Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 121: Children on the Autism Spectrum: How to Build a Strong Relationship Across Parents, Student, and Teacher Student, and Teacher

Transcript

Ep 121: Children on the Autism Spectrum: How to Build a Strong Relationship Across Parents, Student, and Teacher Student, and Teacher · New Teacher Talk

0:02
Welcome to New Teacher Talk.
0:04
We discuss the most common challenges early career
0:07
educators face and how to find answers,
0:10
whether you're working in an urban, suburban,
0:13
or rural setting.
0:14
And on this channel, you will find a community of support,
0:19
including fellow new teachers, mentors,
0:22
induction coordinators, and education recruiters.
0:26
Thanks for joining and listening to today's episode.
0:30
I'm Dr.
0:31
Anna,
0:31
a Board-certified Early Childhood Generalist who mentors
0:35
beginning educators as they start careers.
0:38
And I'm Dr.
0:38
Beth.
0:39
My work as an educator includes being a high school band
0:42
director, teacher, educator and mentor.
0:46
One of the things I share with mentees is that every family
0:50
carries their own story.
0:52
So in order to effectively meet any child's needs,
0:55
we as teachers need to recognize that parents and
0:59
caregivers are experts on their children.
1:02
That said,
1:04
New Teacher Talk is excited to bring back one of our
1:07
channel's most popular podcast guests, Ryan Lamping.
1:12
Our conversation today builds off of a previous episode
1:16
with him.
1:17
In the past year,
1:18
Ryan and his wife Jordan shared their parent perspective on
1:22
teaching their child with autism.
1:25
That episode continues to garner so much attention.
1:29
And we continue to hear from our listeners that they want
1:33
more conversation on this particular topic.
1:36
So this time,
1:37
we plan to lean into children on the autism spectrum and
1:41
how to build a strong relationship across parents,
1:45
student and classroom teacher.
1:48
So we're excited to have you back Ryan as a guest,
1:50
and for you to continue sharing your story and experiences
1:54
as a father and parent.
1:57
We appreciate it very much.
1:58
It's refreshing to come back on and get to shed a little
2:01
light on Maddox.
2:02
So thanks again.
2:04
Might you share with our listeners a bit about yourself and
2:06
your family, Ryan, just to bring us back up to date?
2:11
Yeah, absolutely.
2:12
I work in the educational staffing field.
2:14
I work for an educational staffing company called Amergis.
2:17
My wife is an assistant principal for a school district
2:20
here in the Cincinnati area, formerly a teacher,
2:23
now assistant principal.
2:25
And then our only son is Maddox.
2:28
He just turned seven on Saturday,
2:30
and he has nonverbal autism.
2:33
A lot of his day to day revolves around how do we get him
2:36
in a better place to be of independence,
2:39
but also be able to communicate effectively with us,
2:42
his peers, and ultimately the rest of his life.
2:46
Thanks, Ryan.
2:47
In your role as a parent,
2:49
how do you help an autistic child make the transition from
2:53
your home into an unfamiliar new school setting?
2:58
Yeah, I would say, you know,
2:59
we actually just ran into this past year with him coming
3:02
from a behavioral school for the past two and a half years
3:05
and then going into a public school setting.
3:07
But for us individually,
3:09
I would say at first stemmed from a routine.
3:11
We have noticed with Maddox and autism specifically that
3:14
routine really sets the stage for advancement and
3:18
development.
3:19
Like when he can expect and know what's coming into every
3:21
day in every situation,
3:23
we tend to see better results when we add on just little
3:27
things.
3:27
I would also say consistent and clear expectations as
3:31
well.
3:32
Not to say that Maddox can't communicate,
3:34
he communicates differently,
3:35
but he also can hear everything that goes on and can
3:38
comprehend it, right?
3:39
So being able to communicate effectively of what is and
3:42
isn't valid and making sure that a typical six,
3:45
seven year old kid who's going to have some defiance at
3:47
times knows that that's not applicable despite the
3:50
challenges he might have at times with communication.
3:53
I would say routine number one,
3:55
but also clear and open communication with him and
3:58
obviously our family and folks that he interacts with at
4:01
school as well.
4:04
You know,
4:04
as you and Jordan have navigated this new school year,
4:09
and you transition to, obviously,
4:12
from a behavioral school to a public school,
4:15
how did you decide how much information to share with
4:19
Maddox's teacher?
4:21
I would say we didn't have much of an expectation to start
4:25
or maybe like what we were and weren't going to share.
4:27
It was kind of we wanted to get everything out on the
4:29
table.
4:30
I go back to very early on in the process when, you know,
4:33
we're deciding what's best for Maddox and getting into the
4:36
right classroom even or getting into the right setting with
4:39
his peers.
4:41
Every district runs a little differently.
4:42
Every building does.
4:44
So being able to advocate kindly for what we think is best.
4:48
I think being able to do that comes with explaining the
4:52
entirety of the story behind Maddox and his needs.
4:55
So not having a restriction on the information that we want
4:59
to share to make sure he's in the best placement possible
5:01
is kind of where we started from.
5:04
And I think personally,
5:05
there's some down the road benefits to that, too,
5:07
in that you're giving the teacher and the support personnel
5:10
that will be around him a true understanding of, you know,
5:13
what makes him tick and what he does and doesn't like.
5:15
I also was able to talk with Jordan a little bit and just
5:19
get her perspective from a former teacher.
5:21
And I think one of the things that she mentioned was you
5:24
always appreciate as a teacher parents who over
5:26
communicate.
5:27
So even if it's maybe bits and pieces of that information
5:30
you don't need,
5:31
it can be helpful down the way or at least can be something
5:34
you notate maybe down the road to.
5:37
So probably not a ton of restrictions on information to
5:40
share from the beginning,
5:41
but with a goal in mind of putting him and the teacher in
5:44
the best placement necessary from day one.
5:47
I like the fact that you're being really transparent with
5:51
the school and with the teacher.
5:53
And as you spoke about sharing little tidbits that maybe
5:56
weren't exactly meaningful at the moment,
5:59
often from the teacher's perspective,
6:02
those little pieces fall into place later,
6:05
like these little pieces of the puzzle,
6:07
so that you are better able to understand that child can
6:12
really think about how maybe those small details might not
6:18
be so important at the beginning of the relationship,
6:21
because you're still working with big picture items.
6:24
But as you get to know that child better and need to
6:28
motivate them to do something that often sometimes they
6:32
just don't want to do in the classroom.
6:33
But if you've got some of that inside baseball knowledge,
6:36
it gives you that chance to be able to be familiar in the
6:42
way that you ask a child to do something.
6:46
Yeah, k
6:46
ind of an example that comes to mind that we just actually
6:49
dealt with was because we have some routine at home with
6:52
what he does and you know,
6:53
what he's interacting with something we've learned about
6:56
autism is there's kind of fads like we have as typical
6:59
individuals, right?
7:00
There's things you like at a certain time and then they
7:01
fade away and there's something else you jump into.
7:04
And a marble run is something that Maddox really enjoys
7:07
right now.
7:08
So we found that to be very helpful at home in getting his
7:11
attention and reward system,
7:13
and we actually were able to work with the teacher in the
7:16
classroom to have one there as another reward system.
7:19
Just kind of getting familiar with those kinds of things,
7:22
again,
7:22
not something you'd necessarily put at the highest piece of
7:25
the educational system or the classroom that he's in in
7:27
first grade,
7:28
but it's something as a reward that he will definitely do a
7:32
few other maybe non-preferred items to get to as a reward.
7:37
I have a follow-up question about how much information to
7:40
share.
7:41
You and your wife talked about advocating for Maddox.
7:45
Did you share information before the school year with the
7:48
person in charge of the classroom or the principal?
7:52
Can you tell us more about that?
7:54
Yeah, I'm very fortunate that my wife being an educator,
7:57
she ran with a lot of this and I'm very appreciative of it.
8:00
We did start a couple of weeks in advance,
8:03
if not a month in advance,
8:04
of him transitioning into public school.
8:06
So we were working with his behavioral school that he was
8:09
at,
8:09
talking with them and making sure that we had a transition
8:12
plan for him to get into public school because of the
8:14
timing of the year.
8:15
So that was kind of piece one.
8:17
Once we had that,
8:18
we did have the opportunity to go to the school and sit
8:19
down with everybody involved at the school level with
8:22
Maddox's day-to-day.
8:23
So the teachers, support staff, assistant principals,
8:26
the SPED director there,
8:28
we all kind of got in a room and just talked through maybe
8:30
what a typical day would look like.
8:33
Jordan, being the exceptional educator that she is,
8:35
put together a Maddox's likes kind of one pager for
8:39
everybody, which was kind of cool too.
8:40
And it just went through, hey,
8:42
this is what he likes and this is what he does.
8:44
And this is what you can maybe expect out of him that I
8:46
think a lot of those folks appreciated.
8:48
And then we were very fortunate that the school allowed us
8:50
to kind of come through prior to the school year starting
8:53
and just walk Maddox to his room, right?
8:56
Coming in from the outside of where he might be dropped off
8:58
to walk down to the classroom just to give him some
9:01
assimilation, even though it wasn't a typical school day.
9:05
And I think all of that led into, again, that routine,
9:08
him seeing on the car ride over what that looked like going
9:10
to school,
9:11
what that big building looked like that he was jumping out
9:14
of, going through the blue roof of the building,
9:17
which is his grade levels instead of the other colored
9:19
roofs, like just little things like that,
9:22
I think really helped to acclimate him,
9:24
even though we didn't hear it or see it instantaneously.
9:27
I think that's a big piece of that partnership and
9:30
communication of being overly communicative has allowed us
9:33
to really make sure that his transitions are smooth as
9:35
possible.
9:36
And it's a ripple effect for all of the other people he
9:38
interacts with at school.
9:39
You get less resistance,
9:41
you get more time to actually do the educational functions
9:43
that you hope to do as a teacher.
9:45
So yeah, I think overall,
9:46
we were very fortunate that the building and the team there
9:49
have been great to work with.
9:51
I really appreciate your response.
9:53
That story that you brought forward about how you sat down
9:56
with the team and how Jordan put together a one page,
9:59
this is what Maddox does and he likes,
10:02
certainly is a form of information sharing and
10:05
communication building with the whole team.
10:08
And then the opportunity for Maddox to get information
10:12
about this is our way to school,
10:14
this is how we enter the building,
10:15
this will be your classroom.
10:17
It really is very much a two-way street.
10:19
It's not just with the teacher, but it's everybody,
10:22
it's the parent, it's the student,
10:24
it's the building administrator, the team.
10:26
It speaks to me personally,
10:28
how you and Jordan have approached this as a co-parenting,
10:33
we're gonna do for Maddox because we know him best and
10:37
we're able to convey that.
10:39
To that point too,
10:40
I think we've been somewhat fortunate that we've had
10:42
throughout seven years of Maddox's autism and diagnosis.
10:46
We've been fortunate enough to have some folks along the
10:48
way who have had a child with special needs that they've
10:51
raised or whatever.
10:52
And the common theme was don't be afraid to say what's
10:55
needed in a respectful and a mindful manner.
10:57
And I think sometimes we shy away because what autism looks
11:01
like doesn't look like a typical classroom or a typical
11:04
child at times as they're learning through their
11:05
development.
11:06
And we've been fortunate to have some of that guidance
11:08
where we can come back and say to somebody, Hey,
11:11
this is what we really see as being valuable and needed for
11:13
Maddox and his growth.
11:14
And then ultimately,
11:15
if it needs to back off or change or adjust, you know,
11:18
we're more than apt to do that.
11:19
But we've just seen how much he's grown from a routine,
11:23
a structure in that to your point,
11:26
we feel like we do know him best and we want to make sure
11:28
the folks around him get up to speed to our level as
11:32
quickly as possible.
11:32
That's really the mind in the lens that we're trying to
11:35
come through with all of the information.
11:38
In a perfect world,
11:39
we would see almost those parallel successes that build
11:44
from things that happen at school,
11:46
that there's some transfer to home.
11:49
And then there are successes that you see at home that can
11:53
be transferred over to school and how he can be more
11:57
successful there.
11:59
That kind of communication is so beneficial because it's
12:03
all focused on the child and the parents and the folks at
12:07
school are all able to take their egos a little bit out of
12:12
the box so that everything that you're doing is really
12:15
focused on your child.
12:17
So that brings me to the next question that we have for
12:20
you.
12:21
What does that communication and relationship building look
12:25
like from you, from your school,
12:28
and the teacher that is really working full-time with
12:32
Maddox?
12:33
Yeah, it's funny.
12:34
We were just talking about how much we appreciate today's
12:36
technology within education,
12:38
and I think this is one of the biggest pieces of
12:40
communication.
12:41
First and foremost,
12:42
I think that communication is a two-way street.
12:44
Like,
12:44
as much information as we're providing for Maddox to have a
12:47
great environment,
12:48
I think one of the things that I appreciate so much about
12:51
Jordan and my interaction was we also didn't want to
12:53
totally disrupt what had already worked for the teacher and
12:57
for the school, right?
12:58
Like,
12:58
we went into that situation with an understanding that
13:00
Maddox is going to be pushed.
13:02
We want him to be uncomfortable because that's part of
13:04
learning.
13:05
And so you kind of got to have both sides of that of, hey,
13:08
we understand what we're getting out of Maddox when he
13:11
walks in the door.
13:12
Here's the goals and aspirations we have for him as a
13:15
teacher and as school of what we want to get out of first
13:17
grade or what we want to get out of by the turn of the
13:20
year.
13:21
And I think we've been fortunate to have that.
13:23
One of the biggest pieces to allow for that is it's an app,
13:26
a communication app, T
13:27
alking Points that the school district uses and the teacher
13:30
uses.
13:31
And basically it's a text messaging app that's safe and you
13:35
can communicate through it for your child or the individual
13:38
or give classroom updates even.
13:40
It's kind of cool.
13:41
She takes pictures of Maddox doing certain things and can
13:44
send it to us.
13:45
We get videos from time to time.
13:47
She'll send updates about what's going on in gym class or
13:50
at one of his other specials or story time in his general
13:53
classroom.
13:54
And I think for a parent of a child with a disability,
13:56
specifically with ours with nonverbal autism,
13:58
we don't have the luxury of coming home and asking Maddox
14:01
how your day went and getting some long eloquent response
14:04
of here's everything we did and here's everything that I
14:07
really liked and enjoyed.
14:08
Those messages mean quite a lot to us.
14:11
And I think one of the other things that we've seen them
14:14
do, which is very appreciated,
14:15
is there's always a sheet in his folder that kind of has
14:17
some writeups of how his day went.
14:20
There's a few things they can circle about, you know,
14:22
was he happy, mad or sad?
14:23
They can talk about whatever else in his school day that is
14:26
pertinent and then obviously everything he brings home.
14:28
So we've been fortunate that there is that two-way street
14:31
of communication,
14:32
but I'd also say just the technology that's out there
14:35
really embracing it for us has been helpful because that
14:38
technology is the voice of Maddox and in lieu of Maddox not
14:42
voicing how his days went.
14:44
I do want to give you a bit of information here, Ryan,
14:47
as someone that worked with seven-year-olds for many,
14:50
many years.
14:51
When the regular first grader does not go home and tell
14:55
their family everything that went on in the day,
14:58
when you ask, yeah, OK, it was all right.
15:04
That's usually what families hear.
15:06
So it's all good.
15:08
You really get a good story about what happened.
15:12
I might get more you're saying then, right?
15:14
Yeah, I believe you are.
15:16
Fair enough.
15:17
Tell us more, Ryan,
15:18
about the teacher that's working with Maddox,
15:21
in particular,
15:23
how much time do you expect his teacher to devote to
15:26
Maddox?
15:27
What does that look like?
15:28
What are your expectations and Jordan's expectations?
15:31
That's a really good question.
15:33
I think for us and maybe we're the anomaly,
15:35
I wouldn't say that Jordan and I have like a time
15:37
expectation or amount of a day expectation to be associated
15:41
with Maddox.
15:42
I think what I would equate to the time associated would be
15:45
what is he developing day to day?
15:48
What are the goals?
15:49
I just think to maybe not as much time devoted metrics.
15:53
I think one of the things that we hold very highly is like,
15:55
what lessons is he learning on a week to week basis?
15:58
What are we focusing on this week or what are maybe the end
16:01
goals from the IEP that we're advancing towards?
16:04
And I think looking at it from that lens has been very
16:07
helpful for us to know that there's still progress because
16:10
again,
16:10
it's easy in all of the diagnosis that is autism and the
16:14
additional things that come just outside of school.
16:16
You're always trying to see what's there,
16:18
but sometimes there's not a ton of information.
16:21
The spectrum is so large in autism.
16:23
There's so many different things that can come and go at
16:25
given times.
16:26
For us,
16:27
we really strive on what is the goal or the task at hand
16:30
and is Maddox completing that?
16:32
And if he's not, let's take the correct steps,
16:35
whether it's today, this week,
16:37
if we feel like it's going to be a month,
16:39
both at home and in school to make sure he's checking that
16:42
box.
16:42
I think that we've also learned that he is going to learn
16:46
in his own right.
16:48
Anna, maybe much to your point,
16:49
like a typical seven year old,
16:50
but him taking whatever time he needs for us,
16:54
just seeing that progress is everything that we could ask.
16:58
And if we got to put in some extra time at a later date or
17:00
maybe touch on a few more things down the road than so be
17:03
it,
17:03
but just to be in a school environment and learn from a different
17:07
peer than mom or dad is something that we've already
17:10
noticed and we're thankful for and couldn't be happier for
17:12
it.
17:14
All children learn at their own rate.
17:17
Yeah.
17:17
Your comment about it's not about the number of minutes
17:20
that the teacher works with the child,
17:22
but rather how is time being spent in the classroom to meet
17:26
those weekly goals that have been identified for your son,
17:30
but for any child for that matter.
17:32
And you really caught my attention when you said technology
17:37
is the voice of Maddox.
17:40
And the time that the teacher and the support staff use
17:44
through the app and through the sheet of information that's
17:47
about how each day is going is a form of time.
17:52
They're sharing what's happening in real time in the
17:55
classroom or after the day,
17:57
a reflection of the time that was spent there.
18:00
So,
18:00
your approach is something that I really find refreshing
18:04
and I think really focused on what's best for Maddox,
18:07
of course, and whatever time it takes him to get there,
18:11
you'll get there.
18:13
Absolutely.
18:14
We're going to take a quick commercial break to share more
18:16
about Amergis Educational Staffing and what they can offer
18:19
you.
18:22
This is Ryan Lamping,
18:23
Vice President at Amergis Educational Staffing.
18:25
Are you an educator or school-based professional looking
18:28
for your next opportunity?
18:29
Or a school in need of top-notch talent?
18:32
Look no further than Amergis Educational Staffing.
18:35
At Amergis,
18:35
we connect passionate educators and school-based
18:38
professionals with schools that need them the most.
18:40
Whether you're an educator, administrator,
18:42
or support staff, we have the perfect match for you.
18:46
Our extensive network spans across various educational
18:49
institutions spanning across the United States,
18:52
ensuring that we find the right fit for your skills and
18:54
aspirations.
18:56
We offer personalized support and resources to help you
18:59
succeed in your role.
19:01
For schools, we provide a seamless hiring process,
19:04
delivering qualified and dedicated professionals who are
19:07
ready to make an impact from day one.
19:09
Join the Amergis family today and make a difference in the
19:12
lives of students.
19:13
Experience the Amergis Advantage where your career and the
19:16
future of education meet.
19:19
Welcome back.
19:20
If you'd like to know more about Amergis Educational S
19:22
taffing, we'll put contact information in the show notes.
19:27
So to get back to our interview Ryan,
19:30
how are appropriate boundaries established in terms of how
19:35
much you share with the school,
19:37
how much you expect the school to share with you,
19:40
how do you manage those boundaries?
19:44
Probably our baseline of a boundary I would say would be us
19:48
getting information from the school and from the teacher
19:50
about what the classroom expectations and environment looks
19:53
like.
19:54
We kind of started from there about what are we looking to
19:57
get out of this school year,
19:59
this first half of the school year, what are the goals?
20:02
Are all the students on a similar timeline,
20:04
much to your point Beth, are they on different timelines?
20:07
What is the focus of Maddox?
20:09
We kind of started there and then I think that set the
20:12
stage for us of how we had to structure everything else.
20:15
Kind of going back to the original couple questions,
20:18
we try to give as much information because we want people
20:21
to know about Maddox but we also welcome that same piece
20:24
because we want Maddox to be pushed.
20:26
We want him to be in an uncomfortable setting because to be
20:29
honest he gets home sometimes and he's in his most
20:31
comfortable setting.
20:32
So if we can get him pushed in a different environment that
20:35
makes the boundaries a little less daunting for him and for
20:38
us when they come up.
20:40
What would have been maybe a fear of going on a field trip,
20:43
probably less likely now that we know he goes into a school
20:46
building every day and has wonderful days but we hadn't had
20:49
that up until he did go to school.
20:51
So I think the appropriate boundaries for us I would say
20:54
was more about establishing the goals for the classroom
20:57
informatics.
20:58
That was the boundary we started with and we kind of worked
21:01
backwards with how do we arrange everything else around it.
21:04
How do we set up our home environment for when he's before
21:08
and after school to make sure that when he gets there that
21:10
is focused and devoted time learning hopefully developing
21:14
what he needs to do day to day.
21:17
So it sounds like you've really been communicating with
21:20
everyone at school to really try to tweak what those at
21:25
-home routines might look like so that he's in that place
21:30
where he's ready to go and that maybe you have some
21:33
routines at the end of the day for him so that he can kind
21:38
of get back into that calm comfortable space
21:41
after expending all of that energy at school.
21:45
Being in boundary pushing or a little bit uncomfortable
21:49
learning situations.
21:53
Yeah,
21:53
I look back at a situation almost like us getting updates
21:57
about what's going on at school.
21:59
I was telling you all a little bit before about just
22:01
matching his letters of his name with accuracy, right?
22:04
Once we found out that was something of a goal at school,
22:07
we took that upon ourselves to make sure that he has that
22:10
at home to practice and to review at the end of the day.
22:12
It's kind of funny looking back at it.
22:14
I'm thinking of it as we're talking through this,
22:16
but that might be our own little way of asking Maddox how
22:18
his school day was.
22:19
You read or hear about what he did and what the goals are
22:22
that week.
22:23
And we come home and say, hey, look,
22:24
let's match the letters of your name together with what's
22:27
on the paper.
22:28
That's his way of voicing maybe through a different avenue
22:30
of what happened that day.
22:32
And us seeing it live would be seeing that growth and
22:36
development and knowing that what's going on at school is
22:38
valuable.
22:39
It's time well spent and he's enjoying what he's doing.
22:42
And that he's finding success...
22:43
Yes.
22:43
in those experiences that he's having outside of your
22:48
home,
22:48
which also can give him increased confidence to build that
22:54
trust with his teacher, with the people at school,
22:59
with his peers, to be a little bit more open,
23:03
to maybe try to maybe reach out to them and work with them
23:09
in a really positive way that's going to build a
23:12
relationship of trust between them or among them.
23:17
Yeah, absolutely.
23:18
We have a huge following of early career teachers on this
23:22
podcast channel.
23:23
We are very committed to supporting early career teachers
23:26
and helping them navigate the challenges that come every
23:30
day.
23:31
It's not an easy profession.
23:32
You know that.
23:33
You work for a very successful educational staffing company
23:37
and your wife is a professional educator.
23:40
What should early career teachers know about relationship
23:44
building while collaborating with parents and children on
23:47
the autism spectrum?
23:49
Two main things come to mind.
23:51
I think first is building a rapport first and foremost with
23:54
anybody that you're dealing with that has a child with
23:56
special needs from a parent perspective.
23:59
There are so many concerns that you have going into any new
24:02
situation that getting to understand that somebody is
24:06
wanting to help just the one they don't have to know
24:08
everything they don't have to be in the room every day
24:10
because this might be day one or leading up to day one of
24:13
the new school year.
24:14
But just building a rapport to, again,
24:17
get to know the child, get to know the parents.
24:19
What are the goals that they're looking for?
24:22
Because every parent's goals might look a little different
24:24
based on their current situation.
24:27
That rapport could go a long way for a new teacher just to
24:31
know that the parents,
24:32
they're putting their child in good hands when they walk
24:35
into the door and they know they're going to get somebody
24:37
who cares if all else fails about getting what's best out
24:41
of that child from an educational standpoint.
24:43
I think the other piece will be over communicate.
24:45
They kind of go hand in hand. As you're building that
24:47
rapport with all of those maybe concerns or fears.
24:50
There's also that piece of if I could just get the updates
24:54
and the information to know that things are moving,
24:56
they might be moving at a snail's pace.
24:59
But if that progress is moving,
25:00
I feel very good about what's next for my child or keeping
25:04
my child in that same environment,
25:06
even though when they get home,
25:07
I might see the upset or frustrated circled a couple days
25:11
and start to get worried.
25:12
If I see the progress and I hear about the progress from
25:15
that teacher over communicating,
25:17
I now know there's progress being made at school despite
25:21
maybe some of the challenges.
25:22
Because again, in our situation,
25:24
we don't get to hear about, hey, mom or dad,
25:26
I worked through something very hard today.
25:28
It's just we see upset or mad or whatever, right?
25:31
So we kind of have to discern what was upset or maddening.
25:34
Well,
25:35
we know you got put in a brand new situation with a brand
25:37
new task and you didn't like a single second of it.
25:39
We're going to see how tomorrow looks because it's probably
25:41
going to be a little easier since you're doing it for the
25:43
second time.
25:45
And,
25:45
likely the teacher has also noticed what it was about that
25:49
task that was difficult and probably at that point can make
25:54
some modifications so that the task will be more palatable
25:58
the next time around.
26:00
Yes.
26:01
So there you go, early career teachers.
26:02
Two great pieces of advice from Ryan.
26:05
Build rapport.
26:06
Get to know the child and the parents,
26:08
followed by over-communicating.
26:11
Anna and I hear all the time from new teachers.
26:14
They want to be successful,
26:15
they want to have great relationships with their students
26:18
in the classroom, and that also includes parents.
26:23
And the other piece that I think is important about over
26:26
communication is that often you as a new teacher might feel
26:31
like, oh, I don't want to say too much.
26:35
I don't want to be judged.
26:37
I don't want the parents to think that I'm not doing it
26:40
well.
26:41
It's important to communicate what it is that you're doing
26:46
so that the message,
26:48
if a student comes on frustrated or mad about something
26:51
going on in the classroom, that it wasn't necessarily you.
26:56
It could have been the task.
26:58
It could have been a number of things,
27:01
but I think as a new teacher,
27:03
you worry that any time that a child isn't happy,
27:06
it's going to come with blowback on you as the teacher.
27:10
So when you can communicate what happened during that day
27:14
to cause that child some frustration and take it to that
27:18
third point of evidence,
27:20
then you and the parent both have something that you could
27:24
communicate around.
27:26
It's not just about feeling.
27:28
It's about something that is evidence-based that could have
27:32
taken place during the day.
27:34
So always remember as a new teacher to use that evidence to
27:38
your and the student's best advantage.
27:42
So, Ryan,
27:43
you talk a lot about the work that you've done in communicating
27:47
with your child's teacher.
27:49
The SPED Department as a whole. Who else do you feel
27:54
comfortable bringing into your family's relationship with
27:58
the teacher, perhaps outside therapists,
28:02
an external speech path, pediatrician?
28:06
Who else could fold in to that relationship or information
28:11
from some of those other people to deepen the school and
28:15
the teacher's understanding of your child?
28:20
We are fortunate here in Cincinnati that we have Cincinnati
28:22
Children's Hospital,
28:23
which is a very prominent hospital network here that really
28:26
everything Maddox-related runs through.
28:29
So his developmental delays, his neurology,
28:31
all kind of funnels into that.
28:33
So the network makes it very easy to get everybody kind of
28:36
together, right?
28:37
Just from the same platform.
28:39
But we try to have the same approach from the external
28:41
resources as we do getting to school and in front of the
28:45
school individual.
28:46
You know,
28:46
he had a summer OT program that he was in a few years back.
28:51
We were able to get the documentation from that and any
28:54
additional thoughts from that OT to his school when he went
28:58
in that following August to make sure that they knew kind
29:01
of what was worked on so we could keep the goals going.
29:04
I think one of the other important things about autism that
29:07
we've learned is as you start to have progress,
29:10
as good as it is to have progress and as easy as might seem
29:13
sometimes,
29:13
it is triple as easy to lose that progress if you don't
29:17
stay on.
29:18
So if you just lack for whatever reason or you don't bring
29:21
it back up for some time,
29:22
there's a good chance that those struggles or that same
29:25
strife that came the first time around and learning that
29:27
new task might come up again.
29:29
And so we try to always connect that dot in communication
29:32
with the SLP, the OT,
29:34
the PT that he's seen over the years and make sure that
29:37
same information and goals that we were told coming out of
29:40
those from the hospital setting also get sent right into
29:43
school and they know about it too.
29:45
And we've had, you know, knock on wood,
29:46
hopefully not a few more,
29:47
but we've had a couple of hospital visits over the years
29:50
that we've also had to communicate.
29:51
And I think even that kind of reset of where expectations
29:54
are from a week to week,
29:55
month to month perspective is helpful where, you know,
29:59
we might have a hospital setback.
30:00
So what is this week of school might just be getting
30:02
acclimated to a routine again for being out two days,
30:05
not as much the educational side going into that following
30:09
week.
30:09
Maybe we jump back into more of that educational facet than
30:13
we did before.
30:14
So I think there's as much as we can.
30:16
Again, we might be the anomaly, but hopefully we're not.
30:19
I think as much as we can group all of those pieces
30:22
together, it bodes the best for Maddox.
30:24
And that's what we've seen personally.
30:27
And that's so important for parents and teachers to think
30:30
about because there have been times in my career where I've
30:36
known something else was there with a child,
30:39
but the family didn't feel that perhaps they wanted to
30:44
share some of that information.
30:46
And sometimes they've shared maybe after the fact or when
30:51
I've really said, you know,
30:54
is there more that you could tell me about this particular
30:56
thing?
30:57
And then sometimes that just opens up a floodgate of
31:01
information that while it was valuable to me at that
31:05
moment, six months prior,
31:07
it could have been a game changer for their child.
31:11
Sure.
31:12
So it really is important for families to be willing to
31:16
share but also for teachers in a very respectful way to
31:21
know how to ask questions about is there more that you
31:25
could tell me about or is there a report that you could
31:29
share from the pediatrician that would be helpful in your
31:34
child's particular case.
31:36
So it's about that trust, it's about being trustworthy,
31:42
it's about forming that relationship that's really child
31:46
-centered that can make such a huge difference in the
31:51
educational and full social life of a child.
31:57
I agree, very much so.
31:59
Thank you for so much of that information and we want to
32:02
thank you, Ryan,
32:03
for sharing your family's story with us today.
32:06
When working with families,
32:08
it's vital to build bridges of trust with people who have
32:11
often faced countless challenges in advocating for their
32:16
children.
32:17
It's about recognizing that every caregiver brings valuable
32:20
expertise to the table and every family's experience
32:24
deserves respect and attention.
32:27
And so thanks for tuning in to today's episode of New
32:30
Teacher Talk.
32:32
Remember to follow us on social media for more resources
32:36
and tips.
32:37
Join us on Instagram and Blue
32:39
Sky @newteachertalk for our Tuesday Teacher Resource and Thursday Thought. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the follow button and share it with your fellow educators. Know that we're always here to support you.