Self medicating/ self stimming

People do try to help themselves as a basic survival technique so when you see a seemingly disfunctional behavior such as stimming or sensory seeking, or constant use of energy drinks, or over the counter medications or even drug or alcohol use in an elementary or high school age student, there is likely a problem (internal or external) that the student is trying to deal with. That doesn't mean that the method they chose is going to be helpful to them or successful. It simply means that in order to help them reduce or eliminate that problem behavior, you will need to help the student identify another tool or means to solve their problem or situation.

For instance if they are having sensory issues with noise or lighting in the classroom, and are using disruptive behavior to get sent out, you need to address both the learned behavior (disruption) and the underlying problem (overwhelmed by noise or lighting, or physical discomfort from light flickering). The lights might be changed, or the student might be seated near a window for natural lighting with that bank of lights kept off. For noise levels, the student might be allowed to wear earphones or ear plugs to deaden (not shut out completely) the noise level. Also, the teacher might be given some alternatives to sending students out such as giving that student a pop quiz or extra worksheet, or assigning some task in the classroom. For example it might be that the student will be asked to empty the trash at break time or clean off the board so that they give some time back to the teacher or class since their action took time away from the class or teacher.

Behavior Plan

What is a behavior plan? It is a plan for how to encourage a behavior we want to see and/or replace a behavior that is not socially acceptable or not working to get what the child/youth needs. Be sure to review the behavior plan regularly to see if it matches what we are trying to do and that we remove the clutter (old methods that did not work).

Many times, the team will wait to implement a behavior plan when a behavior has really gone over the top or become very annoying or disruptive to a lot of people. Unfortunately this can mean that the child has been using the disruptive behavior for a while so it may take some time and persistence to modify the behavior.

Book on Autism and Nutrition

Nourishing Hope for Autism: Nutrition Intervention for Healing Our Children, by Julie Matthews

This book is interesting although some of the cover language makes it sound like a parent or practitioner can 'cure' a child of their autism by using the dietary and environmental suggestions in the book. While I agree that many behaviors can be aggravated by the irritant of foods a child is allergic to, I think it is a matter of more control through diet (similarly to a diabetic controlling through diet or medication.)

The information in the book is very useful and presented in a specific scientific language. References are included to research studies and the source material.

I will be adding the book to our local CAC library for checkout.

Helping kids get organized

What makes kids disorganized? Is it that they just don't want to do it? Or is there more going on? For kids who have hidden disabilities like Autism, they can have an executive functioning deficit which makes it difficult for them to organize and handle tasks that consist of multiple steps and keeping information in short term memory long enough to pull them out when ready for the next step.
If you are simply reminding them of every step over and over and are looking for some skill making tools to try and help these kids become for self managing, the R.O.P.E.S may offer some help.

I recently attended a training on Learning the R.O.P.E.S. for improved Executive Function with trainer Patty Schetter. Here is a link to a website featuring Patty.

I have been using some of the techniques/tools with my son and it does seem to be helping him.

http://www.autismandbehavior.com/about.htm

Welcome to Selpa CAC

First off I better explain what a SELPA is and what a CAC is.

A SELPA is a Special Education Local Plan Area. Still don't know what that means? Well it is a defined geographic area that is made up to include one or more school districts and coordinate special education services to or in those districts. What does that mean in simpler language? It means that the school district(s) plan together so that special education can be set up with certain guidelines in place to use the federal and/or state money for special education in ways that will help the students who need special education support.

A CAC is a Community Advisory Committee made up of parents, teachers, and other interested community members who review the local plan, and advise the SELPA and school board(s) and provide education and support for parents of students with IEPs, teachers, etc so that students can receive effective supports and get the free appropriate public education the law insures them. California, the state I live in, requires that the CAC consist of 51% or more parents of children residing in the SELPA and a majority of those must be parents of Children with IEPs.

What is an IEP? Well, that is an Individualized Education Program/Plan. If your child is struggling in school and you feel there is a need to look closer at the reasons why, you can look to your local CAC for information on assessments and the IEP process. The CAC does not advocate for individual children but for the overall process and plan in the SELPA. However, they are able to provide you with the names of your local Family Empowerment center, trained parent advocates, or other resources to help you get what your child needs.