Laura S. Clarke

Using Structured Work Systems to Promote Independence and Engagement for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

cialist. She, along with teachers, therapists, and paraprofessionals, supported students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in preschool through 12th grade, across general and special education settings. Though the skills of the students she served varied tremendously, she noticed a common difficulty for many of her students with ASD, despite age or functioning level: a broad deficit in independent functioning. This impacted her youngest students as they learned basic school readiness skills, including gathering and putting away materials, or completing a basic sequence of activities, such as coloring, cutting, and gluing. This same difficulty made it hard for her older students to follow more complex response chains and manage all of their belongings, materials, and assignments throughout the day. Mrs. Bonds needed an intervention that could address this difficulty, one that would be appropriate for a variety of students in a number of settings. After careful review of evidence-based practices and discussion with colleagues, she decided to implement work systems, an element of structured teaching developed by Division TEACCH, with several of her students.

A Systematic Approach for Supporting Paraeducators in Educational Settings: A Guide for Teachers.

cial education teacher’s staff meeting about the challenges in their classrooms. Despite being veteran teachers with experience with students with significant disabilities, their biggest challenge was in the supervision of the many paraeducators who worked in their classrooms. Although they both felt they had described the paraeducators’ responsibilities, they still weren’t satisfied with how their classrooms were running. They continually found that they had forgotten to tell the paraeducators some critical piece of information or that they had not clearly articulated the rationale for activities throughout the school day. These miscommunications often led to disorganization or worse—the students not having the quality experiences they needed to be prepared for their futures. Both Tami and Nora often felt frustrated or disappointed.

Co-Teaching Versus Apprentice Teaching An Analysis of Similarities and Differences

Although the term co-teaching has for many years described a service delivery option for students with disabilities or other special needs, recently, it has been used as a label for an alternative approach to student teaching. In this article, the authors describe the essential characteristics of co-teaching and what is appropriately called apprentice teaching and outline the similarities and differences between these two collaborative practices, including overall program structure, the contributing characteristics of the participating individuals, and the nature of the professional relationships. The authors provide conclusions regarding the risks for teacher candidates and faculty members of using the same term for significantly different models.

Applying an RTI Model for Students with Learning Disabilities Who are Gifted

thinking • Pair students to co-write metaphors • Read fables and allegories Organizing ideas • Use graphic organizers, story boards, mind mapping • Explicitly teach 6+1 Traits (O’Connor, 2009); provide visual reminders for revising and editing

Supporting Students with Disabilities during School Crises: A Teacher's Guide.

Most schools have crisis plans to support student safety, but few plans address the complex needs of students with disabilities. School supports should include analysis of school plans and student ...

People-first Language, Equity, and Inclusion: How do we say it, and why does it matter?

The evolution of language speaks to our values as a society and our understanding of each other as humans making contributions to society. Using people-first language demonstrates a respect for the personhood of people with disabilities, but often professionals are at a loss as to which words to use. This primer shares the ideology behind people-first language and includes a step-by-step guide to using people-first language for IDEA disability categories. Subscribe to LDMJ