I have been doing my observations for this internship class at an afterschool program at a private school in Normal, IL. This has been a very interesting, busy, and trying couple weeks for me during this class. I had decided to change my focus for the paper at the last minute. I was finding that my topic was way too broad and needed to be changed. After talking with several people at my internship site and people that I work with I decided that my focus needed to change. I am now focusing on sensory processing disorder. I have found that this disease affects more children than we think. I also think that the tools and treatments that we as teachers would use in the classroom for sensory processing disorder are good tools to know about when dealing with all children.
One of the students in the afterschool program was a former student of mine. I found it very interesting that even though he was in my class almost three years ago both he and his mother still recognized me. This was the student had originally inspired me to research this topic. I had worked with his mother and this student to find out what was going on with him. His mother told me what a remarkable difference she had seen in her son since he was able to get his IEP for school and to receive occupational therapy. I was great to see how much the student had changed and how much he had improved.
One insight that I learned was how important we are in the lives of all of our students. You never know the impact that you will have on a student even at a young age. Another insight that I learned from doing the research this week for this paper was how important our roles as teachers are in helping out children. It is our job to speak out when there is something that needs to be changed and when there is something that we can do about it. I have come to realize that the most important thing we can do is to be informed. When we are informed about issues then we can help to inform others as well.
I agree with you that it is great to see the impact that us as teachers have on the students. I think it is great you changed your research paper to something that you seem to be very passionate about. I think that it is wonderful the improvement of the student that you had after getting an IEP and occupational therapy. It makes me smile that something that simple helped this boy so much! Since you changed you research paper what things are you going to focus on about sensory processing disorder.
ReplyDeleteI am focusing my paper on what sensory processing disorder is and why we should care about it, how the type of the sensory processing disorder affects the treatment, and the impacts of misdiangosis of the disease.
DeleteIt is interesting that this is a disorder that you chose to research. I was just talking with my mentor about this disorder as she feels that many children that are diagnosed with Autism actually should fall under this disorder. Our special education program does not recognize sensory processing disorder as a IEP diagnosis. I think it is important to research all possibilities and not just jump to the first diagnosis for our children. I have a boy in my morning class that was just at Children's hospital to be diagnosed. He has limited speech but no other real delays - his fine motor is not where it should be but it appears to be from lack of experience. I had videos that I had taken of him in the classroom that I sent with his parents. They showed them to the professionals at the hospital and they ruled out Autism because of his interactions in the classroom. His mother said that this was a diagnosis that they were thinking of but changed their mind after seeing his interactions. I think that it is important to provide these videos so that the professionals get a true picture of how the child acts in a variety of settings, not just based on conversations or questions.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that your director does not recognize sensory integration processing disorder as it has been a disorder for over 12 years. Some people don't get it.
DeleteKathleen,
ReplyDeleteI love your insight regarding “how important we all are in the lives of all of our students” (Kathleen). This insight is so true in that as educators it is often difficult to know the full impact that we have on the children that we work with. We play such a largely important and positive role in the daily lives of each and every child, but our view of this role is hard to see at times in terms of the whole picture. At times I personally have gotten the other stuff jumbled in together so that I lose sight of the larger picture and impact that I have on the children I work with. However, it always helps me to refresh the insight that I do have a positive impact on the children I work with.
Summer
Kathleen,
DeleteCan you explain some of the strategies teachers can use in the classroom? Since there are so many students with sensory integration issues and they go unnoticed as this is a handicapping condition that is fairly 'new' it would be nice to know what signs there are as well as what we can do. Are you seeing teachers implement these in the classroom? When my son was diagnosed with sensory motor integration issues I was the one that taught the teachers and OT what to do to help him through the day.
Some of the techniques that you use for children that have sensory processing disorders are really very simple. It amazes me how such a little thing can help out so much. One child that I had in one of my preshool classrooms had the disorder and responded well to deep pressure treatments. Simply giving the child a firm hug would calm him down and allow he to re-center himself. Other tricks that I have used are having the child use a wieghted blanket at naptime and having the child push a box of blocks across the room. Also, having a rocing chair in the roo and a stress ball or bubble wrap also helped out a lot.
ReplyDelete