“True love is understanding.” Thich Nhat Hahn
Within the context of special education and the development of school-based interventions, understanding provides the foundation for our work as a team between parents, staff, teachers, and community. Seems so obvious. So simple. However, this is not always the case for there may be personal and politically-inspired agendas which may get in the way related to the evaluation of a each student referral for special education consideration. As an education advocate, I work everyday with parents and staff and one of the most challenging hurdles may come in the form of “push-back” following an initial referral or within a re-evaluation. For a variety of reasons, there may be pressure to move forward with “business as usual” and the intervention process seems to go nowhere. However, there are moments when this is NOT the case.
Just the other day, I attended an evaluation meeting in a very large district. Based upon past experience, I was not expecting anything different from the process nor was I expecting to hear ground-breaking insights from the review of the formal assessments. Was I ever wrong! In fact, I was struck by the heart-centered approach taken by the Evaluation Team for their insights and recommendations were so deeply guided by their understanding of the student. For example, the School Psychologist shared the following comments: “Jane is remarkably endearing, In conversation with me. Jane described a rich and varied family life. She said she loves animals and currently mothers two hermit crabs named Moonie and Sunshine. She hopes to be a dog trainer for a career one day and would like to own a Collie in the future. She talked about all of the things Collies can do in an obstacle course and how fun it would be to train a pup like that for competitions. Jane also talked about how hard it was for her to leave some of her friends at Franklin to come to Grant, but said she is settling in more now. She mentioned having a really nice new friend and that she still spends time with one child in particular from Franklin who is moving soon. She reported a growing fondness for Grant, however, she really misses the art and dance focus at Franklin, but continues to dance and express herself creatively in other ways now. ” All in all, the rest of the meeting was highlighted by a heart-centered approach toward understanding in review of the formal assessments. I loved it! And so did Jane’s parents.
In fact, as I reviewed the meeting with Jane’s mom, she wrote me the following comment: “The classroom teachers have already taken this to heart, and immediately the PE teacher stopped me and asked what he could do to best help Jane be successful. So, I thought that was cool to see the communication actually start immediately.” We are both looking forward to the follow-up IEP meeting when we have the opportunity to co-create the intervention process in light of social, academic, and behavioral recommendations coming from the Evaluation.
Also, what made this Evaluation most extraordinary was the depth of recommendations based upon an interpretation of the findings. Often, these documents are found to be boiler-plate and simply, re-state the results and feature qualification recommendations within specific service areas like reading, math, or written expression. However, this Evaluation Report was laced with in-depth recommendations which would later assist the instructional team in the development of accommodations or specially designed instruction. For example:
“RECOMMENDED INTERVENTIONS:
* Due to Jane”s visualization strengths, she would benefit from the use of visual cues.
• Jane may benefit from repeated practice and review of newly presented information to help with transference of learning to long-term memory.
• Due to slower processing speed, Jane might benefit from untimed assessments as long as she remains productively engaged.
• Consider giving Jane additional think time after questions are asked or giving prep time (“I’m going to ask you to answer question number 3, I’ll come back to you in a minute. Think about your answer”)
* Jane may benefit from cues that prepare her for the task to be presented. For instance, when a reading comprehension task is given, students will get an idea of what is expected by discussing the vocabulary and the overall topic beforehand. This will allow Jane to focus on the salient information and engage in more effective depth of processing.
* Rehearsal is a critical factor in learning and Jane may benefit from repetition. However, her difficulties with memory suggest this strategy may not be effective. She will benefit from the use of assistive technology including text-to-speech and screen reading capabilities as a compensatory strategy.
• Many students with memory difficulties benefit from making lists and writing down information. This will be a less effective strategy for Jane due to her reading and writing disability. She would benefit from the use of dictation software. An assistive technology evaluation can provide additional guidance about the appropriate devices for Jane’s needs.”
Again, this was an outstanding example of a well-written Evaluation for it clearly presented Jane from a well-rounded perspective, a balance of head and heart. In addition, the document featured a wide set of interpretations with specific instructional recommendations. This will be most valuable when we meet again (30 days or less) as part of the IEP Meeting.
I must say, I am looking forward to the next meeting for it’s a pleasure to build the IEP from a foundation based upon an enlightened perspective. Thank you to the School Psychologist for taking the time to create such an inspired document for true love is understanding. When we work together from the heart, we are all creating something magical within this process. It never fails to amaze when it shines!
Happy Holidays!