Should An Education Advocate Run For The School Board?

There have been several cases where a person with special education advocacy experience has run for the school board. There was, of course, hue and cry on both sides of the issue any time it presented itself.

Some people were afraid that the advocate would favor special education students and bankrupt the district. It is not unusual for people to think that everything related to special education is exceedingly expensive when there are...

The following are examples of what educational needs, SDIs, and Goals could look like for a child with autism who needs ABA.

This does not have to be an ABA or VB classroom!

The following is just so you can get a taste of what should be individualized in the IEP.

Let’s first define

1.  Educational needs
2.  SDI’s (SPECIALLY DESIGNED INSTRUCTIONS) and
3.  Goals

•  Educational needs

 Academic, behavioral, functional, or social needs that...

SMARTER GOALS – R

RESEARCH/EVIDENCE-BASED METHODS SHOULD BE USED.

 
So why the emphasis on research/evidence based methods or programs? If you google something like "teach phonics step by step" you will have a mere 1,460,000 responses to plow through and figure out which ones work and which ones do not. The advantage one has with research based programming is that the program has been shown to be effective over time with multiple students. There are also programs designed...

SMARTER GOALS - TEACH

TEACHING MUST  BE INDIVIDUALIZED WITH SDIs & RELATED SERVICES

Special Education is specially designed instruction (SDI's)and the related services needed by the child to benefit from that instruction according to the US Dept of Education.

Instructional Aids, Services, Supports, and Strategies  (SDIs and SAS)

Supplementary Aids and Services (SAS)  

SAS means Aids, Services, And Other Supports that are provided in general education classes, other...

5 IEP CURRICULUMS

Surprise, surprise, its not just reading, writing and arithmetic that we address in the IEP. The purpose of the IEP is to come up with a plan that will allow the child to access all of their education. That means that  the accommodations and modifications that can be associated with an IEP must also address non academic issues that get in the way of learning. Today's focus is on academics and the core curriculum as well as the extracurricular, recreational, and leisure...