This week on Wednesday, I went to observe the middle school program for children with "Emotional and Behavioral concerns", which is one of the possible placements for Honeybunches next year. I went in the morning, when school first began. Here are some things I observed on some handy dandy observation sheets I made up myself:
Thursday, I went to observe the program for children who have "Intellectual Disabilities". Honestly, I did not use the sheets I made up for this observation visit, because it turned into a Question and Answer plus the teacher letting me know about herself and her theories instead! I can tell now that this classroom will be a much better fit for Honeybunches. The teacher does a lot of work on emotions and feelings (Facial expressions, validating feelings, helping children understand facial expressions plus how others might feel, "I see your face looks sad because you are frowning and your eyes are like this...", "Look at how ____ is _____... How can we help him/her feel better"?). She said honestly at times she scraps the academics and works on life skills and feelings. Her class is very structured. They use Con Academy Math, which I'll have to look up more about. The work she gives the children is very individualized. They go with the flow. Sometimes she'll use games as learning lessons, through which the children learn about taking turns and other skills. She doesn't really use a lot of "Rewards" because she wants to get children ready for the real world. With the majority of the children in her class liking Uno, sometimes she'll use that as a reward. She said the children in her class don't integrate. She does a lot of work regarding life skills. She's very flexible and has clear expectations (Which are on a sheet on the wall, but in the past she's had some students who need them taped to their desks). I asked what the differences were between her class and the ILC. She told me that children in the ILC get integrated and can do okay in some regular classes, while intellectually her children would be lost. She does a lot of work with other members of the school administration on building relationships between them and the students, so in case she's not there because she is out sick, the students will have other "Safe people" to go to. Her personality, theories and ways of teaching seem like a very good fit for Honeybunches. She used to work at a RTC, so she's experienced with children who have mental illness as well as Autism and intellectual disabilities. She said in the past she's been restraint trained, but tries to use everything else possible before having to utilize it especially with this age group of children. It sounds like she'd be opened to doing the training though.
If I could pick a classroom based off of what I've seen in the past two days, it would be the one I seen today.
My main concern is that neither program has staff that's restraint trained. The adjustment counselor who stayed to observe with me and answered my questions told me that there are staff in the building who are restraint trained and could come if needed. Knowing Honeybunches, do you have any idea how much ruckus he could cause by the time they get there? UGH! That alone makes me question if the school as a whole could meet his needs. He's needed to be restrained already this year. Next year he'll be testing new staff for sure to see what he can get away with in his new environment. Once he finds out that they can't restrain him, he'll likely test them even more and be more aggressive. "Things that make you go hmmmm!"
I am going to request the BRIDGE program I observed today, but stipulate the teacher needs restraint training.
