How to Use the Brandywine Special Needs PTA Forum

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From Teaching Exceptional Children
By Gail B. Adams

Aaron is a 13-year-old eighth grader. Although he is extremely bright, he just cannot seem to keep up with his schoolwork. He is not lazy, but he has difficulty working when his mind keeps telling him, as he says, “a bunch of crazy things.” Sometimes he has to count how many times he breathes or how many steps he takes. He also has to hold his breath whenever he passes air vents; he believes that germs emanate from them. And then there is his fear of germs on doorknobs. Whenever he has to touch a doorknob in one of his classrooms, his heart begins to race, and he feels shaky; he is petrified that he will become ill. To combat the fear that he has contaminated his hands, he has to wash them seven times—seven is his magic number. He just tells his teachers that he needs to go to the bathroom, and then he engages in his washing rituals. So far, his teachers have not caught on to what he is doing.

From International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
By Susan Keck and Scott C. Kinney

The personal ancedote (below), How Failure Made a Difference, illustrates a very simple, yet often overlooked truth about our students; they are not all the same. A committed educator not only accepts students’ differences but also acts on them by differentiating his or her instructional practices. This means that differentiating instruction is not something we do on Fridays; it is what we do every day in the classroom so that every student’s learning needs are met. According to well-respected DI proponent Carol Ann Tomlinson, differentiation “occurs as teachers become increasingly proficient in understanding their students as individuals, increasingly comfortable with the meaning and structure of the disciplines they teach, and increasingly expert at teaching flexibly in order to match instruction to student need with the goal of maximizing the potential of each learner in a given area.”

From National Institute for Literacy
By Paula J. Stanovich and Keith E. Stanovich

In the recent move toward standards-based reform in public education, many educational reform efforts require schools to demonstrate that they are achieving educational outcomes with students performing at a required level of achievement. Federal and state legislation, in particular, has codified this standards-based movement and tied funding and other incentives to student achievement.

From www.schwablearning.org
by Richard D. Lavoie, M.A., M.Ed

A dynamic relationship exists between self-esteem and skill development. As a child improves in self-esteem, his academic competence increases. And as that competence increases, his self-esteem improves. The caring and concerned caregiver must come to realize that positive self-esteem is both a prerequisite and a consequence of academic success. Here are 20 tips to help foster a child’s self-esteem:

From www.coultervideo.com.
by Dan Coulter

If your child is diagnosed with a significant disability, disorder or condition, it's pretty common to start a frantic search for answers. Is there a cure? If there's no cure, where's the manual I can use to do exactly the right things to help my child make his life as good as it can possibly be?

How do I deal with his behaviors? Can I help him change them? Should I? Should she be medicated? Should she go to public or private school? What kind of doctor should he see? What should I tell her siblings? Can I help him learn to support himself when he grows up? What should I do about this and this and this?

From The Arc

What is mental retardation?
The definition used most often in the United States is from the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR). According to AAMR, mental retardation is a disability that occurs before age 18. It is characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills. It is diagnosed through the use of standardized tests of intelligence and adaptive behavior. AAMR points out that both functioning and adaptive behavior are affected positively by individualized supports (AAMR, 2002).

"Your Grandchild has a Disability". Most likely, these are words you never expected to hear. Maybe you have been repeating them over and over to yourself since the birth of your grandchild, trying desperately to understand what they really mean. You are not alone. Many grandparents who have grandchildren born with a disability go through the same wrenching process.

From The National Association of Private Special Education Centers (NAPSEC)

Choosing an appropriate private special education facility for a child can be a complicated and involved process. NAPSEC has compiled these suggestions for parents who are considering a private special education placement for their child.

One Child at a Time: A Parent Handbook and Resource Directory for African American Families with Children Who Learn Differently was developed by the National Association for the Education of African American Children with Learning Disabilities (NAEAACLD) to increase awareness and promote an understanding of the issues facing African American children with learning disabilities.