and with one another in each new moment that really matter, that bring satisfaction and meaning into our lives. And that involvement, of course, is the journey – the process of engaging fully in every experience that comes your way. . . .

It’s not that preplanning is either good or bad, but you have to use discernment to determine what requires some planning and what can be allowed to unfold. For the time-obsessed, it’s the contrivance of preplanning every interaction, the “efforting” involved in the implementation of that plan, and the lack of unscripted time in which to do what really needs to be done in the moment that cause problems. For the time-resistant, it’s the determination to stay free of time’s limiting characteristics, the absence of any planning whatsoever, and the resulting lack of awareness of what really needs to be done in the moment that cause frustration. Either approach keeps you out of the natural flow, separated from the knowledge that everything is moving exactly as it needs to; in truth, there’s not a leaf out of place”.

Educational Transformation

2008-08-20T22:57:00.002-04:00

Technology is a tool that can change teaching and learning. How is technology used in a classroom? The New York Times has an essay, At School, Technology Starts to Turn a Corner, that looks at just that this week. How are you using your computers? For internet searches and as a basic library replacement? Or as a tool to facilitate your teaching and learning?

Sir Mark says he is convinced that advances in computing, combined with improved understanding of how to tailor the technology to different students, can help transform education.

“This is the best Trojan horse for causing change in schools that I have ever seen,” he said.

Technology is the one tool that can even the school-playing field for students of all learning levels. How will you be part of the transformation?

Barto is a Lifelong Learner

2008-08-17T22:59:00.005-04:00

I know that I've been blogging for a bit and have developed a few wikispaces, but I often feel like I know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to really know what I'm doing. So I signed up for Web 2.0 through our ISD. I'll be honest, I have never understood what Web 2.0 was or was not and I am thoroughly enjoying this experience! I get to "play" with all kinds of tools on the Web (which I love to do) and get credit for it! One of our first assignments was to view a video on Life Long Learning and to set up a blog to keep track of our progress. I thought I'd pop it in here too as an example of life long learning in action!

View the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

Barto's Becoming Web Wise. Feel free to stop by and check out my progress.

Math Research May Be Starting to Catch Up

2008-07-20T13:51:00.004-04:00

The regulations for Public Law (P.L.) 101-476, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), formerly P.L. 94-142, the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), define a learning disability as a "disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations." (from Kidsource at NICHCY)

Since RTI has been evolving, one of my biggest concerns is that the areas of learning disabilities that are not reading based will not be serviced well. There are a plethora of research-based remediations and teaching methods now available for reading instruction, at least for the early years, and not much for the other areas of learning disabilities. I read some web entries today that has given me hope that math may be catching up, though I still question how soon solid interventions will be able to be put into place to assist our young ones with dyscalculia soon enough.

Dyscalculia Research Reveals Possible Cause by Amanda Windom

Down for the Count by Laura Blue, in Time Magazine

Reader's Digest Support for Non-Profits

2008-07-16T20:39:00.002-04:00

I realize that I have quoted this whole blog entry, but it's awesome!! What a great way to highlight someone you appreciate and help your favorite non-profit at the same time!

* Inspiring People

"Make it Matter" is a new initiative of the Reader’s Digest Foundation. The Foundation will give away $1 million to nonprofit organizations based on inspiring stories submitted by the public.

Every month for ten months, Reader’s Digest will choose one individual whose story of giving back serves as an inspiration to others. For each story, the Reader’s Digest Foundation will donate $100,000 to a nonprofit organization that is associated either with the story or the cause. These individuals and their stories of giving back will appear every month in the new "Make it Matter" column in Reader’s Digest and on rd.com, beginning with the April issue.

Stories can be submitted at http://www.rd.com/makeitmatter.do.

Sensory Integration and a Tube of Toothpaste

2008-07-10T13:28:00.002-04:00

I have been fortunate to work with a few little guys this summer who I am sure have some pretty severe sensory integration issues and this morning a wonderful comparison popped into my mind (does anyone out there have a white board that could work to catch the amazing thoughts that come to me in the shower?). Anyway, I was musing on how frustrating it is to know that they have not been diagnosed and know that some of their behaviors could be addressed with therapies at the same time I was reminding myself that many people, including school personnel, do not understand sensory integration very well. It is still a newer concept outside of the autistic world, but one that can have significant advantages for many of our ADHD, ODD or OCD children without the full autism spectrum challenges. I find myself often explaining children to teachers and parents right now using sensory references, so here's my new one:

A child with sensory issues can be like a tube of toothpaste. After a few squeezes (stimulus), the tube is no longer even. Sometimes, it fills up at the top, sometimes it fills at the bottom and sometimes there's just a gap in the middle. To get some toothpaste out, you often have to smooth it back out in some fashion, and you certainly have to take the cap off when there's too much pressure. However, squeeze too hard and everything explodes! Even the folks who roll up their tube at the bottom have to adjust it every day to maintain their acceptable amount of pressure in the toothpaste tube.

That tube of toothpaste now reminds me of many of my students. They need to be stimulated appropriately, or squeezed sometimes, but not too hard or too soft. And when the pressure is on from any stimulus, things might blow and they will not stop blowing on their own in these kids. The tube needs to be rebalanced.

I expect that I will now be taking extra tubes of toothpaste with me to presentations from now on :).

Kids Have Energy, We Need to Help Them Use It Well

2008-06-29T11:12:00.003-04:00

Kids are full of life. Sometimes it spills out of them in a whirlwind of activity. Incredibly, the simplest sensory integration tool can be the most effective vehicle to harness and direct their energy.

I love how they phrase this! Some of the simplest tools I've used are:

Balance and Movement

A "wiggle seat", which Viking calls a Seat Cushion. They can be used to build core balance and strength but they also allow any stationary seat to be a little more movable. Students sit on them, put them on the floor and balance their feet on them, and a few occasionally push their heads into them for 10 seconds or so to "reset" themselves. These seats are portable and can be taken from room to room which is a huge plus. At home,we have used one at the dinner table, we have put in in the booster seat for long trips, we have taken it to church to use on the pews, to softball games for on the bleachers and have even used one as an "extra" seat on the floor.

Balance boards also work wonders. I found one at an Odd Lots store and it is the most demanded tool I have at school, with all ages! Some use it under their feet while they are sitting, some stand on it for short bursts and I have one that stands on it to read and another stands on when she has a longer writing assignment.

Massage/Tactile Options
I picked up some small massage knobs (for lack of a better term) at a local Dollar Store. One version looked like a small brush and one had more knobby bristles. These are great for a quick pick me up once a class or so and one boy likes to keep one in reach and rub it on his leg periodically which helps reset his attention.

Another teacher found some inexpensive massage tools like this that vibrate and the elementary students use these at times. Viking Fitness also has vibrating pillows available and there are many other options online I'm sure.

At home, we have a pad that goes on the couch and we can set it to heat (for my fibro days this is great) and can set it to vibrate also, which works well in short bursts once a day for my daughter. If she is getting out of sorts or we know we'll be going somewhere that will overload her senses, she parks on the vibrating cushion for 5-10 minutes - fun and effective!

Fidget Tools and Fine Motor

We bought one of these for my daughter and I love it - so does she. It's portable and soothing and all one piece. You can take it apart I think, but that is not the goal which can help it be less distracting.

Other options I've used in the classroom include stones (from a planter that broke), fabric swatches, placing small strips of velcro and some smooth fabric on notebook covers, we use TheraPutty and squishy balls, I've also used hand grippers from the Dollar Store or twisty stick. I know these have a different name, but they are from the craft section of some store and don't have pointy ends like pipe cleaners or bent paper clips.

Some Sources for Sensory Tools
Our best resource is our OT at school. She is full of ideas and is great at finding cost affordable options. Her favorite easy recommendation is a water bottle. Sucking is one of the most soothing actions for the nervous system apparently and water is great.

Be sure to browse your local Dollar Store, Target or Odd Lots. Thing tactile and think management. Lots of pieces will be found all over!

I have found that when looking for ideas or materials on the internet, I can find some things by searching with sensory integration, but I find more at occupational therapy sites. Most of them even have separate sections just for sensory tools.

Some places I like on the web:
* Viking Fitness, Grand Rapids, MI and on the web
* Dream Catcher Weighted Blankets (these are a little pricey for classroom use, but a great resource to recommend to parents)
* Therapro - discount occupational therapy supplies.

Education about Fibromyalgia

2008-06-27T23:38:00.002-04:00

Fibro is a part of who I am and has turned out to be something else that people need to be educated about. A website I recently found that is great for those with fibro or for those who are trying to learn more about it to support someone else is Fibromyalgia Awareness.

Interestingly, one of the difficulties for people with fibro is sleep regulation, which is also a common problem with people who have attention issues. This page has some successful suggestions for sleep regulation which are worth a look even if the other fibro information is not of use to you.

Thinking on the Positive Side

2008-06-27T21:32:00.004-04:00

I love to find ways to remind myself that not only what I do is important, but that also remind me how to maintain a healthy balance. I just came across one in the blogsphere courtesy of Marja in her blog Dutch Corner: Golfballs and Two Glasses of Wine.

I am also enjoying Marj's blog this evening because she provides information and insight on living with learning disabilities. I love how she is realistic and honest about the struggles but still paints a positive picture. Recently she illustrated an awesome point, one that dovetails with my own personal philosophies:

Obstacles add interest to the flow

They surely do! She is an inspiration - thanks Marj!

Opportunity to Impact The Developmental Disabilities Act

2008-06-27T20:51:00.005-04:00

From LDA of America's Stateline e-news (June 20, 2008):

Fellowship Opportunities

The Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation is seeking outstanding leaders who are parents / family members of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities or professionals with a specialty in intellectual disability who are working towards the enhancement of inclusive services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is an intensive one-year public policy fellowship in Washington DC. These are fantastic opportunities to work on Capitol Hill or in a federal agency. Please see the announcements from the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation (ParentFellowshipAnnouncement2008-2009.pdf ProfessionalFellowshipAnnouncement2008-2009.pdf) for more information. The deadline is August 15, 2008.

From the Announcement:

The coming year offers exciting opportunities to be involved in policy and legislative development in key areas such as The Developmental Disabilities Act, special education, health and mental health care for persons with disabilities, disability civil rights, child care, housing, justice, child welfare and other areas related to improving the quality of life for individuals with mental
retardation/intellectual disabilities.

Too true, too true!