Search Results for: blog youre in big trouble when your special needs child

Bullying: Do You Know Your Child’s Classmates?

Wednesday when I was getting ready for a Halloween extravaganza at my house, the phone rang. “Mrs. Crow? This is Kyle’s teacher. I’m calling because I need to let you know about something that happened to him last week during school.” Immediately I knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant conversation. She continued: “Last Thursday I had to leave the classroom for a while, and meanwhile my aide was dealing with a behavioral problem with one of the students in the hallway. So while there was nobody in the room…um…well, a couple of boys started picking on Kyle, calling him … Continue reading →

Teach Your Child How to Dream

I’m a firm believer that children need to be taught how to dream. By “dream,” I mean having a driving hope for the future—a clear concept or idea of what they want to do or be. Every child needs to learn this, and children with special needs are no exception. Some children develop a dream for their lives from early childhood, but many children must be taught to dream. These are the kids that shrug their shoulders and say, “I dunno,” when asked about their future plans. Why Dream? A child with a dream has greater motivation to achieve. Children … Continue reading →

Prizes for Good Behavior?

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In a previous article, I discussed various procedures that teachers use to report behavior to parents. In addition to reporting a student’s behavior, a teacher must also manage a student’s behavior while the child is in the classroom. Teachers do this in many different ways. I can remember the standard way of monitoring student behavior while I was in school was the name and check system. If a child misbehaved, the teacher would write the child’s name on the board. If the child continued to misbehave he or she would receive check marks beside of his or her name. Today’s … Continue reading →

How Teachers Report Behavior

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Recently the group of kindergarten teachers met at my school. One topic that was discussed was our method of informing parents about behavior. Different teachers have different ideas of when and how to send home behavior notices. Some teachers prefer to send home a weekly report on Friday. Others only notify parents if the child has been in trouble. I feel that neither of the above is effective for the child, the parents, or the teacher. I send home a behavior notice each day. The mind of a kindergarten child works best on short-term thinking. If a child has a … Continue reading →

8 Difficult Autistic Behaviors (And Why They Happen)

Children with autism have numerous challenging behaviors for parents to deal with. Sometimes the behaviors seem to make no sense whatsoever. The child might seem unreachable, temperamental, and impossible to deal with. However, when we take a look at the underlying deficits that contribute to the problems, we can gain a better understanding. And with a little understanding, we are better equipped to find ways to help. The following is a list of eight typical behaviors of an autistic child, and their likely causes. This is not an exhaustive list of all autism symptoms, and some autistic children will only … Continue reading →

The WRONG Way to Praise Your Child

Is there ever a wrong way to praise your son or daughter? Every child needs to hear that he or she is loved, appreciated, and good at something. Giving your child positive feedback can build confidence, self-esteem, and create an ongoing desire to keep trying. However, if you’re not careful, your compliments can have the opposite result. Praise requires balance to be effective. Here are three “don’ts” when it comes to praising your child: Don’t use the same phrase over and over again. Saying “Good girl,” repeatedly sounds like training language for a dog. Even “good job,” “awesome,” or “wow” … Continue reading →

How to Use the Naughty Stool (And Make it Your Friend)

There are all kinds of names for it. You know what I’m talking about–THE chair. The chair of last resort. The chair of no return. It’s been called the “naughty stool,” or “time-out,” or “the chill-out chair.” No matter what you call it, it can be a parent’s friend and ally if it’s used correctly. Children with disabilities are certainly not immune from needing a time-out on the chair. In fact, they may need the visual, concrete, and predictable aspect of the chair more than most. The problem is that parents often get sloppy using it. In this blog, I’m … Continue reading →

Making In-School Suspension Work

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In-school suspension. Does it really work? Is it really effective? Many teachers and schools believe that having students who are suspended serve the suspension in school is much better than having students serve the suspension outside of school. After all, students are bound to learn a lesson if they are in school being monitored and given work to do rather than at home where they may potentially goof off. Due to this, many schools are reevaluating their in-school suspension strategy to work a bit better and be more beneficial to the student. In essence, schools are trying to make this … Continue reading →

Don’t Get Frustrated–Take A New Look at Your Child’s Behavior

Sometimes developmentally delayed children will exhibit behaviors which are hard to understand. That’s because the behavior is occurring at an age when we typically wouldn’t see it happening in ordinary kids. For example, if a two-year-old hits another child, as a parent we might say “Let’s not hit,” but we don’t become tremendously concerned. A two-year-old hitting another toddler is normal behavior. But if an eight-year-old hits his peer, it’s more troubling. Most eight-year-olds have learned that hitting someone else is wrong. It’s important to remember that in the special needs child, inappropriate behaviors may have a purpose. The child … Continue reading →

Is Your Kid Having a Meltdown Day? Try “DROPPING” It

We’ve all had one of those days–especially with a behaviorally-disordered child–where everything just goes wrong. You know the kind: your kid is constantly frustrated. He’s having multiple tantrums and refusals. Everthing makes him come unglued. He won’t listen and won’t settle down. Maybe he causes a scene in a public place or gets in trouble at school. And you’d just like to dive into a black hole and disappear. Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A., in her fabulous book The Out-of-Sync Child has Fun, suggests that we just “drop it.” What does she mean? Here are the seven drops: 1. Drop Your … Continue reading →