Respond to student discussion boards:

(Ron)I hate to start off this response with a personal story, but after reading the first couple of pages of this week’s assignment a memory flashed through my mind…when I was doing my student teaching there was a boy in my senior English class who was the same age I was. His name was Tom… I don’t remember his last name. He was a tall, good looking young man…yes 21 years old. I was astonished. He couldn’t read Hamlet, of course, because he only could read 21 basic words. How did that happen? I don’t know. It was sad. He felt bad that he couldn’t read. I don’t know whatever happened to him. I hope he has/had a happy life (he would be a senior citizen as I am).

The textbook has examples of school boards hiring people who are unqualified to offer services to students with disabilities. So, I’m sure that the first step to reduce conflict would be to hire staff who are qualified to work with students who have disabilities. I know this is a problem in some schools. If the school gets a student with cerebral palsy who is deaf and has cognitive delays, there probably isn’t going to be a teacher who is able to provide services that child would need.

Another way to reduce conflict is to ensure that the student is supervised to avoid injury. In another local incident, a bus driver ran over a little five year old boy. She didn’t see him and he had gone under the bus to retrieve an item. It was a horrible incident that is kept fresh in memories because the highway has a plaque dedicated to him.

Another instance mentioned in the book regarding discipline is a boy who had his mouth taped shut by the teacher. Horrible, but I do know of a teacher who duct taped a boy’s hands to his desk. Nothing was done as far as I know.

Sometimes the result of discipline being applied inappropriately is the removal of the child from the classroom–either by the teacher or the parents.

We, as teachers, need to do the best we can for the children with whom we work and form a relationship with parents to keep them informed about their child’s progress and activities. For us it may be one child out of 20, but to the parents it may be their only child.

(Kris) When working with a range of students, staff, and families conflict is inevitable. The role of the school is to ease and try to prevent conflicts among families and the schools. Conflict occurs when there are misunderstandings over an issue within implementation of the IEP, or over services being provided within the schools. School districts will try and avoid conflicts as much as possible to deter the proceedings of due process.

In order to prevent conflict, communication among parents and schools is the most important aspect. If good communication occurs, then conflict is less likely to occur. If communication is ongoing and certain issues are still not resolved, then the first step is to conduct a parent teacher conference, and try to resolve the issues in a less structured environment. If needed, then formal IEP team meetings can be held. During disagreements, there are resolutions that should be attempted to make the process run smoother. First, all members should be respectful of all members and ideas. Second, accept that everyone has differences. Lastly, the team needs to stay focused on the needs of the student and make sure compromises can happen. Communication is key to understanding and this will lead to less conflicts.

(AUD) Our textbook gives several examples of special education misconduct, along with the resolutions and decisions associated with them. The common theme in chapter 16 is, “training” – which, as educators, is something we can say is consistent in all of our experiences. However, the training that is given isn’t typically around minimizing conflict. In my district, we only get conflict training as it relates to restorative justice or PBIS (whichever they decide they’re using, that year). Districts, state certification requirements, and colleges of education should focus on ensuring the special education teacher is effectively trained in recognizing disabilities, practicing behavior management, and meeting legal requirements. This training will allow for problems to be circumvented rather than cultivated.

Reference

Rothstein, L., & Johnson, S. F. (2013). Special education misconduct. In Special Education Law (p. 323). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

I have upload reference material. PLEASE do not mix between the three students.

Read “Individualized Education Program (IEP) Guide and Other Resources,” on the Autism Speaks website.

URL:

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/iep-guide