Re: Social Stories - Sorry so long!!

[Guest guest]

Theresa,

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. Since my daughter took so

long to be diagnosed, I fought with teachers, principals, school

psychologists and social workers constantly.

Last year, Hannah was in 1st grade and still undiagnosed. Her very

non-understanding regular classroom teacher simply viewed Hannah as a

disruptive child and me as an uncooperative and annoying parent. On

occasion, I even heard from other special ed teachers (of which she

was NOT) that she questioned my ability as a mother (mind you I have

three other children) as well as being an annoyance because I was

frantically searching for answers.

Because Hannah appeared to act as if a deaf child and she did have a

mild hearing loss, she was put into the hearing impaired classroom

for reading in addition to speech/language therapy. She, of course

did better in a smaller classroom.

Also, her " mainstream " teacher complained of Hannah's aggression,

lack of social boundaries and cues, not having friends, etc. This

with no regard of how it was breaking my heart as well as Hannah's.

Anyway, this year (2nd grade) we have her in with a regular special

ed teacher with additional training in ASD. has been a God send

to us. She helped me to find a psychologist to get Hannah PROPERLY

diagnosed as well as finding a DAN! doc. Hannah was just informally

diagnosed a week and a half ago. (we're waiting for the legal mumbo

jumbo paperwork for insurance, government, whoever else doesn't get

it)

You obviously understand these kids from a parental and educator

viewpoint. You should be commended. As far as this social stuff, I

think that you work with these kids far more than the principal. The

principal is probably trying to keep these mainstream students and

primarily their parents happy. You know in your heart what the right

thing is for each individual in your class. God bless people like

you. And also to all of you other wonderful angels in this group.

Sorry for the long post. Still trying to process diagnosis....

Happy New Year to all!

>

> Ok...I have a topic that I really would like some input about. I

was a

> special education teacher for 13 years and I resigned my position

> recently because I found the stress to be amazingly difficult.

>

> My former principal felt I was not doing a good job since some of my

> students would become agitated and occasionally scream disrupting

the

> classes around us. I said that is what happens sometimes. She said I

> was too accepting of such behavior. Then she asked where are the

kids

> social stories. She had me writing social stories constantly. One

> student could speak English, but when he was upset he could only

> respond in Spanish. One student had such a strong intelligence that

a

> social story was insulting to him. He had figured out that the story

> was because he was doing " something wrong " . When I explained this to

> her she just thought I was not wanting to spend hours after school

> writing these out.

>

> I just felt my efforts were used better by using other techniques to

> help these students. As a parent of 4 children and 3 with ASD. Plus,

> all of my training in Autism and Special Education, I felt I had an

> expertise. Very few parents put picture schedules up and the kids

> figure out pretty quickly it is a control device. I see the use but

> many educators think this is a " one size fits all " approach to

> educating children with ASD. I feel every kid is different and as a

> parent I was starting to resent how people looked at my students.

The

> parents of my students loved me and felt supported since I know how

> they feel.

>

> How do all of you feel about social stories? Am I being defensive? I

> have to say I do believe in using pictures to educate but having

this

> pure rote behavior seems insensitive. I feel like these educators do

> not think that children with Autism have feelings or cannot think

for

> themselves. I am tired of Austism Awareness, how about some

> understanding that these kids are people.

>

> Thanks for listening.

> Sincerely,

> Teresia

>

[Guest guest]

Theresa,

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. Since my daughter took so

long to be diagnosed, I fought with teachers, principals, school

psychologists and social workers constantly.

Last year, Hannah was in 1st grade and still undiagnosed. Her very

non-understanding regular classroom teacher simply viewed Hannah as a

disruptive child and me as an uncooperative and annoying parent. On

occasion, I even heard from other special ed teachers (of which she

was NOT) that she questioned my ability as a mother (mind you I have

three other children) as well as being an annoyance because I was

frantically searching for answers.

Because Hannah appeared to act as if a deaf child and she did have a

mild hearing loss, she was put into the hearing impaired classroom

for reading in addition to speech/language therapy. She, of course

did better in a smaller classroom.

Also, her " mainstream " teacher complained of Hannah's aggression,

lack of social boundaries and cues, not having friends, etc. This

with no regard of how it was breaking my heart as well as Hannah's.

Anyway, this year (2nd grade) we have her in with a regular special

ed teacher with additional training in ASD. has been a God send

to us. She helped me to find a psychologist to get Hannah PROPERLY

diagnosed as well as finding a DAN! doc. Hannah was just informally

diagnosed a week and a half ago. (we're waiting for the legal mumbo

jumbo paperwork for insurance, government, whoever else doesn't get

it)

You obviously understand these kids from a parental and educator

viewpoint. You should be commended. As far as this social stuff, I

think that you work with these kids far more than the principal. The

principal is probably trying to keep these mainstream students and

primarily their parents happy. You know in your heart what the right

thing is for each individual in your class. God bless people like

you. And also to all of you other wonderful angels in this group.

Sorry for the long post. Still trying to process diagnosis....

Happy New Year to all!

>

> Ok...I have a topic that I really would like some input about. I

was a

> special education teacher for 13 years and I resigned my position

> recently because I found the stress to be amazingly difficult.

>

> My former principal felt I was not doing a good job since some of my

> students would become agitated and occasionally scream disrupting

the

> classes around us. I said that is what happens sometimes. She said I

> was too accepting of such behavior. Then she asked where are the

kids

> social stories. She had me writing social stories constantly. One

> student could speak English, but when he was upset he could only

> respond in Spanish. One student had such a strong intelligence that

a

> social story was insulting to him. He had figured out that the story

> was because he was doing " something wrong " . When I explained this to

> her she just thought I was not wanting to spend hours after school

> writing these out.

>

> I just felt my efforts were used better by using other techniques to

> help these students. As a parent of 4 children and 3 with ASD. Plus,

> all of my training in Autism and Special Education, I felt I had an

> expertise. Very few parents put picture schedules up and the kids

> figure out pretty quickly it is a control device. I see the use but

> many educators think this is a " one size fits all " approach to

> educating children with ASD. I feel every kid is different and as a

> parent I was starting to resent how people looked at my students.

The

> parents of my students loved me and felt supported since I know how

> they feel.

>

> How do all of you feel about social stories? Am I being defensive? I

> have to say I do believe in using pictures to educate but having

this

> pure rote behavior seems insensitive. I feel like these educators do

> not think that children with Autism have feelings or cannot think

for

> themselves. I am tired of Austism Awareness, how about some

> understanding that these kids are people.

>

> Thanks for listening.

> Sincerely,

> Teresia

>