Self-Care for Educators
*Adapted from the #HealthyAtHome - Mental Health, World Health Organization, May 2020.
It is well known that educators constantly put their students first, and at times that can have an impact on self-care. In this time of adjustment, the ability of educators to continue to effectively connect, engage and instruct students depends on their state of self-care. Ways to ensure that you are keeping a healthy lifestyle and state of mind include:
- Keep informed of advice and recommendations from your LEA and other local authorities.
- Keep up with daily routines that promote healthy sleep, hygiene, exercise, eating, and mindfulness habits.
- Minimize distractions, especially those that cause you to have negative thoughts or feelings.
- Keep in regular contact with coworkers, students and families through alternative means.
- Take regular breaks from the screen.
Students are looking to you as a guide through this adjustment period. It is imperative that you nourish yourself so that you can continue to support their educational, behavioral and social emotional needs in this new way of remote learning.
For further information on supporting your self-care needs visit:
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Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Remote Learning
*Adapted from Best Practices for Educating Online, Council of Exceptional Children, March 2020.
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) rely on their educational environment to provide structure, routines and procedures, opportunities for socializing with peers and staff, and other various expectations to support their engagement and learning. As "classrooms" have transitioned from the traditional sense as we know it, how do educators continue to capture that same engagement that they intentionally plan for and deliver, especially since student individual strengths and needs are so unique? There is no magic answer to this, as this world of remote learning is so new. However, below are some tips that may guide and support you along the way:
- Intentionally set up your workspace to ensure that it is quiet, distraction free and well lit.
- Communicate with families and students to assist with their workspace set up at home. It's important to keep in mind their individual organization, sequencing and attention needs to support an effective learning environment.
- Set clear expectations about what the students can expect from the class schedule, modes of communication, assignments and conduct of behavior. Respond to these expectations in a concise manner.
- Create visual schedules that include times for work, breaks, movement, coping and calming, relaxation and other needs that need to be addressed in order to support student engagement.
- Maintain routines and explicitly teach new ones.
- Send reminders to families and students prior to live teaching sessions and for when assignments are due.
- Communicate with families by email, phone, chat, virtual meeting platforms, and any other means that you may have.
- Use the personal connection that you have with your students and their preferred interests within your live lessons. Include those preferred interests in assignments that the students are engaged with offline as well.
- Use a mix of learning tools that are readily available. You can access learning tools in a variety of places, including the NCDPI Exceptional Children Division Supplemental Optional Remote Learning Resources for Students with Disabilities.
- Break learning into smaller chunks to support attention and executive functioning needs.
- Provide prompt, specific feedback in a manner that meets the students' receptive communication abilities.
For additional resources to support students with ASD through remote learning, please follow these links:
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When North Carolina had to abruptly transition to remote learning, educators and students implemented their flexibility skills in an elevated manner. This newsletter is focused on supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) during this time of change, as well as providing other relevant information.
Featured Evidence-Based Practice: Reinforcement
*Referenced from Evidence-Based Practice Brief: Reinforcement, National Professional Development Center (NPDC) on Autism Spectrum Disorder, October 2010.
What are EBPs? - Practices that scientific research has shown effective for use with individuals with autism.
Reinforcement (R+)
Reinforcement is a foundational practice used to teach target skills and increase desired behavior.
Steps for implementing reinforcement include:
Planning
- Collect data on target skill or behavior.
- Establish performance criteria for program goals.
- Identify reinforcers.
- Prepare supporting materials.
- Select reinforcers.
- Follow unique planning steps for selected prompting procedure.
Using: This section describes the process of using reinforcement and includes specific steps for each reinforcement procedure.
- Positive reinforcement:
- Deliver reinforcement each time learner with ASD uses target skill or behavior .
- Prevent satiation by varying reinforcers.
- Fade reinforcers and use reinforcers consistently across settings.
- Token economy:
- Describe to learners with ASD components of the token economy system.
- Provide a token to the learner each time the skill or behavior is displayed. Explain to the learner why they are earning a token.
- Learners select reinforcement from the reinforcer menu during a specified time.
- Fade tokens and use tokens consistently across settings.
- Negative reinforcement:
- Cue learners to use target skill or behavior by providing a pictorial, written, or verbal instructional cue.
- Remove negative reinforcer when target skill or behavior is used.
- Transition to positive reinforcement.
Monitoring
- Collect data on target behaviors.
- Adjust reinforcement based on performance criteria.
- Determine next steps based on learner progress.
For more information about Reinforcement and other EBPs, please follow these links:
Technology Corner: Featured Apps
*Note: NCDPI does not endorse the use of apps featured in this newsletter.
Daycape
Format: iOS and Android
Price: Free
DayCape is an app to help children with visual structure.
The Zones of Regulation
Format: iOS and Android
Price: $5.99
The Zones of Regulation is a framework for thinking as well as a curriculum geared toward helping students gain skills in consciously regulating their behaviors, including the management of their emotions and level of alertness.
I'm On It: Focus Timer for ADHD & ASD
Format: Android
Price: Free
A timer app designed specifically for people who struggle to stay focused on the task at hand.
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Planning for the Transition Back to The Traditional Classroom
Some students with ASD have a difficult time with transitions due to their executive functioning, processing and attention differences. As we continue through this period of adjustment, we need to keep in mind that intentional planning and support for students with ASD will need to occur when it does come time to transition back to the traditional classroom. Below are some considerations to support the that transition:
- Communicate frequently with families and students about what to expect, especially during those first few days and weeks back. This is especially important for preparing the student for upcoming changes. Not only may the student be changing schools, classrooms, and/or teachers, but the school environment may look very different when they return. Giving students ample time to process these changes will support decreased anxiety.
- Create a calendar for each student. Work with them and their families to get into a routine of crossing off each day as it gets closer to the first day of school. This will provide the student with a concrete way to see the day of returning to school getting closer.
- Provide a social narrative for students to use at home prior to the beginning of the school year to support their understanding of what will be occurring during the transition.
- Take time prior to any student visit or arrival to set up your classroom in a manner that supports communication, organization, and the sensory and processing needs of students.
- Prior to the start of the school year, provide a recorded video of the various areas of your classroom and the school environment for students to watch at home. This will give them initial familiarity with the environment and support easing possible anxiety of the transition.
- Take time to meet your students and have them do a physical walk through of your classroom and school building. Typically this is done during Open House, but for some students with ASD it is best to set this up at a different time where they are not overwhelmed with other families being in attendance. This will not only allow the classroom and school staff to provide direct attention to the student and their family, but also for the student to become familiar with the environment and give them time to support their processing needs.
- Use visual supports to explicitly teach necessary school procedures (i.e.: unpacking, walking in line, emergency procedures, etc).
- Have individualized visual schedules developed and ready to implement on the first day of school.
- Be familiar and prepared to enact any communication systems, behavior support plans, and other individual students needs as outlined in their 504 plans or IEPs. Communication with families and the students' previous teacher will support your ability to implement consistently and with fidelity.
Communication and preparation are key. By taking the time to frequently communicate with families and intentionally prepare to meet the individual needs of your students with ASD you will support a more effective transition back to school.
Parents and Caregivers as Educators
*Adapted from the Supporting Individuals with Autism through Uncertain Times, Autism Focused Intervention Resources & Modules, March 2020.
As we have had to adjust to digital learning, parents have become classroom teachers for their children. For children with ASD, it is not just about parents instructing their child on the educational material, but also supporting possible additional needs, such as "facing additional challenges related to comprehension, communication, difficulty understanding abstract language, an insistence on sameness, and a greater likelihood of anxiety and depression—all of which may be exacerbated during this period." (Hume, 2020). For those students with ASD that may have difficulty truly accessing their education during this time, the question from parents and caregivers becomes "How do I teach them?"
Below are resources to help guide parents and caregivers as educational instructors:
- NCDPI Digital Teaching and Learning Division: Parent Resources - Supporting Parents with Remote Learning
- Autism Focused Intervention Resources & Modules: Supporting Individuals with Autism through Uncertain Times
- TEACCH Autism Program: TEACCH Tips
- NCDPI Exceptional Children Information for Parents: The NCDPI Exceptional Children Division (ECD) has created a listserv for parents. This listserv will forward information on the work of the ECD and provide opportunities for input, feedback and participation in Division activities.
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Click here for directions on how to register for the listserv.
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Click here to keep up with the latest ECD Parent Newsletters
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Contact Us
*****Please Note***** Replying to the email for this newsletter will not result in contacting a Consultant for Autism. You must use the email addresses supplied below.
For questions, concerns, comments, or to be added as a direct recipient of the newsletter, please feel free to email us at ncauteam@gmail.com or contact one of the consultants via the contact information listed below.
Contact information for the NCDPI Consultants for Autism are as follows:
Maureen Kaniuka
Regions/Districts: Northeast and Southeast
Email: maureen.kaniuka@dpi.nc.gov
Phone: 984.236.2619
Nancy Childress
Regions/Districts: North Central and Sandhills
Email: nancy.childress@dpi.nc.gov
Phone: 984.236.2556
Amanda Passmore
Regions/Districts: Piedmont-Triad and Southwest
Email: amanda.passmore@dpi.nc.gov
Phone: 984.236.2618
Heidi Carico
Regions/Districts: Northwest and Western
Email: heidi.carico@dpi.nc.gov
Phone: 984.236.2620
General Team Email
ncauteam@gmail.com
To find out which region/educational district you are in, please follow this link or refer to the map below:
Follow the NCDPI Exceptional Children Division on Twitter @ncecdivision
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