| Working with parents and educators for over a | | | | educational process is to teach students to think. We |
| decade has taught me some important lessons about | | | | need to create daily opportunities for students to think |
| what it means to provide a meaningful education to | | | | about and flexibly respond to what is happening |
| students with autism and other neurodevelopmental | | | | around them. |
| disorders. It is easy to get bogged down in the | | | | - Environments Make a Difference: The physical |
| moment-to-moment challenges and lose perspective | | | | environment plays a significant role in student success. |
| on what we are trying to accomplish. Too often we | | | | We need to take the time to observe and understand |
| employ strategies that address an immediate problem, | | | | how the physical environment is impacting student |
| without figuring out how to build the foundations that | | | | functioning. |
| are required for addressing the challenge over the | | | | - Promoting Competence: Students who feel |
| long-term. In searching for the elusive "quick fix" we fail | | | | incompetent do not learn and thrive. It is crucial to find |
| to implement some basic but powerful concepts that | | | | ways to help all students have meaningful roles in the |
| support learning for all students. | | | | classroom, help them know they are supported, and |
| Here are 12 important concepts every parent and | | | | send the message that we know they are capable. |
| professional should consider when designing | | | | - Labels: The names we give students, classrooms, |
| appropriate educational opportunities for students with | | | | and programs are far less important than |
| autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders: | | | | understanding their unique characteristics. It is easy to |
| - Attitude: Your attitude is the most important tool you | | | | give children labels, and much more challenging to |
| bring to your work with students. You do not need to | | | | understand what really makes them tick so as to best |
| have experience teaching students with | | | | support them. Labels should be viewed as a beginning, |
| neurodevelopmental disorders in order to be | | | | not an endpoint. |
| successful with them, but you do need to build trust | | | | - Obstacles: Everyone has obstacles-challenges that |
| through acceptance, patience, mutual respect, and a | | | | impact their ability to function at their best. The |
| willingness to learn. | | | | responsibility for identifying and resolving behavior |
| - Remediation and Compensation: Solutions that solve | | | | obstacles and challenges lies much more with adults |
| a problem in the short term may not create | | | | than it does with children. |
| foundational change in the long term. A balance of | | | | - Families as Partners: Parents are the primary players |
| short-term and long-term strategies is needed for | | | | in the growth and development of their children. |
| students to be truly successful. | | | | Professionals and families must be more than a team |
| - Relationships are Essential for Growth and | | | | for the purpose of completing required paperwork. A |
| Development: We learn and grow through our | | | | working relationship based on trust and mutual respect |
| relationships with others. Behavioral and emotional | | | | is required for students to reach their highest potential. |
| self-regulation begins with being able to regulate with | | | | - Collective Visions: Having a vision of what constitutes |
| others. | | | | a satisfying quality of life for students and their families |
| - Our Communication is a Powerful Tool: Speaking and | | | | allows us to create educational plans that accomplish |
| communicating are two very different things. The | | | | meaningful outcomes. Shared visions created by |
| ways in which we use verbal and nonverbal | | | | parents and professionals provide a powerful map for |
| communication has a significant impact on our | | | | moving forward. |
| students' communication development. | | | | Approaching the education of students with |
| - Processing: Neurological disorders impact students' | | | | neurodevelopmental disorders with these 12 powerful |
| abilities to take in, make sense of, and respond to | | | | concepts in mind provides a more meaningful and |
| information. We need to learn to slow down in order to | | | | successful experience for everyone involved. |
| speed up in order to support and improve their | | | | Application of these principles allows us to best guide |
| processing. | | | | students to reach their highest potential in school and |
| - Promoting Independence, Thinking, and Problem | | | | beyond. |
| Solving: The most important outcome of the | | | | |