Teaching special needs

[sensei8]

Cater to the students abilities; learn what they are/aren't, to as much as it is possible.

My son, Nathan, is a special needs adult, 24 years old. To look at him, one wouldn't know that he is until he speaks. He's not disabled, however, he's special needs, per the dictionary's definition...

dis-a-bled: [dis-ey-buh-ld]

 

1. crippled; injured; incapacitated.

 

noun

 

2. (used with a plural verb) persons who are crippled, injured, or incapacitate

Special Needs:

 

The special educational requirements of those with learning difficulties, emotional or behavioral problems, or physical disabilities.

Again, learning the difference of the two, as well as the pertaining laws, are quite important; both for the student(s) and for the Instructor/School.

The special educational requirements of those with learning difficulties, emotional or behavioral problems, or physical disabilities. So it appears that they are educational requirements. “Special needs” is about education, and “disability” is about your body, your brain, your senses being wired and tapped in a unique way.

In the USA, the SKKA refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 (ADA) as well as the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (EOA), through our Legal Team, often and always for the purposes of protecting all concerned parties.

Why??

Before the SKKA and its Instructors can teach any student, they both have to be compliant across the board first and foremost. If not, then close the doors!!

It takes more than learning the different ways to teach those students that are disabled or special needs, and that is very important, and what's equally important is what the laws are pertaining to its building and staff.

Not meaning to steer away from Danielle's serious and important topic at hand, I don't know much about the laws in other countries, whatsoever, but here in the USA, we've the ADA and the EOA, the scope and the breath of those laws are so undeniable and unambiguous that we, of the SKKA, as a Governing Body, have a responsibility to our Student Body in such a way, that we seek out special counsel, and we're fortunate enough in that our Legal Team, which is an outside Law Firm that we hired on retainer decades ago, has three lawyers who specialize in the ADA/EOA.

Did you know that the scope of ether the ADA/EOA is so, that it's not just who, but it's where, as well. It doesn't matter your MA school is or isn't a stand alone school, like at the church or at the Recreational Facility, like the YMCA, or at the Public Parks basketball court, one better find out the pertaining ADA laws before one begins to teach and/or deny their accessibility to joining your offering of MA classes, and not just the inside but the outside of the school.

In the USA, is your MA school ADA compliant?? Do the mats have level-up guards at the very edges of the mats, for example?? Are the instructors ADA compliant??

Answering the ADA/EOA concerns are paramount before the doors open to teach anyone anything. The 'How-to' teach special needs students must be in concert with the 'Do-and Don't' laws where one lives.

Imho!!

[DWx]

Regarding autism...

During my graduate physical education training, we had to take an adapted physical education class. The teacher was an expert in autism. Her wisdom imparted to us: “if you know 100 people with autism, you know 100 autistic people with different needs” or something like that. Autism is all over the place, and as such there’s no universal way of teaching autistic students. It’s pretty much all trial and error. Sorry to give such a generic answer, but it’s definitely what I’ve found in the many autistic children I’ve taught, academically and physical education.

I can only say a few things that I’ve seen in just about all of them...

1. They don’t like being out of their comfort zone at all. Many people don’t, but autistic people shut down in a unique way. Finding that comfort zone is trial and error, and it’s typically easy to tell once you’ve crossed it. Physical contact is a common thing they don’t like, but it’s definitely not universal.

2. Once you’ve earned their trust, you’ll be able to get them further out of their comfort zone. Not as far as non-autistic people by any means, but you’ll be able to challenge them an appreciable amount.

3. They most often don’t understand social cues. They have a very difficult time relating to people and don’t understand relationships very well. They know roles, but beyond that is a mystery to them. I they take things far more negatively than most people.

4. They are extremely logical rather than emotional, bringing us back to number 3. Explain things to them like an adult rather than like a child. Don’t end up unintentionally talking over their head, but definitely don’t talk to them like a little kid. Show positive and happy emotion, but definitely don’t over do it. When they’re going into a fit (the more you know the kid, the easier it’ll be to tell when it’s starting), be very matter of fact and show no emotion. I have one kid with autism in particular in my science class from 3rd-5th grade (presently), who has severe anxiety over what he perceives as failure; if he gets a question wrong, verbally in class, a test, homework, etc., he’ll immediately start with “I’m a failure. I’m so stupid. I’m going to end up washing dishes in a restaurant my whole life.” I just look at him with zero emotion on my face and in my voice and say “John, you know you’re smart. You know getting one question wrong isn’t going to change your whole life. Take a few deep breaths and relax. When you’re ready, you can rejoin class.” It works. Other teachers have coddled him, gotten upset with him, ignored him, etc. None of it worked. The key is to know when they’re on the verge of a meltdown and use logic and show no emotion before it goes too far. Once it’s gone past a certain point, there’s pretty much o coming back for quite some time. The more they trust you, the easier it is to get them back to where they need to be.

Another example, the same student refused to leave the room during a fire drill one day. He ran around the room screaming he wasn’t going to leave because he didn’t finish the question he was working on. I looked him right in the eyes and said “John, there’s no way you’re staying in this room. You can walk out like everyone else, or I can carry you out, kicking and screaming like a baby. Which one is it going to be?” He looked at me, and I said “which one, John, I’m not going to ask you again.” It was so hard for me to do, but I showed zero emotion, and didn’t raise my voice beyond a level he could hear it over the fire alarm. He walked out like he was supposed to. Had I coddled him or showed him I was upset, I definitely would’ve had to chase him down and drag him out. For the record, I would’ve had to carry him out if he didn’t leave willingly.

Just some things to think about. The best thing you can do is speak with the parents and ask them what typically works and what doesn’t. Focus more on what doesn’t work and avoid that stuff at first. As you gain trust, you’ll be walking on eggshells less and less often.

Just going back through old threads looking for inspiration and came back to this.

Have to say JR, point number 4 here has really mirrored my experience to date with one of the students I spoke about in my original post. "N" is a high functioning autistic child and over the last year or say I'd say I've gotten pretty good at determining when his meltdowns are going to happen. He gets really frustrated when he thinks he can't do something or he gets something wrong. Unfortunately he is constantly comparing himself to the blackbelts and not his own peers (both in age and belt level), always thinking he should do better.

The no emotion, matter of fact route tends to work with him if I catch him early enough but I have to be careful how I phrase things as he can latch on to the smallest of things and focus. We are getting to the point now though that I can ask him to do challenging things. I try to sandwich the difficult skill between two easier skills to leave him on a high rather than focused on the bad stuff.

Apart from that he's a dream to teach and just does exactly what you tell him to do.

[bushido_man96]

That's awesome, Danielle. Just awesome!