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In Ben’s IEP, it notes that Ben has trouble making forward strokes and following highlighted lines while holding a pair of scissors. In addition, Ben also has trouble with buttons in regards to his clothes. Therefore, as an occupational therapist, I feel that we need to focus on improving Ben’s fine motor skills in the classroom. I would also like to suggest that we should start incorporating the natural environment to help Ben academically. In the article Occupational Therapy in Full-Inclusion Classrooms: A Case Study From the Moorpark Model, a student named Marie who has Down’s syndrome was in a full-inclusion first grade class and every aspect of the natural school environment was used to help her. From access to school equipment, adjustment to classroom routines, and even her social skills, treatment always involved the natural environment. For example, since Marie was physically smaller than her peers, a stool was provided and her desk size was adjusted. Since Ben seems to enjoy sensory activities, we should find a way to incorporate more sensory-based materials or activities for him in the classroom like scissors made out of different textures or pencil grips. I noticed that there seems to be a drastic change in Ben’s behavior since his last evaluation in the first grade.  We need to focus on the miscommunication between Ben’s parent and his teacher to make sure they are both on the same page. We also need to figure out why Ben decided to be unresponsive in the classroom when it has been noted before that he has an eagerness to learn.

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I just wanted to start out by saying Thank you to all the teachers and specialists for helping Benny in every possible way. After reviewing Benny’s IEP, I noticed that he has improved greatly in occupational therapy. I know that he enjoys going there and has a great relationship with the occupational therapist so I feel that he should continue to go to occupational therapy. Based on the IEP, I am noticing that Benny is out of the classroom almost half the day due to him attending the special programs and services. I know that these services are intended to help him and I have seen some improvements. But is there any way that some of these services can be shortened or cut back so that he can spend more time in the classroom with all his classmates and teacher. The teacher has expressed that Benny is “unproductive, listless and in another world”. Maybe the cause for this is because Benny is not in the classroom that long. He probably does  not feel comfortable and that is why he is remote. I also have a suggestion for the psychologist. According to Dr. Zwiers & Dr. Johnson’s article Inclusive Education: The Role of School Psychologists, the school psychologist should work with the teacher in finding solutions to help the student. I suggest that you work with both the teacher and I to find different interventions and methods that would be beneficial for us to help Benny succeed.

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Yvonne Chai - Response to Farjana Akhter

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Yvonne Chai - Response to Farjana Akhter

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Yes, I agree that Ben needs more time in the classroom, which is why I suggest we should start doing push-in OT sessions instead of pulling Ben out of the classroom. I want to use Ben's natural classroom environment to help him succeed. This includes helping Ben on his social skills and making sure he has a relationship with his peers. I would like to provide sensory materials like koosh balls for Ben in the classroom that might help him concentrate more. I understand your concerns for Ben and you might be right that he doesn't feel comfortable because he spends so much time out of the classroom. Hopefully, we can work something out with the teacher and the school psychologist.

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After reviewing Ben's IEP, the largest concern from a Speech Therapist's point of view, is Ben's lack of participation in classroom discussion. The teacher seems to be at odd's with how to get Bqen to participate in the class. A suggestion is for the teacher to receive extra training through the consultation approach, giving her the tools she needs to help Ben flourish in the classroom. This strategy can additionally be used with his fellow students, alerting them to Ben's needs within the classroom, but this, in my opinion should be used as a last resort. Before notifying and educating Ben's group mates about his needs, it would be beneficial for Ben to work in small groups. Since Ben seems to thrive in small group activities, another suggestion is for the teacher to provide more small group work. He is a very vocal and interactive student in small groups, so providing him with greater time in small groups will be beneficial to his learning and eagerness to participate. Lastly, Ben's teacher also mentioned his lack of interest in math and his unease in speaking out during math class. To counteract this unease, in one of his four times a week speech therapy sessions, Ben could work on math, practicing the literacy of math, allowing him to answer questions orally increasing his skills and confidence for math in the classroom.

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Farjana Akhter (Parent)- Response to Yvonne and Melissa

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Farjana Akhter (Parent)- Response to Yvonne and Melissa

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Yvonne I like your idea on having the OT sessions inside the classroom. As long as the teacher agrees and it does not disturb any other students I think that is something that should be done. Having the OT sessions in the classroom will allow the therapist to help Benny while he is doing his class work. Melissa, I also like your idea on having Benny participate in small groups. This will allow Benny to socialize with his peers and he might start completing his classwork also. Classmates also may be able to motivate and help him with any classwork that he does not understand.

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The article "Inclusive Education: The Role of School Psychologists" by Dr Micheal Lee Zwiers and Dr R. Coranne Johnson outlines several key roles for School Psychologists, namely Consultation, Prevention, Intervention, Education, and Advocacy. As such, I will frame my suggestions in this lens. The first thing I noticed while reading Benny's IEP was the discrepancy between the individual accounts of Benny's personality, behavior, and ability. Benny's teacher and his parents offer starkly different perspectives on Benny, with his OT and PT offering a description which falls more towards the middle (while maintaining an overall positive description). As such, I think this discrepancy must be the first thing we address, leading to my first question.  Has there been some change in Benny's life (other than the move to a new grade and classroom) which may account for his behavior.  Is there something, either at home or at school, which is effecting his classroom engagement?
My next question has to do with Benny's ADHD medication.  His IEP states that Benny is on 5mg of Focalin.  According to his parents, "the meds have helped but they make him quiet, subdued, enhance his PDD. He is on the smallest dose, and even when we halve that amount to 2.5 mg, he is still almost too quiet."  Likewise, Benny's teacher questions the medications effect, stating, "he is medicated for ADHD and I wonder if this is helping him or not.  What good is focus if he is so unrelated that he might as well be in another place?"  These descriptions raise some concerns that Benny's medication may be effecting his ability to perform in the classroom.  While the medicine may be helping him focus, both parties acknowledge that it makes him "almost too quite." I think it may be beneficial to consult Benny's doctor about possible changes to his medication regimen to combat these negative effects.  While Benny's parents state he is on the smallest possible dose, it may be helpful to change the time of day he takes the medicine or possibly switch him to a slow-release dosage.  Consulting Benny's doctor would help determine which, if any, of these choices is right for Benny.
Finally, I would like to suggest regular meetings between myself, Benny's parents, his teacher, and occasionally Benny himself. I believe these meetings could provide many opportunities for all parties to learn different preventative and interventional strategies to help Benny perform better in class. Since his parents and teacher have different experiences with Benny's academic abilities, allowing each party the opportunity to observe Benny interacting with the other could help them get on the same page. Additionally, regular meetings would allow time for the parents and the teacher to collaborate and strategize about effective methods to engage with Benny.

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Charlie Craig (School Psychologist)--Response to Farjana (parent)

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Charlie Craig (School Psychologist)--Response to Farjana (parent)

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Farjana, I completely agree with your suggestion that we work together with Benny's teacher to develop different intervention strategies. As I mentioned in my post, I believe it would be most helpful for us to have regularly scheduled meetings, preferably with Benny present, to help get everyone on the same page and develop strategies that can be consistent at both home and school.

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I agree with Yvonne, our occupational therapist on "incorporating the natural environment to help Ben academically." It will also solve Ben's parent Farjana's concern that Ben may be disconnected from the classroom because he is in there for short and interrupted periods of time. By keeping Ben in his classroom and providing the tools and help he needs in there, I think he will feel comfortable enough to participate in the classroom, once adjusted. Our speech therapist, Melissa and I both see that there is some tension between the teacher-student and parent-teacher. I think it is very important for them to be on the same page  and thus I suggest that they have a meeting with other professionals on creating reasonable expectations for Ben.

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The New South Wales Department of Education and Communities' article, "Changing the Roles of Special Education Teachers" really resonated with me. As a special educator, I am here for Ben and his teacher. I know that many of our professionals are concerned about Ben especially in his math class. I would like to offer either developing or modifying the math lessons to suit his needs in the interest that he will either develop or show the same mathematical skills he presents at home (2). In addition, Melissa mentioned that the teacher should receive some training. In accordance to the article, I believe that this training should include the assistant principal who will "play a role in the delivery of professional learning and support to Learning and Support Teachers – often working in teams of two to combine expertise across behaviour management and student learning" (4) in which teachers are welcome to join!

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Yi-Ching Hsieh -  General Educators:  Response to Farjana (Parents)

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Yi-Ching Hsieh -  General Educators:  Response to Farjana (Parents)

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Hi, this is Ms. Hsieh, I will be Benny's teacher this year. I am very looking forward having Benny in my class this year. I am looking forward to the Ben's IEP meeting next week with you. Prior on that, I want to let you know that I am here to support Benny's learning! I believe in the inclusive educational, and the natural learning environment. For Ben's previous IEP, I notice there was miscommunication between you and Ben's former first-grade teacher, and I believe this situation will be improved this year. This year, I will be meeting with special education teacher, school psychologist, and the speech therapist on figuring out the best learning strategies to help Benny to learn. If you have questions or concerns about Benny, please feel free to contact me by email or speak to me when you pick up Benny. I am looking forward to working together with you as a team to support Benny to reach next level of success. Besides Ben's previous IEP and other specialist's notes, I want to get to know more about Benny so that I can provide the best support for Benny in the following school year. Here is the list of the questions:
1.. What motivates Benny in a non-academic setting?
2. What discipline does Benny love the most?
3. How did Benny interact with you at home?
4. How much time did Benny spend on reading at home?
5. What activities does Benny like to do outside of school?

Moving forward, I want to let you know that I will be meeting with Benny on a regular basis to check in how he is doing in classes.  You will also be receiving updates on Benny's learning progressions and please do know that I am here to support Benny.

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The United Federation of Teachers' article, "Supporting students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms" really resonated with me. From this article, I learned that, first, before interacting with the child or child's family, we need first to examine our own beliefs and assumptions about the inclusion. We as an educator should believe that all the students can benefit from the inclusion setting classroom. Second, the teachers should always look for support from the experts such as special education teachers, school psychologist, and the speech therapist. "Never worry alone" this is a quote from my school principal. She means that we should always know that we are a team and we help out and care for each other.  Moreover, to me, it is also important for general teachers to attend special education workshops as their professional development so it could benefit our own teaching. Furthermore, it is crucial to set up the time meeting with students themselves and to get to know more about them to get better ideas on how to support them more efficiently.

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Yi-Ching Hsieh -  General Educators:  Response to Yvonne (Occupational Therapist), Melissa (Speech Therapist), Charlie (School Psychologist) and Vivian (Special Educator)

To Yvonne (Occupation Therapist), I also agree with you that Ben should spend more time in the classroom with other students, and I would love to learn more about the Push-in OT sessions that you suggest to allow Ben stay in the classroom.  Could you elaborate more on the Push-in OT sessions? I also love the ideas to provide Benny more sensory materials like Koosh balls to help him focus in class. This year, I already prepare a box of sensory materials that is available for Ben to use in class and I will also note down on my lesson plan to remind myself to create more sensory activities for the class. I believe all my child will enjoy doing it.

To Melissa (Speech Therapist), I also agree with you on putting Benny to work in small group setting. I believe this will not only help Benny to build up his confidence but also help him to practice interacting with his peers and allow his voices being heard by other students.

To Charlie (School Psychologist), I also share the same concern with you on Benny's ADHD medication. According to Benny's previous IEP records, it seems that Benny's current medication is too strong for him so it might cause he the result of being 'spacy' in the class. My question is, do we have authority to consult this matter with Benny's doctor? Or is this process can only be done by the parents? I also like the idea of maybe switch the time for Benny to take the ADHD medication.

To Vivian (Special Educator), first of all, thank you for offering to modify the math lessons to suit Benny's needs in the interest that he will able to show the same mathematical skills he presents at home. Secondly, I would like to invite you to come to observe my class and Benny, so I get maybe get some feedback and suggestion from you.

Again, thank you all for your support this school year, and you will see me more offen at school.

Warm Regards,
Ms. Hsieh