Categories
special-education

How to Improve Your Child’s School Behavior

Does your child with autism or another disability have behavioral difficulties at school that interfere with their education? Would you like to learn a few things that you and can do, to improve your child’s school behavior? This article will discuss a few things that you and school personnel can do together to increase your child’s positive school behavior. By improving their school behavior, their education will also be positively affected.

Tip 1: Learn about the ABC’s of your child’s behavior. A stands for Antecedent; what is occurring in the environment before and at the time of the behavior. B stands for the specific behavior that your child is having. The behavior must be described in concrete terms. For example: Mary hits children in her class when she cannot be first in line. C stands for consequences; what happens because of the behavior. Does your child get out of hard academics, or do they get to go to the principal’s office, whom they like etc?

Tip 2: Have school personnel track the behavior for one week, determining what the ABC’s are. You need to know where the behavior is occurring and where it is not. This will help you in the next step of figuring out what your child is receiving from the behavior.

Tip 3: Have a trained special education person conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) on your child, to determine what the child is getting from the behavior. The person conducting the FBA, must come up with a hypothesis of what your child is gaining from the behavior. Some school districts use checklists, which do not come up with a hypothesis and are therefore useless. At the end of a correctly developed FBA, you will have an idea what your child receives by continuing to have the negative behavior.

Tip 4: Use the information from the FBA to develop a positive behavioral plan.
The plan could include a token system, if this is appropriate for your child. This is not a plan to punish, but to increase positive behavior, which in turn will decrease negative behavior. The positive behavior plan must be used consistently if it is to be effective.

IDEA 2004 requires that IEP teams consider the use of positive behavioral supports and plans if a child’s behavior interferes with their education. A lot of information on FBA’s is available from various disability organizations.

Tip 5: Update the positive behavioral plan as often as needed so that it continues to be effective in increasing your child’s positive behavior.

Tip 6: Insist that a daily behavior sheet be developed, and sent home daily with your child. The sheet should be on one page and contain: name, date, behavior to be worked on, token system if needed, how well the child did on that particular day, any rewards won, and also a section for positive comments only. This will keep you up to date on your child’s behavior, in case it deteriorates! Keep the behavioral sheets in case a dispute develops later with special education personnel.

You must insist, that your school district not use punishment, to try and improve your child’s school behavior. Punishment only works in the short term to change behavior; but you want a long term solution to behavioral difficulties. The use of these tips will put your child on the right track to improving their school behavior.

Categories
special-education

Special Education – What Are Positive Behavioral Supports, and Can They Help My Child?

Does your child with autism or ADHD have behavioral issues while at school? Does your school district continue to punish your child, rather than find a way to decrease their negative behavior? This article will discuss the use of positive behavioral supports to increase positive behavior thus decreasing negative behavior.

Punishment only works in the short term to decrease negative behavior. Positive behavioral supports are research based and best practice, to change a child’s behavior for the long term.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA 2004) requires : The IEP team in a case of a child whose behavior impedes his or her learning, or that of others to consider. . .strategies including positive behavioral intervention and systems to achieve positive change.

So while many special education personnel continue to punish a child with a disability for negative behavior, the use of positive supports are required by IDEA 2004, and they are also effective long term.

A summary of Positive Behavioral Supports:

1. Positive behavioral support is the application of positive behavioral interventions and systems to achieve positive change.

2. Positive behavioral support is an approach to discipline and intervention that is proving both effective and practical in schools.

3. The emphasis is on behavior change that is durable, comprehensive, and linked to academic and social gains.

4. The development of positive behavioral intervention and plans, are guided by functional behavioral assessment and is a foundation on which positive behavioral support is delivered.

5. Functional Behavioral Assessment is a systematic way of identifying problem behaviors and the events that predict occurrence, and maintenance of those behaviors.

6. A proactive perspective is maintained along a continuum, using prevention and interventions.

A few things to keep in mind:

In my experience, a lot of children that have a disability develop negative behavior, because of frustration with their academics. There is a huge connection between academic difficulty and behavioral difficulty. If your child has negative behavior at school, you must investigate and make sure that the academics that they are being taught are at their academic level. Make sure any change in academic curriculum, is included in your child’s individual education plan (IEP).

Also, children with negative behaviors must be taught new acceptable behaviors, to replace the negative ones. Identify other appropriate behaviors that can be taught, that will serve the same function for the child. Make sure that any new behaviors that need to be taught to your child, are listed in their IEP.

By focusing on positive behavioral supports rather than punishment you can help your child increase their positive behavior. This will in turn will benefit their education, and their life!

Categories
Speech and language

The History Of Sign Language

Do you know the origins of sign language? Basic sign language began in the early 17th century with Geronimo Bardano. The physician in Padua Italy told people that he could teach deaf people to understand written combinations of symbols and have them associate the symbols with the meaning and the object. The alphabet was first publicized in 1620 by Juan Pablo de Bonet.

Sign language continued to develop and later in the 18th century Charles Michel de L’Epee of Paris began the first school for the hearing impaired. The idea was that the individuals could be taught purely using sign language. He developed a way to communicate and have them communicate with others. There was a system of gestures, hand signs, and even finger spelling to get the point across. Most of the individuals taking the courses at the school were taught to first recognize the signs and then learn to make the signs themselves. This meant that they would learn the meaning, see the hand gesture written down and then learn how to formulate the basic sign.

About the same time there was Samuel Heinicke of Leipzig Germany trying to devise a method for signing as well. He did not use a manual method of communication though. Instead he taught speech and speech reading. In this case the student would learn how to read lips, formulate the words, and try to speak them. There were two methods for this way of communication in his school. He had the manual method and then the oral, which are the precursors to the sign language of today. It also allowed total communication rather than partial for the hearing impaired. Total communication is thought to be sign language, gesturing, finger spelling, speech reading, speech, hearing aids, reading, writing, and pictures.

It should also be mentioned that sign language can also be said to have come from the American Great Plains Indians. They also had a fairly extensive system for signing, it was one of their main methods of communication. Most often the Indians could hear, but they chose symbols and signs to communicate with other tribes that didn’t know their language. This is one of the reasons for the American Sign Language that exists – there are many signs that have originated from the Indians that are still used.

Categories
Online Education

5 Tips to Find Best Online Education Opportunities

Online education provides a new way for students to earn their degree with convenience in term of flexible learning schedule and ability of logging on to the classes from any location. There are many online degree programs offered by universities and colleges provide you with many choices to choose a degree that best meet your requirement. However, there are few tips to keep in mind when you search for the best online education opportunities.

1. Compare Different Options

You need to find the best online education among all the available online degree programs, and you can’t find the best one if you don’t compare. Hence, you should not select the first online degree program that you come across; instead you should shop around and look into various options offered by different online universities. Then, compare and review the same degree programs offered by different online universities before you decide the one that is best for you.

2. Consider the cost of online degree program

How much it will cost you to complete the entire online degree program? Your cost not only related to the online class portion but books and any other costs do need to take into consideration especially if you have tight education budget. Some online universities do provide financial aids in term of loan or scholarship to their students while others may let you pay for online degree by installment which will make the overall education much more affordable.

3. Determine the total credits required in earning the online degree

Most online degree programs are charged by credit hours, the more credit hours means the more money you need to pay for the degree and need more time to complete the entire program. Some schools will let you complete a degree program in less credit than other universities. Therefore, you should look into the total credits of the online degree programs from different schools prior to select a specific one.

4. Look into how the online classes are administered

There are online universities that allow the maximum flexibility in term of learning schedule. These schools let the students to follow their own pace of study at 100% online, while other schools may required the students to logon to the online classes for real time interaction at the specific schedules. Moreover, there are online education programs that required a specific hours of attending physical classes at the campus. You should determine the learning format that can fit your schedule and meet your prefer learning style.

5. Inquire about the reputation of the online university

Last but certainly not least, the good reputation of the university that offers your selected online degree program is important to ensure your degree is worth the money and will be widely accepted in the job market. Therefore, try to do some research online through internet forums or offline by asking friend and family who know about the online degree offered by your selected school to ensure you will choose the best online education.

Categories
Online Education

How to Get Accredited Online Education

The interesting thing now is that a lot of people embrace Online Education and Distance Learning. There are many reasons for such increase in the number of people who are undergoing their higher education degrees online. The reason why a lot of people from all walks of life are pursuing online degree programs is because of the quality of the courses.

Regardless of where you carry on your education, whether in the normal school settings or on the Internet, the lecturer is responsible for seeing you succeed. There are benefits that you get from lecturers and professors who supervise your online education. For instance, you can easily email them or even do voice connections with your supervisors as the need arises.

If you enroll for an online course, you will have access to lecturers and professors that are at the peak of their fields of studies. With the Internet, teachers or professors are not restricted by geography. Your computer becomes your classroom by way of an online education program. The only setback associated with continuing education in normal school settings is size of classrooms. Usually classes that are held in normal school settings are very large, so having access to a teacher or professor on one on one coaching can be a challenging task.

Also, studying online, you are in cordial relationship with your professor or teacher regardless of the fact that your location is far away from your teacher, because you can link up with your teacher directly on the internet. Online students enjoy their studies and experience better connection and have access with their teachers than what is experienced by students in the traditional schools settings.

Following the foregoing, I believe that you would like to consider furthering your education online, especially if you have a day job and a family to maintain while needing higher education. Think about this. You have nothing to lose but lots of gains to make, especially the convenience and stress free nature of studying at your own time and in the comfort of your home.

Categories
Sports

What Should You Know When Applying for Sports Jobs

Because of the booming demand for sports events in the world, the sports industry presently offers more than 5 million positions for employment. Not all those positions have been filled to date, so maybe you should apply for at least one of those sports jobs.

Here are some things you ought to know when applying for sports jobs:

1. Professional job listings – There are some websites which are devoted purely to posting types of sports jobs that are available for people to apply for. You just need to type in the search term “sports jobs” to find these websites. Some websites will charge a commission, though, for getting jobseekers in touch with sports jobs employers so you need to ask before answering an ad at such websites, or posting your own ad.

2. Narrow down what types of sports jobs you have in mind before you even start searching. This means knowing what qualifications you may have that would make you ideal for a sports job. Contrary to what people may think, you do not necessarily need to be an athlete to qualify for sports jobs. There are many types of jobs that require people of average physical abilities rather than super athletes. For example, you might be qualified to be a ticket seller at a sports venue. Or perhaps you could be a grounds maintenance personnel. Even sports venues need to be manned and maintained. It would be nice if you could match your present skills to those needed for the sports industry.

3. How long do you want to work at your sports job? There are sports jobs which pay different rates, depending on what type of job you require. You also need to find out if the job will last for six months, a year, and so on. You have to inquire how long the contract will last. Even a well-paying job becomes less attractive if it will only last a very short time.

4. Would you be willing to relocate to accept the new sports job? There are really very many sports organizations and leagues out there, so it is quite likely that you get lucky and find a dream sports job – in another state. So ask yourself if you can stand being uprooted just to pursue your type of sports job.

5. Is the job an Equal Opportunity job? Equal Opportunity employers are those who do not discriminate as to your race, or age, or gender. In the US, the law requires employers to be Equal Opportunity employers (though unfortunately not all employers follow this law.) The same goes for Canada. Employers for sports jobs in other countries may not even have an Equal Opportunity law, so you need to be more careful about foreign employers. The Equal Opportunity stipulation helps people who would be discriminated against (such as African Americans, Asian Americans, the elderly, or women) get the same chance at applying for and working at the sports job in question.