Administrators and ASD Part 2

Nebraska Administrators Author

02/05/2023 Added

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Tri-State Webinar

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[00:00:00.810]Hello and welcome to our webinar today.
[00:00:03.780]This webinar is brought to you
[00:00:05.520]by the Tri-State Autism Collaborative,
[00:00:08.520]which includes the Colorado Department of Education,
[00:00:11.880]the Kansas Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports Group,
[00:00:15.750]and the Nebraska Autism Spectrum Disorders Network.
[00:00:19.470]We're so glad you could join us today.
[00:00:22.200]Our training today is part two of a two-part series
[00:00:25.800]on school administrators and autism spectrum disorders.
[00:00:30.690]And our interviews that are included in this webinar
[00:00:33.750]were brought to us by the administrators,
[00:00:35.700]the names you can see on the screen.
[00:00:37.350]And we wanna take just a minute to thank them for their time
[00:00:40.980]in letting us interview them and truly for sharing their
[00:00:44.430]expertise on ways they have found to support staff
[00:00:49.050]and students with autism.
[00:00:51.150]So thank you to them.
[00:00:53.340]Now we are going to hear a little bit about them
[00:00:56.010]and really what led them to their current work
[00:00:59.250]and their work with staff and students
[00:01:01.380]on the autism spectrum.
[00:01:02.730]So my name's Matt Fenster.
[00:01:03.563]I'm the director of Special Education
[00:01:04.980]for Bellevue Public Schools.
[00:01:07.500]Kind of just a little bit about my background,
[00:01:09.390]I was a Bellevue boy, grew up in Bellevue.
[00:01:12.390]One of the things a lot of people don't know about me,
[00:01:14.040]I was in special education myself.
[00:01:15.720]I was in speech and also I got reading services.
[00:01:19.770]I actually have,
[00:01:20.790]if you look at my wall here in my office right now,
[00:01:22.950]I have four documents hanging on my wall.
[00:01:25.140]I got my IEP
[00:01:27.450]hanging there from when I was in elementary school.
[00:01:29.160]I have my,
[00:01:30.810]and then I guess with my three degrees
[00:01:32.220]all the way up to a doctorate.
[00:01:33.210]So it's a great conversation with parents a lot of times
[00:01:35.970]who think that,
[00:01:36.803]special education services is some sort of death sentence
[00:01:39.210]or something like that for their kids.
[00:01:41.280]It's really not.
[00:01:42.113]It's just about a service that they might need
[00:01:43.950]to a remediate a deficit.
[00:01:45.450]So just a quick,
[00:01:46.350]that was just a quick story about myself there.
[00:01:48.630]I'm Becky Eckhardt,
[00:01:49.710]I'm the Student Services Director
[00:01:52.381]with South Sioux City Community Schools
[00:01:54.510]and I started in special education
[00:01:58.680]as a speech language pathologist in northeast Nebraska.
[00:02:03.480]I've had the opportunity to spend most of my career working
[00:02:06.660]with students with disabilities or working with teachers
[00:02:10.950]who work with students with disabilities,
[00:02:12.630]both as like a elementary principal, special ed director,
[00:02:17.400]and a variety of other roles
[00:02:18.840]including speech language pathology.
[00:02:20.610]I'm Tammy Voisin.
[00:02:22.170]I am the director of special services
[00:02:24.210]for Pavilion La Vista Community Schools.
[00:02:27.720]And a little bit about my background.
[00:02:31.859]So I have been in Pavilion La Vista Community Schools
[00:02:34.290]my entire career
[00:02:37.770]and I started as a special education teacher
[00:02:39.390]here at an elementary.
[00:02:40.770]And I spent one year as an instructional coach,
[00:02:43.470]which gave me a really good perspective
[00:02:45.210]on the general education side of it,
[00:02:47.250]but just really missed being in special education.
[00:02:50.370]So stayed in that for one year and then became what we had
[00:02:54.560]at the time was an inclusion facilitator position.
[00:02:57.660]And then I remember at the time our boss said,
[00:03:01.410]you will work yourself out of a job.
[00:03:03.510]'Cause it was about building capacity and that was true.
[00:03:06.870]That position just has evolved over time
[00:03:10.483]and it kind of turned into more
[00:03:11.730]of an administrative position,
[00:03:13.440]still at the elementary level.
[00:03:15.000]Did that for several years
[00:03:16.140]and then have been the director of special services,
[00:03:19.380]which includes special education and 504's
[00:03:22.380]and also a lot with intervention.
[00:03:24.300]I've been doing that I think six years now, I believe.
[00:03:28.920]So that's a little bit about me.
[00:03:30.911]So then really that's what kind of led
[00:03:32.580]to this job is just the continued
[00:03:36.300]desire to be in special education and just
[00:03:40.620]serve at different capacity levels as I kind of found.
[00:03:45.150]I don't know,
[00:03:45.983]I think that it's just kind of been always
[00:03:47.610]what I wanted to do
[00:03:49.110]was to be an administrative position and it just worked
[00:03:52.770]out for me to stay in this district.
[00:03:56.012]So it kind of found me maybe a little bit too.
[00:03:59.122]So yeah, that's a little bit about me.
[00:04:00.510]My name's Kami Jessop.
[00:04:01.530]I'm the director of special services
[00:04:02.820]for Westside Community Schools.
[00:04:04.560]This is my 10th year actually in this physician,
[00:04:08.070]but I'm fortunate to have had
[00:04:09.810]a similar pathway as Dr. Voisin.
[00:04:13.200]So my background is actually
[00:04:14.760]as speech and language pathologist.
[00:04:17.250]So my first job was out in central Nebraska
[00:04:20.790]where I had the opportunity to work birth through 21.
[00:04:23.250]That gave me the chance to see students
[00:04:27.210]in multiple different environments,
[00:04:28.470]in multiple different settings across the birth
[00:04:30.270]to 21 age span.
[00:04:31.980]But yeah, it was that, I don't know,
[00:04:34.230]trying to impact or influence the system
[00:04:36.330]that really led to the passion for how do you equip people,
[00:04:40.950]how do you equip your teammates,
[00:04:42.330]how do you equip administrators,
[00:04:43.620]how do you equip parents
[00:04:44.520]and families to advocate and access services?
[00:04:47.520]So that's kind of like the desire to influence,
[00:04:50.790]impact and allocate resources in a way that helped teachers
[00:04:54.270]and things like, that's what created the,
[00:04:57.660]I guess, I don't know, desire to be a director.
[00:05:00.120]That's how I wound up here in west side 10 years ago,
[00:05:02.790]was just seeing an opportunity to advance systems
[00:05:06.150]and get people in the right seats and whatnot.
[00:05:08.070]So that's the journey.
[00:05:09.750]All right, my name is Audrey Graves.
[00:05:11.280]I am the director of programs at NCECBVI.
[00:05:14.970]The full name for that is the Nebraska Center
[00:05:17.550]for the Education of Children
[00:05:19.170]Who are Blind or Visually Impaired.
[00:05:21.690]We are a statewide program.
[00:05:24.240]We serve over 800 students through
[00:05:26.460]the state in various ways.
[00:05:29.370]We do assessment and evaluation,
[00:05:31.380]professional development
[00:05:34.650]materials and support.
[00:05:36.270]So we support so many students.
[00:05:38.520]And we also have a program here on campus where we serve
[00:05:41.670]students either in a day program
[00:05:44.130]or some students are residential as well.
[00:05:47.430]So we support in any way that we can for students
[00:05:50.040]and staff and families throughout the state.
[00:05:52.650]A little background,
[00:05:53.760]I did start as a special education teacher
[00:05:57.360]at Plattsmouth High School
[00:05:59.310]While I was there, I got my administrative degree.
[00:06:04.653]And then in 2005 I ended up coming over to NCECBVI.
[00:06:08.700]Started more as a teacher with a few administrative
[00:06:14.400]roles that I would do.
[00:06:17.044]And then I earned my teacher
[00:06:18.270]of the visually impaired degree.
[00:06:21.060]And then I gradually added administrative duties.
[00:06:23.790]Then that turned into principal
[00:06:25.290]and now I'm the director of programs.
[00:06:28.080]Now we're gonna hear from Matt Fenster
[00:06:30.810]on some advice that he has developed
[00:06:33.930]to help administrators run effective IEP meetings.
[00:06:38.220]Yeah, so we originally started
[00:06:40.230]doing some of these things and I joke with it,
[00:06:43.770]I joke a little bit because when I talk
[00:06:45.986]about our administrators,
[00:06:47.850]a lot of times administrators just do stupid things.
[00:06:50.130]So it's the reason we started developing
[00:06:52.650]some of these things so they wouldn't do stupid things
[00:06:54.930]along the way.
[00:06:56.490]And yeah, they're all good intention, but it, again,
[00:06:59.040]it goes back to that just lack of understanding
[00:07:01.470]and skillset and background.
[00:07:03.057]But the things that we're,
[00:07:04.080]I'll focus on here today are these,
[00:07:06.930]we developed MDT meeting guidelines,
[00:07:10.020]MDT meeting agendas,
[00:07:12.030]and then IEP meeting guidance and IEP meeting agenda.
[00:07:16.920]So just clicking on those, just kind of give you an idea.
[00:07:20.610]Obviously our school psychologist is a person
[00:07:22.710]who's responsible for the MDT
[00:07:25.350]and then it literally just takes
[00:07:26.670]them step-by-step through the process of the MDT.
[00:07:30.570]So that way we just make sure that every single thing
[00:07:33.570]that we would want to occur in an MDT occurs.
[00:07:36.532]We also have, like I said, just a meeting agenda.
[00:07:39.270]And this is delayed out there for parents,
[00:07:41.310]so they know exactly what's coming.
[00:07:43.050]And then we have the very similar type
[00:07:44.580]of documents for our IEP meetings.
[00:07:48.240]So we have suggested format there for our IEP meetings.
[00:07:52.050]And then we also have, like I said,
[00:07:53.970]we have the meeting agenda for everybody there as well.
[00:07:57.510]So that's one piece that we just kind of put in place
[00:08:00.180]for basically to making sure that people follow our process.
[00:08:04.440]The other thing that I do is I do a part of that
[00:08:07.440]presentation to our new staff,
[00:08:08.790]but I've done it with principals,
[00:08:09.960]I've done it with some principals
[00:08:11.130]up at ESU three as well,
[00:08:14.250]is we,
[00:08:15.083]I do a presentation of the expectations
[00:08:17.940]I have for IEP teams.
[00:08:19.680]This first slide here,
[00:08:20.790]we've all been in IEP meetings like that, where it's like,
[00:08:23.850]holy cow, that IEP meeting didn't go so well.
[00:08:27.060]So the idea of these expectations,
[00:08:28.770]if you do these expectations,
[00:08:30.000]hopefully you're gonna avoid that fire.
[00:08:33.510]So the first thing that I always talk about
[00:08:35.700]is developing relationships, developing.
[00:08:37.920]There's relationships particularly with parents
[00:08:39.600]and the student well prior.
[00:08:42.188]You hear people talk about that whole developer
[00:08:44.940]relationships is important.
[00:08:47.370]I can't agree more than a thousand percent.
[00:08:49.800]It's see thing you have to do.
[00:08:51.840]And it's probably one of the things
[00:08:53.190]that people do maybe the least.
[00:08:54.840]So I really talk a lot about just making sure that they
[00:08:57.060]develop those relationships, piece of it.
[00:08:59.610]The second one is I talk about show up
[00:09:01.170]and I call this butts in seats.
[00:09:02.880]You have to be at the IEP meeting and we,
[00:09:06.060]you have to have those four required members.
[00:09:09.060]And you see this a lot at the middle school
[00:09:10.530]and high school level where you know,
[00:09:12.450]they're trying to hold IEP meeting during the plan period
[00:09:15.030]and they have to come and go and that kind of stuff.
[00:09:16.830]And there's a 10,000 things going on.
[00:09:19.440]So maybe they're not there the entire time
[00:09:21.570]or even when they're there, they're not there
[00:09:23.640]and I talk a lot about that be in the moment
[00:09:26.310]because to this parent,
[00:09:27.210]this is the biggest thing that they have going on.
[00:09:29.790]This is their baby, this is their child,
[00:09:32.040]and we need to,
[00:09:33.426]we kind of get caught up and we forget that sometimes that
[00:09:36.030]this is so important.
[00:09:36.930]So it's really about being there for the parent.
[00:09:39.840]The other thing I talk about is participate.
[00:09:42.390]And so with those teachers or administrators,
[00:09:45.120]they know the kids the best.
[00:09:46.770]So I want them to participate when they're at the IEP.
[00:09:49.290]I don't want 'em to be like that.
[00:09:50.790]It might be how they're feeling.
[00:09:51.677]'Cause it's about really being involved
[00:09:53.730]in that conversation.
[00:09:55.200]Provide suggestions and be honest with parents,
[00:09:58.560]and this is why we need to add this to the IEP
[00:10:00.780]because this is the need we're seeing at school
[00:10:02.340]type of thing.
[00:10:03.540]Don't just sit there and not say anything during that IEP.
[00:10:07.080]The other thing I give 'em a hard time about,
[00:10:09.150]and this is obviously meant to be funny,
[00:10:10.920]but it's about filtering.
[00:10:12.330]There's so many things that you want to say to a parent,
[00:10:15.300]but if you say that thing that one time,
[00:10:17.550]it's gonna go down the wrong road
[00:10:19.200]in that relationship piece.
[00:10:20.820]These are some examples and they may not be the best
[00:10:25.050]examples in the world.
[00:10:25.883]I share 'em anyway.
[00:10:26.716]So first one I say, you know, dude, your kid stinks.
[00:10:29.310]I just had to buy two Glade plug-ins.
[00:10:30.960]Instead say something like,
[00:10:32.610]needs guidance and developing good hygiene habits
[00:10:35.340]using the right terminology.
[00:10:37.200]But there's also times where we have to filter
[00:10:38.970]for our staff members as well.
[00:10:40.500]So instead of saying things like,
[00:10:42.540]perhaps he would be successful
[00:10:44.190]in your class if you got off your ass,
[00:10:46.260]say something like needs guidance in developing ways
[00:10:48.750]to differentiate within the classroom.
[00:10:51.090]The last one,
[00:10:51.923]when you wanna say something to me like what the,
[00:10:54.360]are you thinking say something like,
[00:10:56.850]hey, if I told you got a new nice outfit today?
[00:10:59.280]Funny story about this is I did this presentation to our
[00:11:02.525]leadership academy.
[00:11:04.410]About two days later,
[00:11:06.270]I had to put a student into a classroom,
[00:11:09.240]move a student from one classroom to another.
[00:11:10.980]And I go in to visit about a week later
[00:11:13.710]and I walked into that teacher's classroom
[00:11:15.960]and she looked at me and said,
[00:11:17.430]Dr. Frenser, you have a great outfit.
[00:11:20.206]So the other thing I talk to our teams a lot about is about,
[00:11:24.360]work is a team that,
[00:11:25.193]that ensure that IEP
[00:11:26.277]and the plan is implemented, is written.
[00:11:28.710]One of the things I tell people,
[00:11:29.760]if you, I don't care what you write in the IEP at all,
[00:11:33.300]as long as you can do it and the kid needs it
[00:11:36.687]and I always throw out that thing,
[00:11:38.040]if you write in that they're gonna have
[00:11:39.180]a trip to Disneyland, we're paying for a trip to Disneyland.
[00:11:41.700]So I always tell 'em,
[00:11:43.020]give the kid what they need, but make sure you can do it.
[00:11:45.360]We see all the time that there are accommodations.
[00:11:48.120]I mean this list of accommodations of a hundred things,
[00:11:50.460]that there's no physical possibility that
[00:11:52.860]you can implement all of those things all the time.
[00:11:55.230]We talk about that a lot.
[00:11:57.510]And then I always say about stupid things.
[00:11:59.370]Don't say stupid things in the IEP.
[00:12:01.080]And then I give examples of what stupid things are.
[00:12:03.870]Stupid equals, we don't, we can't, we need to ask,
[00:12:09.000]this is what we do for every student.
[00:12:11.160]We can't afford it.
[00:12:12.630]We never, we do not feel it's appropriate.
[00:12:15.390]But if you want it,
[00:12:16.223]we'll go ahead and put in the IEP.
[00:12:17.850]That kills me all the time.
[00:12:19.170]I don't have the data to show that your child made progress,
[00:12:21.780]but you know, we'll do do something different.
[00:12:24.960]The IEP wasn't implemented but,
[00:12:27.870]and there's lots of things.
[00:12:28.860]I just tell people and when I talk about administrators,
[00:12:31.410]those are the people I hear say it the most.
[00:12:33.570]So that's why I kind of talk with them a lot about that.
[00:12:35.457]And the last thing is just keeping a positive attitude
[00:12:39.570]in everything that we do.
[00:12:40.680]I talk about, there's a great video
[00:12:42.630]that's out there that I watched.
[00:12:44.100]They talk about the only disability in life
[00:12:45.630]is a bad attitude.
[00:12:46.500]I talked a lot about our staff,
[00:12:47.670]about we make that decision when we wake up in the morning,
[00:12:50.430]what attitude we're bringing into the building.
[00:12:52.170]And even though we might have a hundred single,
[00:12:54.000]a hundred things on our plate,
[00:12:56.010]we choose what we're coming to school with
[00:12:57.900]and with that positive attitude,
[00:12:59.370]one of the things I heard one time that I really liked
[00:13:01.770]is don't let your personal storm get your students wet.
[00:13:05.520]I just really like that when I heard that.
[00:13:07.260]I actually have it sitting on my desk to kind of remind me
[00:13:09.450]of that is, again, we all have things going on live,
[00:13:12.630]but be in the moment,
[00:13:13.590]work with our students the best we can.
[00:13:16.290]Now we're gonna hear from Rebecca Eckhardt
[00:13:18.620]on how her district has developed a system
[00:13:21.660]to manage staff training needs,
[00:13:23.640]so that those staff feel effectively trained
[00:13:26.880]and have the skillset needed
[00:13:28.620]to support students with autism.
[00:13:30.870]Well the last couple years have been a little bit
[00:13:32.670]challenging as they have been for everyone.
[00:13:34.830]And so the last couple years we kind of deviated
[00:13:39.510]from the approach we've had
[00:13:40.680]and a lot of the training was optional.
[00:13:44.777]And so I feel like now in the 22, 23 school year,
[00:13:47.490]we're back to where we were pre COVID and really being
[00:13:51.450]very strategic about what's the training
[00:13:56.840]that both general ed and special ed teachers need.
[00:13:59.190]And if they need it,
[00:14:00.090]it's not optional.
[00:14:01.050]We're gonna try to set aside time
[00:14:03.030]that they can go to the training.
[00:14:06.320]And in our special education department,
[00:14:08.340]we have three coaches that can then follow up
[00:14:11.400]with the teachers after the training
[00:14:13.620]on how the implementation and the organization
[00:14:16.110]of the materials is going.
[00:14:18.210]So I think that's been key for us is getting back to,
[00:14:22.830]it's not optional, it's required,
[00:14:26.280]because special educators, just like all educators,
[00:14:28.710]are incredibly busy and have a lot on their plate.
[00:14:33.047]And so while they may have a desire
[00:14:34.260]to go on for additional learning,
[00:14:37.620]when they have to pick and choose the services
[00:14:39.630]to their kids in the daily life is going to come first.
[00:14:42.870]And so as the administrator,
[00:14:45.780]I see my role as I need to prioritize setting aside
[00:14:48.750]some time so that they can get
[00:14:51.810]the professional learning that they want
[00:14:54.960]and need so that they can bring
[00:14:56.640]that back to their students.
[00:14:57.930]I think like even when you go to the best training ever,
[00:15:02.280]you come back to school the next day following the training,
[00:15:06.240]you don't have a lot of time to process
[00:15:07.740]what you just learned.
[00:15:08.670]You gotta hit the ground running
[00:15:10.920]'cause your students are waiting for you.
[00:15:13.650]And so that's where the support of the coaches,
[00:15:16.800]bringing that back 'cause it's not that the teachers
[00:15:20.220]don't wanna implement that new learning.
[00:15:21.780]It's like they're incredibly busy
[00:15:24.120]and trying to find the time to organize
[00:15:25.830]the materials and set up the environment
[00:15:28.140]or adjust the schedule or follow up with the para.
[00:15:31.590]There's never enough time in the day.
[00:15:33.087]And so the coaches can help partner with them
[00:15:36.300]to either do some of those things
[00:15:38.190]or help the teacher find time to do
[00:15:40.740]some of those things.
[00:15:41.573]So we found that incredibly valuable.
[00:15:44.280]Another training perspective
[00:15:45.990]is developing district coaches,
[00:15:49.110]some implementation coaches to support frontline staff
[00:15:53.250]in working with students with autism
[00:15:55.740]and implementing evidence-based practices.
[00:15:58.590]So let's hear from Tammy Voisin on how her district
[00:16:02.160]is using implementation coaches.
[00:16:06.100]So call 'em a behavior coach,
[00:16:07.140]but they're a jack of all trades.
[00:16:11.241]So in Pavilion la Vista Community Schools,
[00:16:12.720]we have have found that to be one of our greatest successes
[00:16:16.410]is that embedded coaching, on the job embedded coaching,
[00:16:20.280]it is way more powerful than sending people to,
[00:16:24.540]a conference where they listen to a speaker for an hour
[00:16:26.820]and try to bring it back and implement it by themselves.
[00:16:29.460]That embedded coaching.
[00:16:30.870]So the professional development
[00:16:32.970]and those pieces are still super valuable,
[00:16:35.610]but when you have a coach in your building helping you
[00:16:37.710]implement it, things go so much better.
[00:16:40.860]So I think training in a large school district, right,
[00:16:45.930]there are limited resources and there's all sorts of asks
[00:16:49.410]and everybody wants to go to everything
[00:16:50.880]and you're trying to figure out how to make that work
[00:16:53.826]with the sub situation we have right now.
[00:16:55.980]And with also not taking people
[00:16:58.050]out of the classroom as much,
[00:16:59.670]because that impacts kids too.
[00:17:01.800]So in trying to figure all of that out,
[00:17:04.684]I think our coaching model has helped the very most.
[00:17:07.440]And while they're called behavior coaches,
[00:17:09.750]we have six of them and three of them have really taken on
[00:17:14.790]a specialized role of with students that are on the spectrum
[00:17:18.360]or other characteristics where some of those trainings
[00:17:21.390]just benefit lots of kids.
[00:17:23.580]So three of them have really taken on that specific role
[00:17:26.550]to help with programming, verbal behavior
[00:17:29.940]and other things like that because it is a lot of work
[00:17:33.000]to get a system set up and to keep it
[00:17:34.650]going and progress monitoring.
[00:17:37.110]So the coaches,
[00:17:38.370]three of those coaches have really helped with that.
[00:17:40.350]'Cause what we found was the behavior
[00:17:41.880]was usually stemming from a lack of program
[00:17:44.070]where the program just had kind of fallen apart.
[00:17:45.900]And once we can get that shored up,
[00:17:47.280]then things just go smoother.
[00:17:49.350]And then the other three,
[00:17:50.640]kind of specialize in more mental health,
[00:17:53.250]which sometimes can co-occur with others.
[00:17:55.882]But that has been probably our largest success in getting
[00:17:57.840]the most amount of people trained and on a continuous basis.
[00:18:03.630]Now let's hear from Tammy and Kami
[00:18:06.180]on meeting the needs of students with autism
[00:18:09.715]in a larger district with lots of competing demands.
[00:18:13.710]Something that we talk about all the time
[00:18:15.150]is all means all.
[00:18:16.230]And we have to truly,
[00:18:17.880]we have to mean that.
[00:18:20.460]All means all that students are held to high standards,
[00:18:25.440]a differentiated instruction
[00:18:28.770]in the general education classroom.
[00:18:30.810]And all students can learn.
[00:18:33.750]It might look different.
[00:18:35.640]We might not be learning the same exact thing,
[00:18:39.270]but it's all tied to the standards.
[00:18:41.190]It's all, I mean, our curriculum guides,
[00:18:42.510]our UBD guides are,
[00:18:43.770]all of that still applies to all students.
[00:18:49.220]So I think that
[00:18:51.270]a big lesson that I guess we've learned
[00:18:54.480]in the past couple years,
[00:18:56.610]we have been limited on professional development
[00:19:00.150]for multiple reasons, right?
[00:19:01.440]After this,
[00:19:02.880]the pandemic kind of hits
[00:19:04.080]and none of us were ready for that.
[00:19:06.840]It limited us in a lot of ways
[00:19:08.820]from getting together
[00:19:10.320]in large spaces like we used to do
[00:19:11.880]with professional development,
[00:19:13.680]limited us in the number of subs
[00:19:15.450]that were willing to come into the buildings.
[00:19:17.760]So there were lots of limits
[00:19:19.560]that were kind of out of our control.
[00:19:21.480]And I think that right now we're kind of revisiting,
[00:19:25.650]kind of getting back to the basics because we got so off
[00:19:28.770]kilter for a hot minute.
[00:19:30.810]So we're trying to get,
[00:19:32.070]we're really focusing on back to the basics,
[00:19:34.500]all means all of inclusive education, progress monitoring,
[00:19:38.490]like all of those things.
[00:19:41.280]When people say that teaching isn't easy, it,
[00:19:43.950]it isn't easy and it shouldn't be easy, it is hard work,
[00:19:48.930]but we all got into it for the right reasons
[00:19:50.700]and the same reasons.
[00:19:51.533]So I think it's just remembering those lessons
[00:19:54.360]about everybody can learn and we just need to,
[00:19:58.887]that's up to the staff and the,
[00:20:01.917]the IEP team surrounding that kid to make sure
[00:20:04.290]that they've got a great learning experience.
[00:20:06.870]It is the all means all
[00:20:08.070]and it's the systems that you create.
[00:20:10.230]It's like maintaining the I in IEP while you're creating
[00:20:14.400]the systems and leveraging the systems that you need,
[00:20:17.850]so that you don't have to just make,
[00:20:19.620]like you're making individualized decisions,
[00:20:21.270]but you're not having to do it as a singleton, right?
[00:20:23.730]You have practices or procedures in your district,
[00:20:25.830]you have beliefs, you have core values, you have,
[00:20:31.050]enough training and it's been,
[00:20:32.970]it's been impacted unfortunately by COVID
[00:20:35.490]and subs and things like that.
[00:20:36.780]But you have the right beliefs and the right systems
[00:20:39.450]in place to where you can kind of do both.
[00:20:42.360]Then you don't have administrators or teachers saying like,
[00:20:45.240]oh, we can't do that for that one kid.
[00:20:47.010]Like, no, that's the INIEP.
[00:20:49.020]We can do that for one student.
[00:20:51.510]We can be creative, we can be innovative.
[00:20:53.520]And fortunately we figure out how to get the resources.
[00:20:57.000]I don't wanna say we have the resources
[00:20:58.410]'cause we don't always,
[00:20:59.520]we sometimes are like, okay,
[00:21:00.720]how are we gonna pull that off?
[00:21:03.090]But it's the, yeah,
[00:21:03.923]maintaining the INIEP in the all kid philosophy.
[00:21:07.710]I just think it's about your culture.
[00:21:10.530]Now let's hear from Audrey Graves
[00:21:12.270]on tips for supporting students with complex needs.
[00:21:16.500]So some of the tips for administrators
[00:21:18.990]is first get to know the students.
[00:21:21.600]Take time to really create a connection
[00:21:23.730]because if they know and trust you,
[00:21:26.160]they're going to respond more to you.
[00:21:28.860]And again, knowing the students allows you
[00:21:30.690]to work with the teachers,
[00:21:32.400]the families, the support staff.
[00:21:34.800]Because if you know the students,
[00:21:36.810]then there's gonna be more buy-in
[00:21:38.790]to work with you on any suggestions.
[00:21:42.150]And also start with knowing the student's background
[00:21:44.610]and their story.
[00:21:45.840]We all have stories that built us to where we are today.
[00:21:49.950]So to understand the students and understand the families
[00:21:54.090]and where they've come through,
[00:21:55.710]the good, the bad,
[00:21:57.420]everything brings together that story to life
[00:22:00.480]on the student.
[00:22:01.313]We do this through person-centered planning.
[00:22:04.110]We do this to begin with to get to know the students
[00:22:06.690]and build into what are their goals for the future.
[00:22:10.020]Another thing that goes along with that is just take time
[00:22:13.500]to talk to the student on a regular basis
[00:22:16.830]and talk directly to the student,
[00:22:18.810]not to the support staff member.
[00:22:22.620]So we wanna allow the student to take ownership
[00:22:24.360]in their learning and not always just rely
[00:22:27.090]on the staff that's assisting them.
[00:22:28.770]So really talk to the student himself or herself,
[00:22:32.430]this is important to their quality of life.
[00:22:35.130]And then talk to the student at his or her level.
[00:22:37.500]So you might have a student who is 16,
[00:22:39.990]but their functioning level is lower than that.
[00:22:42.180]So you wanna take into consideration that chronological age,
[00:22:45.870]but also their cognitive level.
[00:22:48.000]And again, it goes back to speaking
[00:22:49.530]to the student with respect
[00:22:52.320]and at their age level,
[00:22:53.670]but take a lot of those factors into mind.
[00:22:56.700]Also work closely with the staff.
[00:22:58.980]I have found it's so effective to talk less and listen more.
[00:23:03.750]They're just looking for your support.
[00:23:06.240]You don't have to be the expert on everything.
[00:23:09.510]Listen and work with them and find best ways, and again,
[00:23:13.140]go back to that student first philosophy
[00:23:16.470]and then take time to build capacity
[00:23:18.720]within your staff to be able to support the students.
[00:23:23.820]To do that, you ultimately have to support the staff.
[00:23:26.190]So do that through staff development partnerships
[00:23:29.220]with other educational agencies
[00:23:31.140]and organizations such as ASD, ATP, VOC Rehab.
[00:23:35.310]We work with the Nebraska Commission
[00:23:37.200]for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
[00:23:40.669]So get that outside expert,
[00:23:42.120]to build experts within your staff so we can
[00:23:44.820]all help each other.
[00:23:46.470]Now let's hear some tips
[00:23:48.030]for working with outside service providers.
[00:23:51.960]So having good relationships with your families
[00:23:54.840]and outside agency providers, right?
[00:23:56.610]Is this first step.
[00:23:58.140]And so I think it's about building those connections,
[00:24:00.510]getting your network in place.
[00:24:02.400]From there then I think it's like ensuring
[00:24:04.620]that your staff and your families know
[00:24:06.960]that your responsibility and I'm saying things
[00:24:09.540]you already know, right?
[00:24:10.373]But your responsibility is to provide faith to that child,
[00:24:13.320]so that it's like whether you do this
[00:24:16.200]in-house and we consider outside
[00:24:18.060]agency resources supplemental,
[00:24:20.340]or whether outside agency resources truly are filling
[00:24:24.150]what we would perceive to be a gap,
[00:24:26.580]helping to deliver something
[00:24:27.870]that we believe is necessary for faith.
[00:24:29.910]I think it's getting clear around those procedures first,
[00:24:35.040]getting clear around those understandings first.
[00:24:40.147]We have some fabulous outside agency providers
[00:24:42.570]in the Omaha metro area
[00:24:43.950]and the state of Nebraska.
[00:24:45.090]I know, like you said,
[00:24:45.960]we have certainly greater opportunity
[00:24:49.500]or easier access to those resources,
[00:24:52.050]but oftentimes
[00:24:55.200]we're pretty good at what we do
[00:24:56.850]or think we're pretty good at what we do.
[00:24:58.020]And so we don't always ha feel like we have to rely on
[00:25:00.960]outside agency providers in order
[00:25:02.640]to deliver services to our kids.
[00:25:05.010]So I think it's like helping people understand, like,
[00:25:07.560]let us take a crack at it first.
[00:25:08.970]Like we believe that we can make this,
[00:25:11.968]we can do our best.
[00:25:13.200]We want to try this and if you're, as a family,
[00:25:16.620]you're already partnering with an outside agency provider,
[00:25:18.870]we wanna communicate, we are happy to share information.
[00:25:22.350]We would help facilitate observations,
[00:25:25.230]letting those providers come in.
[00:25:26.850]We would like to go see the child
[00:25:28.470]in alternate settings as well.
[00:25:31.470]We don't, I don't put up like these big walls, right?
[00:25:34.680]I don't say like, nope, you do your thing,
[00:25:36.720]we do our thing.
[00:25:37.553]And I think in the past,
[00:25:38.490]I think historically there was some of that in the metro
[00:25:42.990]area and I also think our outside agency providers
[00:25:47.370]are working really hard to also take a school,
[00:25:50.730]like understand what schools need and do.
[00:25:53.640]I think there used to be a pretty clear delineation
[00:25:56.010]between like, this is clinical and this is educational.
[00:26:00.480]B willing to say like, hey, you know,
[00:26:02.400]let's partner on these type of things.
[00:26:05.210]So we do have procedures in the district who
[00:26:06.930]like if a parent were to request
[00:26:09.180]that their selected outside agency provider
[00:26:12.570]come into the district,
[00:26:13.770]like we kind of have some parameters
[00:26:15.420]around like for what purpose
[00:26:17.370]and how often and why and what the communication looks like
[00:26:20.580]and how we want to work that and set it up.
[00:26:22.860]I'm gonna kind of flip it the other way
[00:26:25.440]because I would say the same exact thing for,
[00:26:29.730]for people coming into the building.
[00:26:31.920]Same thing, yes, we have a process.
[00:26:34.080]It's constantly being discussed.
[00:26:36.930]In fact, I have a meeting next Tuesday
[00:26:38.820]on it just because we just get
[00:26:41.280]lots and lots of requests and not just for,
[00:26:45.570]there's a lot more now for mental health
[00:26:49.048]and individual therapies and things,
[00:26:50.430]so we just need to revisit.
[00:26:52.350]But I'm gonna flip it the other way 'cause the other part
[00:26:54.540]of that conversation we have is kids
[00:26:57.510]missing school to attend those.
[00:27:00.471]So we also have,
[00:27:03.990]that was something that I would say we are very lucky
[00:27:06.150]in the metro to have really excellent outside providers
[00:27:09.600]and clinical providers right in our backyard.
[00:27:14.085]So there are lots and lots of resources for families
[00:27:16.170]and I love that there are lots of resources for families,
[00:27:20.040]but the discussion has to be had about all the things
[00:27:22.740]and school is a really big part of all the things.
[00:27:26.160]So there may be outside,
[00:27:28.290]speech therapies and OT therapies and ABA therapies
[00:27:31.590]and there's a therapist and there's a,
[00:27:33.390]so there's all the things and a family is trying to juggle
[00:27:35.970]that and figure out,
[00:27:37.920]how they can get their child
[00:27:39.360]to be engaged in all of them.
[00:27:42.570]But we need to be a part of that discussion
[00:27:45.510]because when we write an IEP,
[00:27:47.820]we're writing an I E P and and saying that yes,
[00:27:49.800]we can meet these goals and objectives with the services
[00:27:52.145]we're providing by the time
[00:27:54.720]the next IEP rolls around and we're reporting progress
[00:27:57.420]on that quarterly.
[00:27:58.560]But when a student leaves at
[00:28:00.330]one o'clock every single day to attend
[00:28:02.460]these outside therapies,
[00:28:03.420]they're missing a really big chunk of their education.
[00:28:06.630]So it's really hard for the IEP teams to meet their goals
[00:28:09.450]and objectives when kids aren't here.
[00:28:13.097]So we've had lots of discussions on whether or not that
[00:28:14.880]should be an excused absence or an unexcused absence,
[00:28:18.750]and those are conversations I think that,
[00:28:23.034]I just have law conference on my brain
[00:28:25.740]and when we look at,
[00:28:28.410]some things that recently happened
[00:28:29.700]with the Department of Education in Iowa,
[00:28:32.370]in the participation in those private therapies,
[00:28:36.706]I think that if you have a student
[00:28:38.040]that is missing,
[00:28:39.540]vast amount of their education and you're excusing
[00:28:42.210]all of it, I think there's a little bit of risk in that,
[00:28:43.800]in not having, yeah,
[00:28:45.396]it's gonna be a tough conversation and it might not be
[00:28:48.420]comfortable, but it isn't personal.
[00:28:50.760]It's about us meeting our duty to educate all students.
[00:28:56.236]So keeping good relationships and having those conversations
[00:28:58.260]and helping a family see it from multiple points of view,
[00:29:01.643]because that private group is also making sure the parents
[00:29:05.400]can see it from their point of view.
[00:29:06.390]So you need to be part of the conversation.
[00:29:08.790]And finally,
[00:29:09.623]some parting advice or supporting staff
[00:29:12.960]working with students with autism.
[00:29:15.990]I think I would say be an avid learner.
[00:29:19.590]There were quite a few years that I really,
[00:29:24.240]while I was aware of all the wonderful supports
[00:29:26.940]and trainings out there throughout the state of Nebraska
[00:29:29.640]and through the ASD network,
[00:29:32.010]we were probably under utilizing them
[00:29:34.020]here in South Sioux City.
[00:29:35.550]And over the last, I don't know, five, six years,
[00:29:39.858]I feel like,
[00:29:41.610]because we're making it a priority
[00:29:43.740]for staff to get that trained.
[00:29:47.040]We're feeling, it's kind of a twofold thing.
[00:29:51.330]We're finding that we feel more comfortable in educating
[00:29:55.200]our students because they come with so many unique needs
[00:29:58.620]and we're finding out how much
[00:30:00.450]we don't know and how much more
[00:30:03.000]there is out there to learn,
[00:30:04.350]which I think is good because then when we
[00:30:06.450]identify those things,
[00:30:08.130]both the state and ASD network are really willing
[00:30:11.370]to partner with us to say, you've identified this need,
[00:30:13.890]let us help you meet that need.
[00:30:16.230]So that's been a positive.
[00:30:18.300]Some of the thoughts with things,
[00:30:20.280]I was thinking about overall just ways
[00:30:22.470]to successfully work with students.
[00:30:26.100]It goes back to focusing on their individual needs.
[00:30:29.490]Find that balance to give opportunities
[00:30:32.310]for success along with give them some challenges
[00:30:34.800]to find kind of where their limits are.
[00:30:36.600]They're not going to know their limits
[00:30:38.760]unless you test those,
[00:30:40.890]but also drive everything by assessment and evaluation.
[00:30:45.630]Again, do the team approach.
[00:30:47.100]Get input from everyone who works with the student,
[00:30:49.380]so they're all on the same page.
[00:30:51.960]Focus on communication.
[00:30:53.700]Every student deserves to be able to share wants and needs
[00:30:57.570]and if they can meaningfully connect with others,
[00:31:00.870]that's huge.
[00:31:02.730]And establish this means for school and home.
[00:31:06.150]Use hands-on materials, real objects,
[00:31:08.310]when possible to build vocabulary.
[00:31:11.700]Provide schedules and routines along with strategies
[00:31:14.640]to adapt if there's a change.
[00:31:16.440]Because in life things change.
[00:31:18.750]We talk about having clear beginning, middles and ends.
[00:31:22.770]Focus on those positive reinforcements,
[00:31:26.400]sensory needs,
[00:31:27.510]defined learning spaces.
[00:31:28.830]I've learned so much through you guys on this.
[00:31:31.350]And I guess my overall message, I think is,
[00:31:35.190]getting back to being students first,
[00:31:37.530]we need to change perspectives.
[00:31:39.240]We spend so much time trying to teach students
[00:31:43.260]to fit into our societal norms.
[00:31:45.960]But I think that we need to teach society how to learn about
[00:31:49.320]the student as a whole and what makes the student unique,
[00:31:52.650]what works and what doesn't work.
[00:31:54.810]Kind of recognize and have an open mind
[00:31:56.910]and maybe step into their shoes
[00:32:00.018]and find ways to help them be successful.
[00:32:02.100]We learn a lot from our students.
[00:32:04.650]And the last thing is,
[00:32:06.300]sometimes we focus so much on independence with students,
[00:32:09.450]how can we make the students as independent as possible?
[00:32:11.700]But society is built on interdependence.
[00:32:16.200]So provide accommodations and accessibility.
[00:32:19.890]That's just what humans do.
[00:32:21.840]So do that as a whole for our students.
[00:32:23.700]I guess my original thought, and I kind of stayed with it,
[00:32:26.010]is about that listening and being there.
[00:32:29.854]I think it's really hard to understand if you do not,
[00:32:32.610]if you're, as a educator,
[00:32:35.520]understanding where the parent's coming from because,
[00:32:38.190]I personally, I don't have,
[00:32:40.110]my children don't have disabilities.
[00:32:41.580]So understanding that side of it and their perspective is,
[00:32:45.300]difficult for me.
[00:32:46.530]So really listening to them and being there
[00:32:48.870]and understanding where they're coming from.
[00:32:50.550]And because we all have,
[00:32:52.920]goals and desires and things for our children.
[00:32:57.467]And so just understanding their background
[00:32:59.040]and where they're coming from,
[00:33:00.000]I think that's one of the greatest things you can do.
[00:33:02.967]And so I'll just call it, just be,
[00:33:04.950]be there in that moment and listen.
[00:33:07.938]And then once you kind of hear them and understand
[00:33:09.990]where they're coming from, then look to, okay,
[00:33:13.050]how can we build an IEP or build a plan for this student
[00:33:15.930]that's gonna have
[00:33:18.360]the desires and needs of the parent built into that as well.
[00:33:24.248]All right.
[00:33:25.081]A huge thank you again to our administrators
[00:33:28.812]who graciously allowed us to interview them.
[00:33:31.350]And now I'm going to stay on
[00:33:34.530]and I'm gonna open up the chat box for questions.
[00:33:38.280]Please let me know if you have questions
[00:33:39.900]and we will try to get some answers.
[00:33:46.950]Thanks for joining us today.

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Administrators and ASD Part 2

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