What do you wish your Assistant Principal knew/ had read/ was familiar with? (ASD/ ADHD/ Anxiety)

[Anonymous]

I am the OP of the "And so it begins" thread
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/750345.page

The Assistant Principal has asked me to share with her any books, references or resources she can use to get more up to speed on supporting kids on the spectrum or with ADHD or both. She completely messed up a response to a meltdown and she wants to be prepared to do better next time.

I respect her authenticity/ transparency in asking for help. And I am hoping we can crowdsource the best possible book/ resource list for her.

My initial thoughts:
Ross Greene- The Explosive Child
Alan Kazdin- Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child (not sure this is the most school- appropriate)
Lauren Kenworthy- Unstuck and On Target

What else would you share?

She is primarily a discipline coordination point. So she isn't in the weeds on supporting kids with dyslexia- so many excellent books there. I think something related to anxiety would be helpful sicne she doesn't have any counseling/ sped experience. She was hired from a technology liaison/ support role. So are there online groups of teachers/ administrators she could join that would be helpful?

From a teacher perspective, what helped you be successful in supporting your kids?

Thanks for any suggestions you can provide!

[Anonymous]

Your list is perfect. Please don't add to it b/c I doubt she'll read them all. She needs formal training and not just relying on books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your list is perfect. Please don't add to it b/c I doubt she'll read them all. She needs formal training and not just relying on books.

+1

Local Resources (some of these are parent-focused but many are school-focused too. she can attend, or watch an archive video of topics relevant to her)

Ivymount Spring Lecture Series
Lab School Lecture Series https://www.labschool.org/page/outreach/lecture-series
Parent Council of Washington Speaker Series and Best Practices Forum https://www.parentscouncil.org
Stixrud Group Lectures and Workshops

[Anonymous]

I’m unsure if you’re in DC, but just a vent about the fact that our former disgraced chancellor who was first forced to resign accomplished one thing during his tenure, and that’s to kill the DCPS Stevens School partnership with Ivymount.

While it’s great your school leadership is sincere in wanting to be educated, there should be experts within DCPS to help with this kind of ASD training. It’s not your job.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I’m not in DC anymore. The state where I live now just started doing inclusion last year. We are rated almost last in everything education related.

But we have had some amazing teachers who are trying really hard and, in many cases, succeeding is supporting our kids.

I can’t imagine anyone killin a partnership with Ivymount. It would be a dream to have a school like that here as a resource.

[Anonymous]

OP why not talk to your advocate and see if she has any resources or suggestions for local classes/seminars?

[Anonymous]

You might direct your Asst. Principal to Ross Greene's LOST AT SCHOOL, which focuses specifically on how schools can implement his problem-solving model. Greene's website (www.livesinthebalance.org) also has a section specifically for schools and educators, which gives a brief and user-friendly introduction to his work.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone- I did switch to the Lost in School book and I added in Carol Dweck’s Mindset.

I took a chance and pulled my copies and wrote a note with them and took them to school this morning.

I know it might sound odd but while I was sitting with my son last night (he had nightmares all night) I prayed about the situation. I was really torn about whether I should take her books or just the list of titles. I didn’t want it to seem inappropriate. And when i woke up this morning I just knew which box to find them (book boxes are last to be unpacked.) So I took that as a sign.

I was at the school for a PTA event and the AP came and found me and asked if she could highlight in the books. So I told her they were hers to keep. And she gave me a big hug and thanked me. I am not a hugger, but she seemed genuine.

So maybe she can do a bit of reading this weekend.

And our advocate is going to bring a list of local resources too.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest providing her with podcast links as well - it takes a long time to read those books, and podcasts can get her up to speed more quickly. Tilt Parenting has a Ross Greene interview (he has his own series, but the interview is a good place to start as a summary of his views). I'm sure there are some good ADHD related podcasts on there, too, but I just can't recall what is the best as a summary. Possibly Seth Perler, or you can find some links to his YouTube videos, which are really short.

[Anonymous]

That is a great idea! I am not much of a podcast person as I learn better/ faster through reading. I know there was a DVD in the Kandinsky book too.

Does anyone else have podcast recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Autism speaks has great baseline info on how ASD impacts children in the classroom. I have had to print out, highlight and hand this info to my child's IEP team in the past.

One thing that some educators do not understand about ASD is that the child can be academically on-grade or advanced but have very serious challenges in the classroom.

They also don't understand that our kids can have days when they can perform and days when they cannot. I have found that teachers will punish the child based on the fact that they have shown in the past that they can behave/follow rules. But it's not as simple as that.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the autism speaks reference- I am heading there now.

There were a lot of comments like- we never saw this coming- he’s had such a great start to the year. And I realized they have no idea how hard he is working to make those great days happen.

[Anonymous]

This is a helpful short guide to teaching ASD students.
https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/sctk_supporting_learning.pdf

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm an autistic adult. I very much do not like or support Autism Speaks.

I suggest the Autism Self Advocacy Network for resources.
http://autisticadvocacy.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I'm an autistic adult. I very much do not like or support Autism Speaks.

I suggest the Autism Self Advocacy Network for resources.
http://autisticadvocacy.org/

OP here- I appreciate this perspective. I have adult friends on the spectrum who agree with you and it is why I am unfamiliar with their resources. Those friends have been lifesavers for me navigating everything with my son. But for the most part they were home schooled/ therapeutic schools so they were fortunate to not experience anything like this.

So if you (or any other adults on the spectrum) have any other suggestions on ways to help him recover from this horrible experience/ strategies for reconciling I would love to hear them.