Hi everyone, I am Rose-Anne Reynolds back again. In this video, I'm going to talk about how different systems of support, can work most effectively, and what to do when there are difficulties. Gaps in support often occur due to miscommunication or lack of communication. Sometimes expectations are not clear, or sometimes unrealistic or too low. Sometimes a gap in support occurred, because all the parties involved did not know any better, and often these were really good opportunities to learn what could be done differently. Staff and parents sometimes needed to be reminded, that they needed to be making decisions based on what would be best for the specific child or group of children, not just what would look good or be convenient. Systems theory reminds us, that there is no one or nothing that is isolated, and the impact on a decision on one aspect of a system has consequences for the other parts of the system. In this video, I'm going to focus specifically on my time at Pinelands North Primary School, a mainstream inclusive school in Cape Town, South Africa. The principal Ann Morton was and is an advocate for inclusive education, and this helped to set the tone at the school. Over the years, the hiring practices changed, to deliberately reflect the diversity in our country. Since 2008, there's been a strong focus on hiring staff who have been trained, have studied, or have experience in inclusive education, and special needs education. The staff who are coming on board know, that the children while coming to the school learn, and live differently. To support this, we have a strong emphasis on professional development. It is expected of the staff that they attend workshops, national and international conferences, seminars and talks, and eventually are not just participants, but as the levels of expertise grow become presenters. Let's talk specifically now about parent-teacher support. When I worked at Pinelands North, as Head of Inclusive Support, 80 percent of my job involved working with parents, and facilitating meetings with parents, teachers, and other role players. Let me share some of what I was able to learn in that time. Firstly, teachers need to be patient with parents, and sometimes parents need to be patient with teachers. We also need to talk about children as if they are in the room with us, in ways that are respectful of who they are, and using language that builds them up, and is helpful. It is very unhelpful to talk simply about what children cannot do, and this tends to be the way we talk about children with disabilities, from a deficit approach. We need to raise our expectations for everyone involved: parents, teachers, school administration, and the child. Often these team meetings could be very tense if it was not clear, what the expectations of everyone involved was. The most helpful approach is to keep the child and their best interest as the focus of the meeting. Parents and teachers, also need to be creative and think outside the box, in terms of solving problems. I've always found problem-solving so energizing, so a child cannot read, cannot sit still, cannot speak in full sentences, cannot managed the impulses. If we add 'yet' to the end of these statements, it makes them manageable. We are then saying that the child cannot 'yet' sit still, cannot 'yet' speak in full sentences, and so on. I worked with a parent, who came in every two weeks to see me, so we could make small manageable goals and then work towards them. This involved me, being able to observe the child in their classroom, talk to the teacher, the facilitator, watch interactions with the other children, and use the information provided by other therapists involved in the child's life. This helped me to make decisions about how best they could learn, socialize, be included in the school play, go on an outing, go on a camp, or be included in the soccer match. For me, the biggest learning was sweating the small stuff; watch what happens at break time, watch the interactions with other children, and then determine what should be done to make today better than the day before? We don't have to wait a month, a year, or even two weeks to change something that is not working. If a child processes slowly suddenly acts up and does not like when they are sitting, but cannot say what the problem is, it is essential to observe patiently what is happening, in order to make a change that will facilitate a better option. Sometimes, it can be as simple as changing where the child sits, what they are sitting on? If the glare from the window is affecting the ability to see, be innovative and be willing to change. Share with parents what is working, and listen to them when they talk about their children, the hopes, dreams, and expectations. Often, the most crucial relationships happened between a parent and teacher. Let me share a few practical examples, of how different parents and teachers work together, to support their children. I had a teacher work with a child who used to get stressed at school, and would feel too anxious to ask for help. The teacher developed a system with a child could wink at a her in the class, if she was feeling completely overwhelmed. When the teacher saw this, she would allow the child to step outside, the parents had to be part of this arrangement, and they agreed to this plan. We also had a child, who had very severe ADHD and was able to concentrate, if she occasionally chewed sour worm sweets. The parents bought the sweets and the teacher kept them, and was able to monitor, when the child needed them, often when doing a piece of creative writing, that needed a longer period of time to concentrate. We also had a child with fetal alcohol syndrome, who was very disorganized and often lost his positions. Instead of complaining that he didn't have a pencil, his teacher tied his pencil to an elastic, and attached it to his desk. He loved this, and never lost his pencil. We had many children, who needed the curriculum differentiated, and this has to work in close cooperation with the parents. They need to be able to understand, why what the child is learning, is different to the rest of the grade, and why homework assignments and assistance, would be different. Some parents worked on an email system with a teacher, where they could send a note via email, about how the day had been, and what had happened. Some classes have bouncy balls. Elastic around the legs of the chairs, cushions on the chairs, feely bags for children who need the opportunity to hold something, like plastic tac or play-dough or prestic, while the teacher is talking. These decisions had to be made in partnership with the parents. So they could understand why this was helping their children. Sports are a big deal for children at school, and children with various disabilities are usually excluded, from playing sport and socializing in this way. There are many ways to include children, and this aspect of their lives should not be overlooked. It often is just about a discussion with the coach and the parents, and teachers managing the situation, assigning another child as a helper, to make sure the child gets to practice, that the coach understands the child's situation. We had a child with down syndrome, who was very noise sensitive, so she wore earmuffs in class. During assembly, she was able to wear them too when the other children were singing, or she could leave if it was too noisy. The parents and teachers need to work closely together, to determine this was necessary. The parents had to buy the earmuffs, and the teacher could then explain to the rest of the class why this would be necessary. In terms of children socializing at break times, we have worked closely with parents in terms of the expectations for their children. Not all children make friends easily, we have many children with Asperger's syndrome which is on the autism spectrum, and not all children want to around break time. We developed an area where children could build puzzles, play with games that would be set out on a rotation basis. Often you would find children of different ages and grades, forming unlikely friendships, that absolutely supported their specific needs. This can only work if parents and teachers can work together, to understand what would be best for the children. It really is about communication, and trusting that the teachers are making the best decisions, for the children at school, and that the parents on making the best decisions for their children at home.
