School Administrators and ASD Part 1

Annette Wragge Author

01/25/2023 Added

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[00:00:01.272]Hello and welcome to our webinar today.
[00:00:03.240]This webinar is part
[00:00:04.560]of our Tri-State Autism Spectrum Disorder webinar series,
[00:00:08.376]which is brought to you
[00:00:09.840]by the Colorado Department of Education,
[00:00:13.620]the Kansas Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports Network,
[00:00:17.760]and the Nebraska Autism Spectrum Disorders Network.
[00:00:21.690]We're glad you could join us today.
[00:00:25.213]Our presentation today is on school administrators
[00:00:27.450]and autism spectrum disorders,
[00:00:30.472]and this is part one of this webinar.
[00:00:32.100]Today we're gonna answer frequently asked questions
[00:00:34.890]that we have received from administrators over the years,
[00:00:38.850]and then part two next week is actually going to be advice
[00:00:42.412]from current school administrators,
[00:00:44.970]so definitely tune in for that as well.
[00:00:47.760]This webinar today is presented by me, Annette Wragge.
[00:00:52.056]I am the state coordinator
[00:00:53.668]for the ASD Network in Nebraska,
[00:00:55.290]and you can see my contact information there on the screen
[00:00:58.710]if you wanna reach out to me after this webinar.
[00:01:02.310]So to kind of set the stage for our webinar today,
[00:01:05.460]we wanted to reference the, this Wallace Foundation study
[00:01:09.210]that was originally done in 2004 and 2021.
[00:01:13.557]And one of the main conclusions from this study
[00:01:16.500]is that leadership in terms of like administrators
[00:01:19.890]in school settings is second only to classroom instruction
[00:01:23.400]among all school-related factors
[00:01:26.232]that contribute to what students learn at school,
[00:01:29.929]so that's really powerful.
[00:01:31.992]I mean, the takeaway there is that leadership in schools
[00:01:34.290]is so very important.
[00:01:36.630]In 2021,
[00:01:37.875]there was a subsequent publication from the Wallace Group
[00:01:41.430]that was done to reflect just the changes that have happened
[00:01:44.520]since the earlier study in 2004.
[00:01:47.280]And some of the things that came out
[00:01:48.930]of the more recent look into this issue
[00:01:51.630]is that effective principles are at least as important
[00:01:57.016]for student achievements as previous reports had concluded,
[00:01:59.430]and likely it was understated, right?
[00:02:02.430]So they're likely even more important
[00:02:04.560]in relation to student achievement
[00:02:06.630]than had been originally thought.
[00:02:09.270]Principals have substantively important effects
[00:02:12.960]that extend beyond student achievement.
[00:02:16.140]A couple other things to note is that effective principles
[00:02:19.256]orient their practice
[00:02:20.790]towards instructionally focused interactions with teachers,
[00:02:24.570]building a productive school climate,
[00:02:26.580]facilitating collaboration
[00:02:28.740]and professional learning communities,
[00:02:30.900]and strategic personnel and resource program management.
[00:02:34.740]Additionally, principals must,
[00:02:36.510]effective principals develop an equity lens,
[00:02:39.540]and are called on to meet the needs
[00:02:41.820]of growing numbers of marginalized students.
[00:02:44.910]And so we wanted to just start this webinar
[00:02:46.920]with drawing attention to really how important
[00:02:50.370]school administrators are in all of these ways, right?
[00:02:55.050]Looking at student achievement,
[00:02:57.120]looking at collaborating with teachers,
[00:02:59.010]really helping teachers
[00:03:00.480]and weighing in on instructional strategies,
[00:03:03.480]their impact on the school climate, and certainly,
[00:03:06.420]developing a climate in schools
[00:03:09.300]that supports marginalized students
[00:03:12.362]and that could also include students with disabilities
[00:03:15.002]that we're gonna talk about today.
[00:03:17.199]So on our agenda today, we're just gonna answer
[00:03:19.170]some of the frequently asked questions
[00:03:21.599]that we have received over the years
[00:03:22.800]from school administrators on how they support students
[00:03:26.740]with autism in school settings.
[00:03:27.990]So let's get started.
[00:03:30.038]One quick note, our format today,
[00:03:32.160]we're gonna have some call-in questions
[00:03:34.650]that are from our ASD team.
[00:03:36.930]They have a little fun with it,
[00:03:38.580]posing some questions that they have heard
[00:03:40.620]from school administrators over the years.
[00:03:42.650]So we definitely wanna give credit where credit's due.
[00:03:45.300]A recent presentation that we heard from Karen Haase
[00:03:48.180]at the Tri-State Law Conference,
[00:03:51.030]where she used this format of calls
[00:03:53.910]regarding frequently asked questions that she received.
[00:03:56.640]So kudos to Karen,
[00:03:57.990]it kind of inspired our format for this webinar.
[00:04:00.750]So let's listen to question number one.
[00:04:02.670]Okay, so this is Nicole.
[00:04:05.130]And I just have a quick question for you.
[00:04:07.200]We've had kids with autism in our school before,
[00:04:09.990]and this kid doesn't do any of those things,
[00:04:12.000]like he makes good eye contact, he doesn't hand flap,
[00:04:15.780]I mean, he even talks,
[00:04:17.250]but he came to school with a prescription from the doctor.
[00:04:21.330]So now what do I do?
[00:04:24.298]Okay, so question number one,
[00:04:26.280]what do we do about students with autism?
[00:04:28.830]They may not look like other students that we've had.
[00:04:32.520]And then also, there was a note in there
[00:04:34.860]about a prescription from a doctor.
[00:04:36.660]So I'm actually gonna address that first.
[00:04:39.600]Frequently over the years,
[00:04:41.100]we have received calls from schools
[00:04:43.410]when they have been brought a prescription by a parent,
[00:04:47.310]you know, from a doctor or an outside provider.
[00:04:49.950]And the bottom line for schools is that educational services
[00:04:53.760]are based on IEP team decisions, right?
[00:04:57.930]So while we could certainly consider,
[00:05:01.050]and we should consider input from outside providers,
[00:05:05.070]especially if they know the student,
[00:05:06.630]they've done really good evaluations,
[00:05:08.880]we should consider that information as part of,
[00:05:12.090]you know, all of what we know about the student.
[00:05:14.799]But just a note that says, you know,
[00:05:19.080]however many hours a week of ABA services for a student
[00:05:23.130]would not be something
[00:05:24.600]that just ultimately drives educational programming.
[00:05:27.870]The IEP team gathering information about the student
[00:05:31.470]through the MDT process initially
[00:05:34.080]and whenever re-evals are done
[00:05:37.440]and additionally through their ongoing assessments,
[00:05:40.620]those are the things that we wanna use
[00:05:42.360]to drive educational programming, so not prescriptions,
[00:05:45.960]but the other issue was, you know, what do,
[00:05:48.960]this student doesn't look like other students
[00:05:51.559]that this administrator has had with autism.
[00:05:53.498]And so that brings us to one of the questions
[00:05:56.730]that we really wanted to answer, which is,
[00:05:58.560]why is it important for administrators and staff
[00:06:01.470]to understand autism and the autism spectrum?
[00:06:05.760]Really the basis for that question is important
[00:06:08.715]because autism really is a spectrum disorder.
[00:06:11.970]So you may have one student with autism who's non-verbal
[00:06:16.020]and looks a certain way,
[00:06:17.760]and that might be your experience with autism.
[00:06:20.310]And so when you get other students
[00:06:22.682]and students that look very differently,
[00:06:24.420]maybe highly verbal, (laughs) and, you know,
[00:06:27.450]a different range of cognitive abilities,
[00:06:30.210]it's hard to kind of wrap your head around
[00:06:32.730]that these are both students with autism.
[00:06:34.050]And the truth is that we have students
[00:06:35.820]on both ends of that spectrum and everywhere in between.
[00:06:39.510]And so one of the best interventions,
[00:06:42.150]I say this in most trainings that I do,
[00:06:44.700]one of the best interventions for administrators,
[00:06:47.370]for parents,
[00:06:48.390]for teachers is simply understanding the autism spectrum.
[00:06:52.440]We are better equipped to serve students with autism
[00:06:55.680]if we have a good understanding
[00:06:57.120]of what the autism spectrum includes.
[00:06:59.632]So autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability
[00:07:04.050]that can cause significant social communication
[00:07:06.540]and behavioral challenges.
[00:07:08.460]And according to the Center for Disease Control,
[00:07:11.910]1 in 44 children are impacted.
[00:07:14.400]So what that means to you in schools
[00:07:16.890]is you're going to have students (laughs) with autism,
[00:07:18.390]right?
[00:07:19.410]Most schools have more than 44 students,
[00:07:22.110]and so whether you have one right now or not, you will,
[00:07:25.170]right?
[00:07:26.003]You will have students with autism in your schools.
[00:07:28.592]Quite a few features that directly impact learning,
[00:07:30.990]the very first one is something that's, you know,
[00:07:33.912]fairly common in individuals with autism
[00:07:37.195]and other disabilities, but attention difficulties,
[00:07:41.250]and so sometimes that it really manifests
[00:07:43.680]into a comorbid condition of ADHD or ADD.
[00:07:47.490]But also sometimes we have students who struggle a bit
[00:07:50.640]with attention,
[00:07:52.272]and we have to think about that when we set up the room
[00:07:53.670]and we think about where they're doing their work,
[00:07:56.460]and we also have to think about strategies
[00:07:58.920]to keep them on task
[00:08:00.300]when there are some competing interests.
[00:08:03.832]And you can see some of the other ways
[00:08:04.740]that directly impact learning.
[00:08:06.600]And so we're gonna talk about training later
[00:08:10.755]that can help your staff address some of those things.
[00:08:13.320]Working with individuals with autism
[00:08:15.180]has truly been one of the greatest experiences of my life.
[00:08:18.600]I have learned so much from individuals with autism,
[00:08:22.320]and I just am so appreciative of a brain
[00:08:25.235]that works so differently (laughs) than mine, right?
[00:08:28.350]That sees the world so differently.
[00:08:30.240]So we just wanna appreciate the strengths
[00:08:32.160]and we really wanna provide our students some feedback
[00:08:35.280]on the things that they are doing really well.
[00:08:37.470]So look for things that students with autism are doing well,
[00:08:40.590]and definitely let them know that if you see it.
[00:08:43.050]But we often see kids that can learn and follow rules
[00:08:46.740]once they've been taught,
[00:08:48.030]also have this ability to take a topic or a special interest
[00:08:51.960]and really go all in, right?
[00:08:54.690]So they can learn all kinds of things about a certain topic
[00:08:57.990]or various special interests over the years,
[00:09:00.986]and that's pretty cool.
[00:09:02.130]Strong visual performance skills is often something
[00:09:04.950]that individuals with autism have
[00:09:07.110]as well as good rote memory as I mentioned before,
[00:09:10.047]and then probably my favorite
[00:09:11.850]is just how honest individuals with autism are.
[00:09:15.780]If you need a truth bomb (laughs)
[00:09:18.810]or you need to be told something about maybe the cologne
[00:09:22.920]or perfume you're wearing, (laughs)
[00:09:24.390]or my favorite is one of the individuals
[00:09:27.990]I'm pretty close with always tells me
[00:09:30.407]my laugh is really loud, and he's right, right?
[00:09:33.303]But individuals with autism are really good at honesty,
[00:09:36.990]and they're gonna tell us what they think,
[00:09:38.760]they're not really good at being deceptive.
[00:09:41.741]And so I certainly appreciate the honesty
[00:09:45.300]that I get from them.
[00:09:47.783]That is not enough to kind of give you a foundation
[00:09:49.770]of autism and the characteristics of autism.
[00:09:52.680]So I wanted to draw your attention to some webinars
[00:09:56.100]that we have available,
[00:09:57.630]and that the information on the screen is simply explaining
[00:10:01.230]that we have worked with the states of Kansas and Colorado,
[00:10:04.440]and many of you are here from those states for this webinar
[00:10:08.190]to develop a really robust webinar series.
[00:10:11.550]And on the Nebraska page,
[00:10:13.380]I know I have people from other states joining,
[00:10:16.380]but on the Nebraska website,
[00:10:18.270]when you log into our webpage or our webinars,
[00:10:23.310]you can see that there's a little section that says,
[00:10:26.234]"New To Autism?
[00:10:27.067]Check out our introductory webinars
[00:10:29.040]to start learning today!"
[00:10:30.360]And you can click on that button,
[00:10:32.070]and there are introductory, you know,
[00:10:34.530]just kind of really quick overviews about autism spectrum
[00:10:38.070]that could help you, certainly help some of your staff
[00:10:40.950]just learn the basics of autism.
[00:10:43.620]And I promise you that will be a really good
[00:10:46.230]foundational intervention to have in place
[00:10:48.870]as you work to really support students with autism.
[00:10:52.530]We have lots of other topics
[00:10:53.760]if you need more advanced training on autism,
[00:10:56.850]and we are gonna talk
[00:10:57.690]a little bit more about training later.
[00:11:00.630]Okay, so let's move on to question number two.
[00:11:05.019]Hey, Annette, I have this new kid,
[00:11:06.630]and man, he is really smart, like top of the class,
[00:11:09.720]he is testing at the highest level of some of our kiddos.
[00:11:13.440]And but the parents share that he's got autism, but man,
[00:11:17.100]I just really don't think that he needs any support
[00:11:19.800]because he is doing so great.
[00:11:21.180]So I just didn't know, like, does he really,
[00:11:23.777]I just don't think that he's gonna need an IEP,
[00:11:26.427]but just wanted to ask you what you thought.
[00:11:28.770]And so let's take a look at that.
[00:11:31.257]So what do we do with those students
[00:11:32.501]that seemingly have a lot of skills, right?
[00:11:34.890]So I'm gonna talk about Nebraska,
[00:11:36.570]but this is also very relevant for Kansas and Colorado.
[00:11:40.020]So in Nebraska, each school's district are,
[00:11:42.810]we're responsible for providing special education services
[00:11:47.400]and/or related services to all eligible students,
[00:11:50.550]birth to 21, who've been identified with a disability, okay?
[00:11:55.050]And one of the disabilities in it's Rule 51 in Nebraska
[00:11:58.620]is autism.
[00:11:59.730]And so we have to consider
[00:12:01.920]if students fall under the autism disability category
[00:12:05.010]for special education services.
[00:12:07.230]So now let's talk about, do we evaluate, again,
[00:12:10.500]we're talking about this smart kiddo per, you know,
[00:12:13.590]at first glance, right?
[00:12:15.330]Testing at a high level,
[00:12:16.530]but parents are talking about autism.
[00:12:18.720]So we've kind of come up with this statement,
[00:12:22.170]and I know our colleagues in Kansas and Colorado
[00:12:25.350]feel the same, but this is really good guidance to you
[00:12:30.270]reiterated by recent attendance
[00:12:32.910]at our Tri-State Law Conference,
[00:12:35.160]where lawyers who consider all of the landscape
[00:12:39.182]that's going on nationally on this very topic weighed in
[00:12:43.260]and gave the same guidance.
[00:12:44.610]But when there is debate, evaluate, okay?
[00:12:47.850]Specifically, if a parent requests an evaluation, (laughs)
[00:12:51.328]the best thing you can do is proceed with an evaluation.
[00:12:54.960]Okay?
[00:12:55.793]Evaluations can be triggered based on school suspicion
[00:12:58.770]of a disability,
[00:12:59.603]let's say students new to the district
[00:13:01.470]or new to maybe a building in the district, and there are,
[00:13:05.400]it's triggered some concerns about autism,
[00:13:08.030]but also we have to look at behaviors,
[00:13:10.350]if there's an increase in behavior, criminal behavior,
[00:13:13.530]deterioration of grades, hospitalization,
[00:13:17.400]just some big changes going on, trauma,
[00:13:21.510]some other things on the right-hand side here,
[00:13:24.567]other medical diagnoses that, you know,
[00:13:26.430]we have students who've been diagnosed with this and this
[00:13:29.735]and this, but it's not really getting to the heart of it
[00:13:31.590]and problems persist, we might wanna consider autism.
[00:13:36.360]If there's been a discussion of red flags
[00:13:39.510]specifically for autism here,
[00:13:41.761]or if parents and staff request an evaluation
[00:13:45.420]because they have concerns about autism,
[00:13:47.970]we should do an evaluation, okay?
[00:13:50.670]We don't want to get caught,
[00:13:52.590]and the lawyers were really clear on this,
[00:13:55.059]do not use the, that we're using MTSS.
[00:13:57.859]Well, we're using multi-tiered systems of support
[00:14:00.060]or response to intervention
[00:14:01.950]for those of you that are using RTI processes.
[00:14:05.250]And so we're gonna do that instead of an evaluation,
[00:14:08.880]that's not good guidance.
[00:14:10.701]You definitely want to evaluate
[00:14:11.670]if concerns about autism were brought up, okay?
[00:14:16.560]And the bottom line is to kind of address that issue
[00:14:20.940]of kids that seemingly maybe don't have a disability,
[00:14:26.190]we do need to evaluate.
[00:14:27.540]And kids with autism
[00:14:29.250]who are kind of on that side of the spectrum
[00:14:31.770]where they're more verbal, they have higher IQs,
[00:14:34.440]they often are still significantly impacted
[00:14:37.320]in those disability areas of social communication,
[00:14:40.860]restricted interests,
[00:14:42.390]and absolutely need special education services and supports
[00:14:49.710]to gain skills that would really improve
[00:14:52.440]their quality of life, and often,
[00:14:54.300]they need those supports to be successful in school
[00:14:57.300]and really be able to access a free,
[00:15:00.810]appropriate public education.
[00:15:03.408]So we don't wanna overlook those kids,
[00:15:05.149]even if at first they present as, you know,
[00:15:06.450]having all of this language and ability,
[00:15:08.670]we need to look closer at that.
[00:15:10.590]The courts overall have said that social functioning
[00:15:15.000]is educationally relevant.
[00:15:16.920]So they're, they don't consider that outside the parameters
[00:15:21.060]of IDEA and therefore special education.
[00:15:24.660]So we definitely wanna look at those students as well.
[00:15:28.665]Just a quick note on medical diagnosis
[00:15:30.690]and educational identification, so again,
[00:15:33.540]the caller said parents had talked about autism.
[00:15:36.600]Sometimes parents will take the student
[00:15:38.580]and/or the individual,
[00:15:39.660]and they will have a medical diagnosis.
[00:15:42.000]A medical diagnosis of autism
[00:15:44.010]does not automatically translate into eligibility
[00:15:47.100]for special education under,
[00:15:50.190]you know, our school autism disability category.
[00:15:53.760]We can certainly take that information that was done
[00:15:57.360]for a medical diagnosis and use it
[00:16:00.660]as part of our information gathering that we would do
[00:16:04.410]by the educational multidisciplinary team, okay?
[00:16:08.880]But on the slide,
[00:16:09.720]you can see that there are some differences there.
[00:16:12.210]Diagnosis is like from a doctor or a clinical psychologist,
[00:16:16.140]and it's based on a set of criteria used in those settings,
[00:16:19.283]which is the Diagnostic Statistical Manual 5.
[00:16:23.580]And it's often determined by an individual, possibly a team.
[00:16:27.660]But if you look at the educational identification
[00:16:30.000]that we use in schools,
[00:16:31.560]it's based on federal law and then our state laws,
[00:16:35.130]it's used only in public schools,
[00:16:37.170]and it must be completed by a team.
[00:16:39.810]So a team of people gather information about the student,
[00:16:43.830]and then we look at are they eligible
[00:16:46.590]for special education services
[00:16:49.110]under our rule and our definitions, okay?
[00:16:52.800]And we're just looking at using
[00:16:54.930]the autism disability category
[00:16:57.270]as their way to receive special education services.
[00:17:00.510]We are not diagnosing, we don't diagnose in schools,
[00:17:03.120]we're not diagnosing them with autism.
[00:17:05.550]We're simply saying they're eligible
[00:17:07.440]under that particular category,
[00:17:09.540]that category describes their needs the best.
[00:17:12.960]Hey, Annette, It's Principal Polly.
[00:17:15.180]We have a student that needs
[00:17:16.620]some pretty individualized instruction.
[00:17:19.140]We don't really do that here,
[00:17:20.400]and we obviously don't have enough staff.
[00:17:23.740]So should I recommend they move,
[00:17:24.930]or do I recommend a special school, maybe that,
[00:17:28.050]maybe one that has ABA
[00:17:29.880]since we don't really do that in schools anyway?
[00:17:32.430]What are your thoughts?
[00:17:34.537]So how do we serve students with autism
[00:17:36.780]and how do we think
[00:17:37.650]about individualized comprehensive programming services?
[00:17:41.441](laughs) That's a lot, right?
[00:17:42.750]If you have staff that aren't very familiar with that.
[00:17:45.210]Just so you guys know,
[00:17:46.500]some educational programs for students with autism
[00:17:49.380]should include the following.
[00:17:51.390]Well, the first box is really important
[00:17:53.430]because in the field of autism,
[00:17:55.380]there's been a lot of research done on what works
[00:17:58.020]and what doesn't,
[00:17:59.190]what is effective based on peer-reviewed research studies.
[00:18:03.120]So peer-reviewed larger-scale studies that have been proven
[00:18:07.170]to be effective with students with autism.
[00:18:09.660]And we actually have a really good body of evidence
[00:18:12.570]around on that topic.
[00:18:14.220]The latest study that was done or report that was done
[00:18:17.370]in 2020 from the National Professional Development Center
[00:18:21.360]on autism spectrum disorders
[00:18:23.370]identified 28 evidence-based practices.
[00:18:27.180]Many of those evidence-based practices are things
[00:18:29.400]your staff might be familiar with or that we,
[00:18:31.800]certainly, all of our groups provide training on,
[00:18:34.890]that are things you wanna make sure they're utilizing
[00:18:37.260]in their programming for students with autism.
[00:18:39.840]I linked that report in the resources so you can access it.
[00:18:43.350]And I also later on show where your staff can access
[00:18:47.280]online training modules on those evidence-based practices.
[00:18:51.420]And then, again, know that many of the trainings
[00:18:54.030]that any of our three tri-state groups offer
[00:18:57.120]are based on those evidence-based practices.
[00:19:00.270]Additionally, as the caller noted, (laughs)
[00:19:04.200]the parent was requesting
[00:19:05.400]applied behavior analysis services,
[00:19:07.500]and she was saying, you know, "We don't do that."
[00:19:10.538]The reality is that schools actually do provide
[00:19:13.290]applied behavior analysis.
[00:19:14.970]Many of the interventions that you might have heard of
[00:19:17.970]or that your staff are using, like things like PECS,
[00:19:20.760]the Picture Exchange Communication System,
[00:19:23.280]structured teaching, verbal behavior,
[00:19:26.400]and intensive teaching, programming,
[00:19:28.860]those things are all based on the principles
[00:19:31.050]of applied behavior analysis and come from the field of ABA
[00:19:34.920]and actually our ABA programming.
[00:19:37.020]So it may not look like ABA programming looks like
[00:19:40.230]in a clinical or a private setting,
[00:19:42.420]but our educational interventions in schools should be,
[00:19:45.840]and many are,
[00:19:46.800]and most of the list of the 28 of evidence-based practices
[00:19:51.450]are based on applied behavior analysis.
[00:19:53.850]So make sure your staff know that,
[00:19:55.860]make sure you talk about that or talk to us about it
[00:19:58.200]so you can be a little more fluent in it.
[00:20:01.119]We don't wanna be telling parents we're not doing ABA
[00:20:03.450]because you likely are,
[00:20:05.940]or your staff should be using interventions
[00:20:08.220]based on applied behavior analysis.
[00:20:10.740]Additionally, behavior supports,
[00:20:12.498]it really is important that we are using
[00:20:15.420]proactive positive ways to support students
[00:20:18.450]who engage in problem behavior, so that's super important.
[00:20:22.170]Visual supports just really easy to implement.
[00:20:25.410]Visual supports have been found to be very effective
[00:20:28.980]with students with autism to, you know,
[00:20:32.060]show them what's gonna happen in the daily routine,
[00:20:33.990]what's expected of them, how much work they have to do.
[00:20:37.230]So visual supports are really important.
[00:20:40.320]A functional communication system
[00:20:42.270]is just absolutely a foundational thing
[00:20:45.450]that needs to be in place for all students with autism.
[00:20:48.510]All individuals,
[00:20:49.650]all humans need to be able to ask for the things
[00:20:51.960]that we want, say the things that we don't want,
[00:20:54.990]ask for a break, all those kinds of things.
[00:20:57.780]And if a student doesn't have a way to ask for those things,
[00:21:01.260]there's likely going to be problem behaviors,
[00:21:04.110]and also, it's just a critical skill to living life.
[00:21:08.880]And we want to be able to make sure you want to,
[00:21:12.030]as an administrator, I should say,
[00:21:13.800]make sure that you're having conversations with staff
[00:21:17.460]on what's the student's functional communication system
[00:21:20.190]and do we have a functional communication system
[00:21:22.830]in place for this student?
[00:21:24.900]Also, the need to address social skills development,
[00:21:28.440]I will tell you that something that I see often
[00:21:30.840]and I definitely don't wanna see (laughs) anymore
[00:21:34.530]or as often is I or IEPs that are developed for students
[00:21:39.210]with autism that don't have any goals
[00:21:41.190]that address social skills.
[00:21:43.290]And we know that for individuals with autism,
[00:21:45.960]social skills is one of those triad,
[00:21:49.042]it is a core area of deficit, right?
[00:21:51.420]They struggle often with social skills
[00:21:55.050]and social competence.
[00:21:56.520]And social competence affects everything,
[00:21:59.580]it affects your ability to be a valued member
[00:22:03.639]of a school community, certainly later, having a job.
[00:22:06.690]It might even affect your ability to interact
[00:22:10.020]with your teachers in an appropriate manner.
[00:22:13.500]And so we need to be addressing social skills.
[00:22:16.170]The courts have said that social skills
[00:22:18.480]are educationally relevant.
[00:22:20.370]We need to have goals and be actively teaching social skills
[00:22:24.903]to students with autism.
[00:22:26.790]So definitely be talking to your staff about that.
[00:22:29.400]Also, sensory supports, 'cause as I noted earlier,
[00:22:32.580]sensory processing issues are very common
[00:22:35.580]in students with autism,
[00:22:36.720]and we need to have supports in place for that.
[00:22:39.120]And then super, super important
[00:22:41.130]is that your staff are collecting data on the progress
[00:22:44.910]that students are making and analyzing that data
[00:22:47.490]to determine if we need to make programming changes.
[00:22:50.460]That's super important and definitely something
[00:22:53.640]that you wanna talk to your staff about.
[00:22:56.970]Okay, I know that was a lot, but we made it through.
[00:22:59.760]So let's see what question number four is.
[00:23:03.210]Hi, Annette, this is Principal Smith.
[00:23:05.160]I know you kinda get tired of hearing from me, but hey,
[00:23:07.410]I just wanted to talk about a situation.
[00:23:09.657]I have staff members,
[00:23:11.436]actually, including an administrator in our building, which,
[00:23:15.660]you know, so I'm guessing this is, you know, okay,
[00:23:18.240]but they said that the student that we were meeting on
[00:23:22.320]is incredibly rude to the staff and choosing not to behave.
[00:23:26.460]So they feel strongly the staff doesn't need any training
[00:23:30.030]in the area of autism because this is really just about,
[00:23:32.910]you know, this student is just pretty much choosing
[00:23:35.580]to be defiant and choosing not to behave.
[00:23:37.890]And you know, when it comes to training,
[00:23:39.660]we really, you know,
[00:23:41.516]I kind of think maybe we could use a little bit of it,
[00:23:42.900]but we really can't find subs, you know,
[00:23:45.015]in order to do the training.
[00:23:46.950]So I was wondering too, like,
[00:23:49.036]do you think they need training?
[00:23:51.330]And then the other thing is,
[00:23:52.500]if we do, is it okay if I tell mom just go ahead
[00:23:55.680]and keep that kiddo home that day
[00:23:57.815]so we can go ahead and train the staff?
[00:23:59.698]Thanks, Annette.
[00:24:00.775]A couple things.
[00:24:02.130]We're gonna jump into training and resources for your staff,
[00:24:06.660]but the issue of subs,
[00:24:08.670]I'm just gonna take that one and talk about it first.
[00:24:11.778]We do have teams who on occasion very infrequently
[00:24:15.990]will decide to send, you know,
[00:24:18.855]the entire team that's working with a student with autism
[00:24:20.880]to a training.
[00:24:21.780]And they might have a conversation with the IEP team
[00:24:24.750]about that, including mom and dad,
[00:24:27.090]about what's the best way to serve that student
[00:24:29.430]while if the whole team is attending training together,
[00:24:32.280]and there is value to a team going to training.
[00:24:35.160]So, you know, on a very individualized, infrequent basis
[00:24:39.150]for a team to talk about training
[00:24:41.790]and what the best thing would be for that student
[00:24:45.474]during that time, I think that's very appropriate.
[00:24:47.580]Frequently sending a student home
[00:24:49.260]or telling 'em not to come to school because
[00:24:50.820]staff were meeting or training,
[00:24:52.140]of course, would be not appropriate.
[00:24:54.270]So that's all I'm gonna say about that.
[00:24:56.430]So we have a student who's rude, right?
[00:24:58.170]So he's saying some things that staff don't like,
[00:25:00.720]but staff are pretty adamant that this is a behavior problem
[00:25:03.570]that is this student's problem, right?
[00:25:05.940]And it's not a training issue on their end.
[00:25:09.300]However, what we know, one, if this behavior is increasing,
[00:25:14.400]then we know it's being reinforced, (laughs) okay?
[00:25:17.130]So if a student's being rude
[00:25:18.600]or increasingly engaging in problem behaviors,
[00:25:21.870]it's most likely that there's something environmentally
[00:25:25.440]that is contributing to that increase, right?
[00:25:29.010]Or at the very least,
[00:25:31.500]there's not something in place environmentally
[00:25:34.140]to decrease that behavior.
[00:25:36.240]And that often just leads to a training issue in staff
[00:25:41.212]because what we know is that students with autism
[00:25:44.790]sometimes require, and students with behavior issues
[00:25:47.970]do require some interventions
[00:25:50.220]that staff likely haven't had a lot of background in.
[00:25:54.360]Most special education teachers and other specialists
[00:25:58.170]on the team did not have extensive training on ASD
[00:26:01.800]during undergraduate or graduate programs
[00:26:04.710]that we just know.
[00:26:06.340]There might have been a little bit of an overview,
[00:26:08.319]there might have been one behavior class,
[00:26:09.570]but the bottom line is most of our educators
[00:26:13.080]come out without direct experience and/or extensive training
[00:26:17.850]on working with, effectively with individuals with autism
[00:26:22.201]and/or individuals who engage in problem behavior.
[00:26:24.480]And so they're going to need some training.
[00:26:26.940]And I get that subs are an issue, they absolutely are.
[00:26:30.562]However, what also is an issue is problem behavior (laughs)
[00:26:34.770]in the school setting, staff being frustrated,
[00:26:37.500]staff being burnt out.
[00:26:39.522]And so we have to weigh out the value
[00:26:41.790]of spending the time on training,
[00:26:43.650]building your staff's skills
[00:26:46.410]to ultimately really be able to respond to problem behavior
[00:26:50.490]and teach critical skills
[00:26:52.560]and just make school just a better place
[00:26:54.960]where everybody wants to be,
[00:26:56.838]where the staff wanna be and the students wanna be,
[00:26:58.890]and sometimes that requires a commitment to training,
[00:27:02.370]all right?
[00:27:03.203]So as far as what staff need,
[00:27:05.490]just what are the core trainings that individuals
[00:27:09.270]working with students with autism may need,
[00:27:11.730]as I said earlier, intro to autism is really important,
[00:27:16.410]it's just something we need
[00:27:18.240]to understand the autism spectrum
[00:27:20.040]so that when a student is rude to us,
[00:27:23.190]we don't take it personally,
[00:27:24.660]we can kind of think about that.
[00:27:25.890]I've been told a lot of things over the years,
[00:27:28.680]and I'm pretty good at not being (laughs) too offended
[00:27:32.130]by what an individual or student with autism might say to me
[00:27:35.850]because I understand autism
[00:27:37.650]and I know that they're not very good at thinking
[00:27:40.989]about other people's perspectives.
[00:27:43.230]They are not thinking that,
[00:27:44.377]"Oh, Annette might be offended if I say that to her."
[00:27:47.340]They're just thinking about what's on their mind (laughs)
[00:27:49.800]at the moment.
[00:27:50.970]But that enables me to not be offended,
[00:27:54.210]but also as an educator to think, "I need to have a lesson,
[00:27:57.990]I need to start working with that student on what to say
[00:28:01.590]and things they can say to peers
[00:28:03.795]but that they can't say to adults," and that kind of thing.
[00:28:07.500]I had a student one time who whenever his classroom teacher
[00:28:11.490]said something that he didn't agree with,
[00:28:14.856]he would stand up point at her and say, "You are wrong,"
[00:28:19.350]you know, in a really loud voice.
[00:28:21.030]And (laughs) so we, she was pretty offended, I will say.
[00:28:24.930]And I was like, "That's okay, he's, you know,
[00:28:27.330]he's in second grade, we just need to work on this.
[00:28:30.210]It's just kind of the way his brain is.
[00:28:32.130]He's very black and white.
[00:28:33.240]He sees things as they're either right or they're wrong,
[00:28:35.790]and when they're wrong,
[00:28:37.357]he likes to kind of make a big deal about that."
[00:28:39.180]But I was able to, in some individual sessions with him,
[00:28:42.180]talk to him about kind of make a new rule book,
[00:28:44.910]and one of our rules that we wrote was that it's not okay
[00:28:49.779]to tell teachers they're wrong
[00:28:50.612]and certainly not to shout it out.
[00:28:52.647]And so we kind of came up with what to do,
[00:28:54.900]what he could do if he thought somebody was wrong,
[00:28:57.510]and that was a little more socially acceptable.
[00:29:00.660]But so we have to,
[00:29:02.238]if we understand autism and the characteristics of it,
[00:29:04.050]we can just intervene more effectively, okay?
[00:29:06.659]Also on this list, verbal behavior or direct instruction
[00:29:11.040]of language and learning skills.
[00:29:12.810]A lot of our kids who really come to us with a deficit
[00:29:16.680]in basic language and learning skills,
[00:29:19.980]they need some direct instruction to acquire those skills.
[00:29:24.090]And I like to call that training,
[00:29:26.280]what to teach and how to teach.
[00:29:28.680]And many of our educators have told us over the years
[00:29:32.430]that that training has just literally been transformational
[00:29:36.450]for them.
[00:29:37.283]They now can be more effective
[00:29:39.060]in teaching some of those core learning skills
[00:29:42.300]and also effective in ways to teach those skills
[00:29:46.264]to students.
[00:29:47.640]But also Principles of Structured Teaching
[00:29:49.800]is a really good training on using visuals effectively,
[00:29:53.070]not just, you know,
[00:29:54.984]making the environment more comprehensible,
[00:29:56.490]but using visuals to teach independent functioning,
[00:29:59.400]and that's super important for our students with autism,
[00:30:02.820]sometimes they leave school
[00:30:04.963]and they're super prompt-dependent,
[00:30:06.744]and so we need to help them find organizational strategies,
[00:30:09.900]schedules, maybe even a schedule on their iPad,
[00:30:13.350]and ways to task, analyze different work tasks and stuff
[00:30:17.610]and be able to do, use those things independently,
[00:30:20.640]super important.
[00:30:21.990]Also, educational identification of autism
[00:30:24.300]for any of your team members who might be on the team
[00:30:27.510]looking at EDID of students,
[00:30:30.382]their eligibility for special education,
[00:30:33.060]social skills, as we said before,
[00:30:35.070]we need to know how do we intervene effectively
[00:30:37.350]and teach students critical social skills
[00:30:40.200]and also what do we do about problem behavior?
[00:30:42.540]Those would be really be the core areas
[00:30:46.021]that your staff should have training in.
[00:30:48.090]And then there's lots of other additional things
[00:30:50.880]that I think just based on what's going on
[00:30:53.040]on each individual person's caseload
[00:30:55.680]and the individual student's and team needs,
[00:30:58.440]you could look at additional training.
[00:31:00.930]Now the good news is that there is training
[00:31:04.260]and there are trainings and resources that are available
[00:31:07.620]that hopefully could meet your staff's schedule.
[00:31:10.740]We can't solve the sub-issue,
[00:31:12.300]that's something you would have to do,
[00:31:14.869]but we can make things more accessible.
[00:31:16.050]And so part of this webinar series,
[00:31:18.690]we on the states' websites of Kansas, Colorado,
[00:31:22.290]and Nebraska,
[00:31:23.460]we have approximately over 70 webinars
[00:31:27.720]on a variety of topics, and those are available 24/7.
[00:31:31.860]Your staff can watch 'em as a team
[00:31:34.457]and talk about individual application to students.
[00:31:37.319]They can print certificates of attendance,
[00:31:40.080]they're all super accessible.
[00:31:41.850]Other options might be accessing your local autism agency
[00:31:46.170]for a school district training.
[00:31:48.300]So we offer in-person trainings in all of our states
[00:31:51.570]where you can actually come to a site, that's kind of fun
[00:31:54.420]'cause they can network with other educators
[00:31:56.850]and realize they're not the only ones
[00:31:58.920]kind of dealing with certain things.
[00:32:00.930]But also, I did link a couple of other national resources.
[00:32:04.123]The AIM modules also have online training that can be done
[00:32:08.910]in 30 minutes to an hour on a variety of topics.
[00:32:14.220]The AFIRM Modules I wanna note
[00:32:15.900]because there are AFIRM Modules
[00:32:18.060]for all of the 28 evidence-based practices,
[00:32:22.740]those are those high leverage evidence-based practices
[00:32:25.530]that you want your staff to be utilizing in their work
[00:32:29.040]with students with autism.
[00:32:30.660]And there are AIM modules available that can be done
[00:32:33.750]on a computer, again, the team could go through it together.
[00:32:37.086]And so definitely check those out. Those are available.
[00:32:41.400]And then, you know,
[00:32:43.113]might be that you need some consultation and support,
[00:32:46.830]and you could reach out to, again,
[00:32:49.763]your local state people for that kind of support.
[00:32:54.427]Hey, Annette. This is Julie.
[00:32:55.470]And I'm sped director at tiny district number two.
[00:32:58.740]And I just, I know that all students that have autism
[00:33:01.920]should have a para with them at all times,
[00:33:04.530]but we're just so short-staffed right now,
[00:33:07.606]We're not for sure what to do.
[00:33:08.610]Can we like place them all in like one classroom together
[00:33:12.240]with a couple of paras, or is that okay?
[00:33:15.870]I mean I know we're gonna have a couple of paras gone,
[00:33:18.806]I have one who just called in sick,
[00:33:21.248]so I did go ahead and just call a couple of the parents
[00:33:23.310]and told 'em not to send their kids tomorrow,
[00:33:25.868]and they were totally okay with that.
[00:33:26.701]So I just kinda wondered what your recommendation was.
[00:33:29.684]Gimme a call back.
[00:33:31.380]Okay, thanks. Bye.
[00:33:34.107]Okay. So let's talk about paraeducators.
[00:33:36.330]And question number five, which is,
[00:33:38.886]do most students with autism need support
[00:33:41.088]from a paraeducator?
[00:33:41.921]Again, a couple of things from the call,
[00:33:44.910]certainly, placement decisions are based on student need,
[00:33:47.850]individual student needs.
[00:33:49.764]You don't wanna throw a bunch of students
[00:33:51.524]in a classroom together for ease of staffing.
[00:33:53.430]All placement decisions are based on individual student need
[00:33:56.700]and what would be the most,
[00:33:59.062]the least restrictive environment for them.
[00:34:01.246]But let's talk about,
[00:34:02.399]there are a lot of paraeducators that are used
[00:34:03.480]to support students with autism,
[00:34:04.857]and so let's talk about that,
[00:34:06.960]this issue of do most students with autism
[00:34:09.390]need support from a paraeducator?
[00:34:12.040]And the first thing I wanna say
[00:34:12.873]is I'm gonna use a few cartoons from Michael Giangreco
[00:34:16.080]'cause he does such a nice job illustrating
[00:34:18.330]some of the issues that we have in special education
[00:34:21.690]and really this issue of are paraeducators helping
[00:34:25.470]or are they (laughs) hovering,
[00:34:26.940]and is it a good thing or is it potentially could be,
[00:34:29.730]you know, maybe not such a great thing?
[00:34:31.620]So what do we know about paraeducators
[00:34:33.600]and students with autism?
[00:34:35.040]Well the bottom line is some students
[00:34:36.930]benefit from and/or may require one-on-one assistance,
[00:34:40.740]and it's just totally based on individual student need.
[00:34:44.010]And so that's something that each IP team needs to consider
[00:34:47.910]based on the student's needs.
[00:34:50.010]But there are concerns in the field on the effectiveness
[00:34:52.710]of paraeducators, and those are super important,
[00:34:55.530]and they're mostly related to training and ultimately,
[00:34:58.740]a lack of training for the para, supervision,
[00:35:01.770]certified staff oversight and supervision of the para,
[00:35:06.760]and giving them feedback on how they're doing.
[00:35:08.490]Oftentimes, proximity,
[00:35:10.301]lack of access to peers can be a problem if there's a para
[00:35:13.920]assigned to a student's lack of access to certified staff,
[00:35:18.000]which is a huge issue.
[00:35:19.260]We want students to have access to certified staff
[00:35:22.170]as well as support from paraeducators if they need it.
[00:35:25.500]And then ultimately,
[00:35:26.340]we can have students who are overly dependent on adults
[00:35:30.099]'cause they've had this one-on-one person
[00:35:31.530]kind of assigned to them all the time,
[00:35:33.690]and so we really wanna be thinking about those things.
[00:35:36.150]Those actually come from a study
[00:35:38.100]on the effectiveness of paraeducators,
[00:35:40.650]and what it showed was we should be concerned
[00:35:43.290]and actively doing things that kind of counteract
[00:35:49.140]those problems that can be part of having a para
[00:35:51.840]assigned to a student with autism.
[00:35:53.940]So there are some things that paras cannot be in charge of,
[00:35:56.910]right?
[00:35:57.743]So identifying learner needs and instructional goals,
[00:36:00.450]this one is a really big one.
[00:36:02.310]Over the years, I've had conversations with a lot of paras
[00:36:05.340]who are just doing amazing work
[00:36:07.410]supporting some of our most needy students with autism.
[00:36:10.770]But I have had questions about curricula.
[00:36:13.245]I had a para meet me one time at the door, she said,
[00:36:16.387]"I'm so glad that you're coming
[00:36:18.180]to observe this student today
[00:36:19.440]'cause I'm getting ready to order his reading curriculum
[00:36:21.690]for next year, and I just wanted your input."
[00:36:23.880]And I'm like, "Okay, you know, (laughs)
[00:36:25.080]let's talk about that.
[00:36:27.163]Let's go talk to the special ed teacher
[00:36:28.380]and loop her into that because that's actually not something
[00:36:31.320]that a para educator should be doing," right?
[00:36:33.690]That's a certified staff role,
[00:36:35.370]same as planning of the lessons to meet those goals.
[00:36:38.220]So we wanna make sure certified staff are just looped in
[00:36:41.220]and be really involved in programming for students
[00:36:44.970]with autism and other disabilities.
[00:36:47.190]So all of these things that you can take a look at,
[00:36:50.190]but that evaluating the effectiveness of its instruction
[00:36:53.760]are teachers need to be observing our paras
[00:36:55.950]and their instruction and giving them feedback
[00:36:58.410]and seeing if it's, you know, helpful or not, okay?
[00:37:01.624]That's really important.
[00:37:03.960]Also, we're just gonna go through a few tips for you
[00:37:07.590]on those effects
[00:37:08.640]of inappropriate paraprofessional proximity.
[00:37:11.220]We have to just really have intentional conversations
[00:37:14.700]about our highly valued paras,
[00:37:18.270]about how close they are to our students
[00:37:20.640]and if they're really able to move in and move out.
[00:37:23.820]All right.
[00:37:24.653]So a couple of the things
[00:37:25.740]that we know from Michael Giangreco,
[00:37:28.110]the man who developed those cartoons
[00:37:30.784]also has done a couple different studies
[00:37:32.624]on the effects of inappropriate paraprofessional proximity.
[00:37:36.210]And one of the issues is really that separation
[00:37:38.790]from classmates.
[00:37:39.900]So the paraprofessional might sit close to the student,
[00:37:43.920]they're kind of at the back of the room,
[00:37:45.510]but it seems like there's a barrier
[00:37:47.730]between the para and peers.
[00:37:50.478]And I see this when I'm in a classroom,
[00:37:52.140]where students will come and talk to the para,
[00:37:54.900]they'll talk to the adult
[00:37:55.860]and not to the student with autism,
[00:37:58.410]and that really is a problem.
[00:38:00.278]We don't want students
[00:38:01.980]to be separated from their classmates.
[00:38:03.960]We want adults to be trained to tell students,
[00:38:06.697]"Oh, hey. Talk to John.
[00:38:08.123]This is how you could get John's attention,"
[00:38:10.860]so that they're interacting directly with students
[00:38:12.750]with autism.
[00:38:13.770]And then also is the interference in ownership
[00:38:16.500]and responsibility by gen ed teachers, okay?
[00:38:19.620]So sometimes when there's a para assigned to a student,
[00:38:23.550]the teacher of the classroom or the specialist teacher
[00:38:27.750]is just assuming that that para is gonna meet all of the,
[00:38:30.660]that student's needs,
[00:38:31.980]and I think inadvertently just stops interacting
[00:38:34.800]with the student.
[00:38:35.850]And we really need all teachers and certainly,
[00:38:39.270]our licensed teachers to be interacting
[00:38:41.970]and providing instruction for our students with autism.
[00:38:44.640]And so we wanna make sure we have practices in place
[00:38:47.940]to avoid that.
[00:38:49.751]There's just a nice cartoon that shows kind of that barrier
[00:38:52.749](laughs) that can be set up when there is a para
[00:38:54.570]assigned to a student.
[00:38:56.820]Another great one.
[00:39:03.938]One note about this is that often we have kids
[00:39:06.840]who do become very adult-dependent and prompt-dependent.
[00:39:10.770]So we really wanna be talking to our paras about making sure
[00:39:14.670]students are doing things independently
[00:39:16.830]and that they're moving in, I like to call it a dance,
[00:39:19.410]they're moving in to provide support when needed
[00:39:22.770]and moving out when they're not needed.
[00:39:25.618]So they're not just stuck to that student like Velcro.
[00:39:27.840]They're not there to be a barrier
[00:39:29.460]between them talking to other students
[00:39:31.260]or talking to other teachers,
[00:39:33.450]but they're gonna move in and provide support when needed
[00:39:35.910]and move out when not,
[00:39:37.680]and really aware of how much support they're providing
[00:39:41.550]to the student and fading that support
[00:39:44.130]so that the student becomes more independent.
[00:39:47.310]So that's super important.
[00:39:48.930]And the last thing I'll say
[00:39:50.100]is that great paraeducators used wisely,
[00:39:53.040]certainly, I echo this sentiment by Giangreco
[00:39:55.920]They are worth their weight in gold,
[00:39:57.570]and we wanna support them by giving them
[00:39:59.760]this important feedback and training
[00:40:02.356]so they can do their very best
[00:40:03.270]when working with students with autism.
[00:40:05.730]Just to wrap up this discussion,
[00:40:08.670]just a little guidance
[00:40:10.758]on the effective use of paraeducators,
[00:40:12.180]bring support staff if you can.
[00:40:14.070]I know staffing is an issue,
[00:40:15.330]but bring 'em to training with the teachers and the team
[00:40:18.060]so they can all hear the same thing
[00:40:20.331]and go back and do the same thing.
[00:40:21.750]Include them in the discussion on IEP goals.
[00:40:24.300]I had a para who was doing absolutely everything
[00:40:27.690]for a student, she would hang up his coat,
[00:40:30.059]she was put his books away,
[00:40:30.892]she would put his stuff in his desk.
[00:40:33.000]And when I asked the teacher if she had told the para
[00:40:35.910]that that's actually on his IEP
[00:40:37.620]to do those things (laughs) independently,
[00:40:39.930]the teacher was like, "No."
[00:40:41.614]I'm like, "Well we need to let her know
[00:40:43.334]that's actually a goal that he's working on.
[00:40:44.640]We need him to do those things independently,"
[00:40:46.710]and the para had no idea about that, right?
[00:40:49.230]So we need to make sure they know why we want them to work
[00:40:52.950]on some of the skills that we want them to work on, okay?
[00:40:55.890]You can really encourage meetings and discussions,
[00:40:59.250]discuss the effects of that close proximity
[00:41:02.010]and how you want them to move in and move out,
[00:41:04.710]and then remind gen ed staff and all your specialist staff
[00:41:08.970]of their important role in the education of all students
[00:41:12.300]and certainly, students with autism.
[00:41:15.060]Okay, question number six.
[00:41:18.629]Hey, Annette, this is Jennifer.
[00:41:19.530]I'm just calling.
[00:41:20.363]We have a student with autism,
[00:41:22.080]and my staff is at a complete loss of what to do.
[00:41:24.660]This kiddo's just running around the classroom all day.
[00:41:27.300]I now have a para that's refusing to work with her,
[00:41:30.360]not to mention we have zero time for training,
[00:41:32.310]which I know you hear a lot,
[00:41:33.570]it's just what everyone's dealing with.
[00:41:36.780]So I guess what I really need to know from you
[00:41:39.420]is that can you send someone by this afternoon
[00:41:41.760]and train my staff and then tell us
[00:41:43.440]exactly what we need to do?
[00:41:45.090]Thanks.
[00:41:46.551](laughs) Okay.
[00:41:48.390]Oh, I love it.
[00:41:49.800]Okay, so we have a stressed-out administrator, right?
[00:41:53.520]She's like, "How do I support these staff?
[00:41:56.069]And can you come by right away?"
[00:41:57.511]Well that's probably not gonna happen,
[00:41:58.910]but, but let's take a look at question number six.
[00:42:01.170]As an administrator,
[00:42:02.640]what is the best way to you support your staff
[00:42:05.010]who are working with students with autism?
[00:42:07.410]So this is a hard one to answer,
[00:42:09.840]but there are actually are some things
[00:42:11.850]that we can suggest
[00:42:13.530]that we've seen really effective administrators do.
[00:42:17.040]And the first one is really making sure
[00:42:19.890]that your staff have time to attend training
[00:42:22.260]as I've talked about,
[00:42:23.370]but also some time to meet and to plan.
[00:42:25.710]Oftentimes we're asking staff to put together
[00:42:29.010]an individualized program for a student with autism,
[00:42:32.040]and they need some time to do that.
[00:42:34.110]And so there's often just time needed for them
[00:42:37.170]to kind of put their materials in place,
[00:42:39.660]to talk to each other,
[00:42:40.680]maybe for the teacher to train the paras
[00:42:43.050]on a certain strategy.
[00:42:44.760]So just really kind of listening to them and supporting them
[00:42:47.910]with that time,
[00:42:49.110]but also just some other things that staff can do
[00:42:52.080]or that administrators can do to support their staff
[00:42:54.570]would be, be visible in the classroom, that is just,
[00:42:58.860]teachers have told us over the years, you know,
[00:43:01.297]"My principal comes in and they talk to my students."
[00:43:04.410]And that is incredibly meaningful.
[00:43:07.133]Staff can feel really supported when you do that.
[00:43:08.880]Also, ask them about their concerns, you know,
[00:43:12.390]sometimes just voicing that it was a hard day
[00:43:15.000]or that things are a little stressful can be helpful, right?
[00:43:18.930]Discuss high-leverage evidence-based practices or, you know,
[00:43:22.110]kind of remind them, are you using those things?
[00:43:24.300]How's that going? Are you collecting data?
[00:43:26.550]You know, be talking to them about some of the things
[00:43:28.800]that we've covered today, and then, you know,
[00:43:32.130]collaborating with them.
[00:43:34.114]When we have had teams attend training
[00:43:36.000]or like our state conference,
[00:43:37.410]and the administrator comes with them,
[00:43:39.540]there's just tremendous value to that,
[00:43:41.670]it just gives teachers a sense of support.
[00:43:45.060]And I will tell you that autism training,
[00:43:48.000]we have heard (laughs) repeatedly over the years,
[00:43:51.485]it's good for all, it's good for all students,
[00:43:53.040]it's actually, we cover a lot of things
[00:43:54.660]that are good for working with adults.
[00:43:56.310]And so we do think it would be beneficial,
[00:43:58.680]and it's one way to help your teams feel really supported.
[00:44:01.800]And then don't hesitate if you need to
[00:44:04.890]to get outside consultation for your staff
[00:44:08.010]if they are countering some things
[00:44:09.750]that they don't know how to effectively deal with,
[00:44:12.510]so that would be just some recommendations we have.
[00:44:16.110]And a final resource that we have for administrators
[00:44:18.960]is something that we developed many years ago
[00:44:21.390]as just a really quick walkthrough form
[00:44:23.310]that administrators could use
[00:44:25.080]to look at quality programming, interactions of staff.
[00:44:29.610]It's also a really good tool that teachers can use
[00:44:32.100]to observe paras and give them feedback
[00:44:34.230]and/or the principal could use to give feedback
[00:44:36.750]to either teacher or para.
[00:44:38.631]And it really just looks at, you know, a couple things,
[00:44:41.760]classroom routine,
[00:44:43.350]especially if you have a lot of adults in an environment,
[00:44:46.590]we wanna make sure that they're kind of entering quietly
[00:44:49.440]and implementing the plan for student, collecting the data.
[00:44:53.130]This provides supports to student section
[00:44:55.530]is really specifically developed around those problems
[00:44:59.970]that we saw in the para proximity report,
[00:45:03.660]and so this would be a way to have a conversation
[00:45:06.360]with people about it, are they sitting behind the student?
[00:45:09.634]Are they moving in and out as needed and not just, you know,
[00:45:12.030]Velcroed to a student?
[00:45:13.980]Are they helping other students, you know,
[00:45:15.810]with and without IEPs and such?
[00:45:18.210]It goes on a little bit about facilitating interactions
[00:45:21.300]for the student with other peers and adults
[00:45:24.420]and then also looks at communication of the adult
[00:45:27.870]around the student.
[00:45:29.310]So it can be a really nice easy to complete form
[00:45:32.850]that would help you dialogue with your support staff
[00:45:35.970]as well as your certified staff.
[00:45:38.250]Okay, moving on to the question
[00:45:40.290]everybody wants to talk about,
[00:45:42.333]how do we deal with problem behaviors?
[00:45:44.040]Hey, I'm Ashley.
[00:45:45.954]So we have this student with autism,
[00:45:47.790]and she's injuring staff members,
[00:45:49.710]I mean it's kind of concerning.
[00:45:51.870]I think the teacher is even wearing protective gloves,
[00:45:54.570]and we really just don't know what to do.
[00:45:56.910]I mean she knows what she's doing is wrong,
[00:45:59.040]and she continues to do it.
[00:46:00.930]We have a classroom of other students to attend to,
[00:46:03.480]we don't know what else to do.
[00:46:05.310]We've shortened her day, she's still having outbursts.
[00:46:08.670]We sent her home again today,
[00:46:10.170]and my staff are really over it.
[00:46:12.630]Can we talk about options? Thanks.
[00:46:15.660]Okay, so a couple of things in that call.
[00:46:18.600]I do wanna talk about shortened day schedules,
[00:46:21.655]but I also just wanna talk about how do we support students
[00:46:24.157]who are engaging in problem behavior?
[00:46:25.680]And so I've talked a lot about training,
[00:46:27.570]that's kind of your number-one resource,
[00:46:29.978]but let's talk a little bit about shortened day
[00:46:32.040]and the appropriate uses of a shortened day schedule.
[00:46:35.670]This is actually something that comes up quite often,
[00:46:38.220]and I really wanna give you guys good guidance on this.
[00:46:41.190]So just note that the only time it's appropriate
[00:46:44.310]to shorten the school day for a student with a disability,
[00:46:47.370]a student with the IEP
[00:46:49.200]is when the IEP team determines that it's,
[00:46:51.996]the shortened is required to address
[00:46:54.480]the student's unique disability-related needs.
[00:46:57.510]So some good examples are if the student's medical needs
[00:47:00.750]require it.
[00:47:01.800]Let's say the student is physically unable to tolerate
[00:47:04.830]a full school day, you know,
[00:47:06.570]maybe they've had an illness or a sickness
[00:47:08.580]or something like that,
[00:47:10.140]then a shortened day may be appropriate.
[00:47:12.120]But couple of caveats,
[00:47:13.830]before deciding to shorten the school day,
[00:47:15.780]the IEP team must consider if there's any other way
[00:47:18.540]to meet the student's needs.
[00:47:20.340]Additionally, when a student's school day is shortened,
[00:47:23.700]the IEP team must include, one, why they needed it, right?
[00:47:28.050]Why because of their disability-related needs,
[00:47:31.140]they needed that shortened day?
[00:47:32.550]And two, a plan for the students return to full-day school.
[00:47:37.800]That's super important.
[00:47:39.697]And oftentimes we're not seeing those,
[00:47:40.770]that documentation hasn't been done.
[00:47:43.380]And then three,
[00:47:44.673]the student should return to a full school day
[00:47:48.120]as soon as he or she is able.
[00:47:50.520]And in most circumstances, shortened day should only be used
[00:47:53.400]for a very limited amount of time.
[00:47:55.260]So just remember those things.
[00:47:57.390]And also important to note that managing student behavior
[00:48:02.040]as a means of discipline is an inappropriate use
[00:48:05.190]of a shortened school day.
[00:48:07.115]So using that shortened day
[00:48:08.475]'cause we're having discipline problems,
[00:48:10.011]kids engaging in problem behavior
[00:48:11.550]is an inappropriate use of a shortened school day.
[00:48:14.610]So I just wanna really reiterate that.
[00:48:16.890]Ultimately, if a student is engaging in problem behavior,
[00:48:20.850]injuring staff, maybe injuring self, or injuring others,
[00:48:24.750]the IEP team has to put in place a plan
[00:48:28.440]to support that student
[00:48:29.640]with positive behavior interventions.
[00:48:32.610]And most likely,
[00:48:33.443]a functional behavior assessment needs to be done
[00:48:35.760]And the development of an effective
[00:48:38.610]behavior intervention plan needs to be done
[00:48:41.890]that would ultimately enable the student
[00:48:43.869]to participate in the full school day.
[00:48:46.530]School removals,
[00:48:47.580]we have to remember are not positive behavior supports,
[00:48:51.607]that cannot be part of a behavior intervention plan,
[00:48:54.845]That's not our long-term plan.
[00:48:56.424]Also just included for you,
[00:48:57.660]additionally from our guidance federally on shortened days,
[00:49:02.910]inappropriate uses of shortened days
[00:49:05.587]also include the following.
[00:49:06.988]So I'll just let you guys kinda look through those
[00:49:09.367]'cause occasionally we do, (laughs) we do hear that,
[00:49:11.497]"Well, we just don't have transportation later in the day,
[00:49:13.920]so we're sending the student home."
[00:49:16.346]And so you definitely wanna check this list
[00:49:18.007]'cause a lot of those things are considered
[00:49:19.410]inappropriate uses of shortened day schedules.
[00:49:24.189]All right.
[00:49:25.347]But ultimately, back to this question
[00:49:27.271]of a student is engaging in problem behavior, what do we do?
[00:49:31.246]All right.
[00:49:32.079]And basically what the Office of Special Education tells us
[00:49:35.700]is that the IEP team is responsible
[00:49:38.220]for putting a program in place to support a student.
[00:49:41.160]So the bottom line is we need to address problem behaviors
[00:49:45.690]proactively,
[00:49:47.040]we need to do FBAs and BIPs when they're necessary,
[00:49:50.610]and help students be successful and increase, you know,
[00:49:55.560]pro school behaviors and decrease problem behaviors
[00:49:58.590]in schools and behaviors in other settings
[00:50:01.320]so that they can have access to gen ed settings,
[00:50:05.190]all the things in the school that might be available
[00:50:08.490]to them if they didn't have those problem behaviors
[00:50:11.190]so that we can also make sure
[00:50:13.511]they have educational opportunities
[00:50:14.880]in the least restrictive environments.
[00:50:17.910]So no easy answers there, but ultimately,
[00:50:19.620]problem behaviors for students don't mean they leave school
[00:50:23.460]or is that student's problem, it means as schools,
[00:50:25.534]we come up with ways to address and teach
[00:50:28.740]alternative behaviors and deal with problem behaviors.
[00:50:31.710]And one resource that we have,
[00:50:33.914]a new resource from the Office of Special Education
[00:50:37.380]is this Positive, Proactive Approaches
[00:50:39.720]to Supporting Children with Disabilities:
[00:50:41.790]A Guide for Stakeholders.
[00:50:43.020]This actually came out in July 2022.
[00:50:46.140]It's linked in the PowerPoint,
[00:50:48.030]and it's also listed in our resources.
[00:50:50.370]There's some really good information in here for schools
[00:50:52.920]on supporting students with challenging behaviors
[00:50:56.275]who are on IEPs.
[00:50:57.420]And also an additional document that came out this summer,
[00:51:01.980]a Q&A document on addressing the needs of children
[00:51:04.860]with disabilities under IDEA's discipline provisions.
[00:51:08.850]So definitely check those out
[00:51:10.560]so you're kind of up to date on current recommendations
[00:51:14.460]from the Office of Special Education
[00:51:16.740]on discipline issues for students with autism.
[00:51:20.010]Hey, Ashley, it's Principal Patty.
[00:51:23.325]Oh, I so wish you would've answered.
[00:51:24.786]It has been a horrible day and our sped teacher
[00:51:27.330]has tried everything your team recommended this morning,
[00:51:30.390]I mean, we tried the visual schedule, didn't work.
[00:51:33.266]Tried the sensory room, didn't work.
[00:51:36.210]I don't know what else to do.
[00:51:37.320]Frankly, I just think this kid knows
[00:51:39.210]exactly what he is doing and is just being naughty.
[00:51:42.900]Can you please call? I need to chat.
[00:51:45.510]Okay. (laughs)
[00:51:47.130]I love the honesty from that frustrated administrator.
[00:51:50.970]And we actually have a really nice document.
[00:51:52.830]I wanna give credit to our colleagues from TASN from Kansas
[00:51:57.720]'cause they started this fabulous resource
[00:52:00.150]called Things to Consider When It Just Isn't Going Right.
[00:52:03.600]And we've tweaked it and modified it a little bit,
[00:52:06.540]but definitely kudos to them for developing it.
[00:52:09.540]But sometimes, right, things aren't going well,
[00:52:12.270]team is frustrated, student is having, you know,
[00:52:16.264]maybe rough day after rough day,
[00:52:17.340]and maybe the school's even reached out
[00:52:20.400]for some consultation support, and, you know,
[00:52:23.130]they've been told, "We will be there in a month,"
[00:52:26.063]or something like that.
[00:52:27.262]So what do you guys do in those situations?
[00:52:29.010]Well, we came up with this form, again,
[00:52:31.200]with our help from our colleagues.
[00:52:32.910]And it's just something for I would convene an IEP meeting
[00:52:36.600]and just start going through these things,
[00:52:38.940]and it really might generate some ideas
[00:52:41.040]of either supports you can put back in place
[00:52:43.560]or things that might be missing
[00:52:45.840]that could really change the direction
[00:52:48.180]of how things are going.
[00:52:49.590]So it's, you know, let's just look at a couple of these.
[00:52:52.470]One, that communication system that I talked about earlier,
[00:52:55.350]does the student have a way to communicate
[00:52:57.180]wants and needs in all environments?
[00:52:59.340]And if they don't,
[00:53:00.210]they might be engaging in problem (laughs) behavior
[00:53:02.550]as a form of communication, right?
[00:53:04.740]Another one that jumps out at me
[00:53:06.570]are preferred activities and breaks built into the schedule.
[00:53:10.050]I love to put those things in the schedule,
[00:53:12.030]so I am delivering good things, right?
[00:53:14.310]Oh, you get to have this,
[00:53:15.450]your preferred interest or your break.
[00:53:18.030]And I, and when we set that into the schedule
[00:53:20.940]and make sure there's access to those preferred things,
[00:53:23.922]we're doing a couple of things,
[00:53:25.530]we're pairing ourself with reinforcement,
[00:53:27.840]but we are also helping maintain instructional control,
[00:53:31.800]right?
[00:53:32.633]So sometimes we're like,
[00:53:33.697]"Oh, they're not getting that thing that they really like
[00:53:36.902]'cause they haven't done their work,"
[00:53:37.890]but if they're gonna throw a tantrum and get out of work,
[00:53:40.800]we don't maintain instructional control
[00:53:43.050]in that scenario either.
[00:53:44.250]So if we can say, "Hey, you know what?
[00:53:46.662]You've been working hard, go ahead and take a break
[00:53:48.424]and go over to your preferred item for a little bit,
[00:53:49.650]or, you know, go read about dinosaurs for a few minutes
[00:53:52.685]and then bring 'em back to do a little more work,"
[00:53:55.590]that can be a really effective way to avoid a tantrum,
[00:53:59.250]but also maintain instructional control.
[00:54:01.380]We're telling you when you get to access
[00:54:03.570]your preferred thing.
[00:54:04.980]But, you know, just looking through this list
[00:54:07.470]can really give the IEP team some ideas to think
[00:54:11.040]about what supports do we have in place,
[00:54:13.500]and is there something missing that might be contributing
[00:54:15.930]to the student having a difficult time?
[00:54:18.540]So here's just some additional things.
[00:54:21.480]One that I wanna note especially is the last one.
[00:54:25.590]Are we consistently providing supports
[00:54:27.900]that we know will help this student?
[00:54:29.910]There are things like visual schedules that sometimes will,
[00:54:33.090]team will use very consistently with a student,
[00:54:36.480]and then they'll kind of determine
[00:54:38.700]maybe the student isn't looking at it very often or isn't,
[00:54:41.838]doesn't seem to be needing it anymore,
[00:54:44.850]and so they'll pull that support away,
[00:54:47.490]and then student starts having some tough days.
[00:54:50.940]Support's like a visual schedule
[00:54:53.040]of exactly what's gonna happen each day,
[00:54:55.410]those should be in place all the time no matter what.
[00:54:58.620]We want 'em to be appropriate for the student.
[00:55:01.410]So we don't want big pictures for a high school student
[00:55:03.780]that can read or anything like that,
[00:55:05.330]it should be student appropriate,
[00:55:07.080]but we would wanna keep those supports in place.
[00:55:09.120]I use my calendar every day to see what I'm doing.
[00:55:12.720]And so that question is always really good to help us think,
[00:55:15.930]did we pull some supports out of the student's, you know,
[00:55:19.530]program because we thought they didn't need 'em anymore?
[00:55:22.800]And are there some of those supports
[00:55:24.240]that we can put back in place
[00:55:25.499]that would actually really help them
[00:55:26.610]and maybe turn things around when things aren't going right?
[00:55:30.000]So it's just a really good list to look through
[00:55:32.430]and talk through with your team
[00:55:34.530]when you're having some tough times.
[00:55:36.358]All right, that was a lot.
[00:55:39.270]Thank you again to all of our call-ins,
[00:55:41.880]our administrator questions, and those who've inspired
[00:55:45.030]some (laughs) of those administrator questions.
[00:55:47.280]And now I just wanna talk briefly about accessing resources.
[00:55:50.616]As I mentioned, this is a tri-state collaborative.
[00:55:54.330]I'm from Nebraska,
[00:55:55.350]and so I'll talk a little bit about Nebraska's resources.
[00:55:58.620]But if you're in Colorado
[00:56:00.030]and you wanna access the Colorado Autism Education Network,
[00:56:03.720]there is a link on this slide that should be hyperlinked
[00:56:06.570]in your handouts.
[00:56:07.620]You can definitely get ahold of the autism team in Colorado
[00:56:10.800]to ask about, you know, more support or specific questions
[00:56:14.280]around some of the content that we've covered today.
[00:56:16.920]The same thing can be done in Kansas.
[00:56:19.200]You can contact the TASN Autism
[00:56:21.210]and Tertiary Behavior Supports project
[00:56:23.899]and ask for additional support.
[00:56:26.240]And then in Nebraska,
[00:56:28.680]you can contact the Nebraska ASD network
[00:56:31.170]If you need additional support
[00:56:32.880]or questions about training and such
[00:56:34.980]that would help your school district
[00:56:37.320]and help you as an administrator support your teams.
[00:56:40.830]Also, we included a lot of the resources
[00:56:42.990]that we covered today, they should be linked in here.
[00:56:45.870]I did include the Nebraska Autism FAQs for administrators.
[00:56:50.190]Just so you know,
[00:56:51.210]Kansas shared a document that they created,
[00:56:53.430]and we utilized a lot of that
[00:56:55.380]in the development of our (laughs) resource.
[00:56:57.919]So hopefully that'll be a good resource for others.
[00:56:59.760]That evidence-based practices and autism,
[00:57:03.240]I referred to that when I talked about training
[00:57:05.490]and said there's 28 evidence-based practices
[00:57:08.760]that have been identified
[00:57:10.590]by the National Professional Development Center
[00:57:13.350]on autism spectrum disorders,
[00:57:15.480]that is this evidence-based practice report.
[00:57:17.940]They're definitely something your teachers
[00:57:20.010]working with students with autism should be familiar with.
[00:57:23.820]And so that might be a really nice thing to print
[00:57:26.250]and share with them.
[00:57:27.780]And then some of the other documents that I just reviewed
[00:57:31.530]in the behavior section, you can access there.
[00:57:36.060]Some references to things we covered.
[00:57:38.490]And just a reminder to join us
[00:57:40.620]for part two of this webinar series,
[00:57:43.950]and that is going to contain interviews
[00:57:46.140]with some school administrators sharing their expertise
[00:57:49.650]on how they're winning at supporting students with autism.
[00:57:53.490]So hopefully, you can join us for part two of this webinar.
[00:57:57.018]And just a reminder that all of our webinars
[00:58:00.330]are recorded and archived, but they're available
[00:58:03.120]on each of our state websites on demand,
[00:58:06.750]and you can see the link here for Colorado, Kansas,
[00:58:09.750]and Nebraska.
[00:58:10.620]So definitely check out those archived webinars
[00:58:13.830]for additional training.
[00:58:16.380]Thanks for joining us today.

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School Administrators and ASD Part 1

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