A Interactive Social Story

About five years ago I was teaching students with Special Needs in a high school.  The upcoming September we were expecting a huge increase of students to the program so as a team we created a CD-rom with various photos and messages about the school and the various places these students would go.  It was an interactive ‘Social Story’ in which we had a wonderful response from many of the students and the families.

Now fast forward five years… we have entered the world of blogging and social media.  So when I was told we would be coming 75 new students to our school instead of doing a CD-rom I created a website for my school telling the story of an average day at school.  It took me a while to put everything together from designing the website to taking the photos to uploading a YouTube video but I really believe if it helps ease a child’s anxiety or nervousness about coming to a new school it’s all worth it!

Click on the link below to access this Social Story Website about my School:

http://lynnfripps.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

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Autism in the Home

 

BBC has a feature documentary on parents and their children who have Autism. I have yet to watch the program, but it looks like a fair exploratory program. On a side note if you live outside of the UK, download the free ExpatShield software and then you can watch this UK program on BBC iplayer. To read about this insightful program click on the following link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17755247.

 

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Moving and Not Going Anywhere

I saw this old play pony in a playground the other day. It was a classic little beauty but needed so much tender loving care. Seems like some children I work with need that kind of care too. They are stuck. Not going anywhere.

Well, I came across an Australian educational psychologist blog which I found inspirational and exciting. Maybe the little ponies in our lives might start to move with a little bit of inspiration from our Australian colleague.

http://www.schoolpsychologyblog.com/

 

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Finland Versus USA

Throughout my teaching career I have heard that Finland is the leader in Education.  The list goes on from better learning, happier students, happier teachers, to less drop-outs.  There has always been the question raised: What are they doing that we aren’t?  Well, if you ever asked this question well you might want to read this article from The Atlantic called What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success.  Fascinating read, enjoy!
 

 

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The Start of School

I thought I would post some delightful photographs of a school for autistic students from the TIME website.

The photos seem to capture the importance of enjoying learning through various mediums as well with the strong value on each student having individual needs.

Enjoy:

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1947608,00.html

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Boys and Special Needs

A recent article in the BBC news that states:

Almost one in four primary school boys in England has special educational needs (SEN), a government report finds.  More than 41,000 primary school boys (2%) have a statement of needs and 489,250 (23.4%) have unstatemented needs.  This compares to 15,600 SEN girls (0.8%) with statements and 269,890 girls (13.5%) without a statement…  Boys were two and a half times more likely than girls to have statements at primary school, the report said.  And at secondary school, they were nearly three times more likely to have statements compared to girls.  The report found that boys and girls were likely to have different types of SEN.  Boys with statemented SEN were more than twice as likely to have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties or autism than girls.  In total, 26,170 boys (17.2%) with SEN statements had behavioural, emotional and social difficulties compared with 3,590 girls (6.2%).  Girls with SEN statements were more than twice as likely to have profound or multiple learning difficulties or hearing problems compared with boys.

To read more about this interesting article about boys and special needs click HERE.

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