Lisa Pennington – Week Four
Lisa is now 6 ½ years of age and has been attending her
local public school as a first-grader. The schools in this part of the state
are good – that’s part of why the Pennington’s wanted to live here – but they
are increasingly worried as to how they are going to keep the house. Scott and
Marsha went to couples counseling and individual counseling, and Scott has been
able to change most of his patterns of relating to Marsha. Still, they have
their moments, and Marsha has not yet been able to forgive Scott for the way he
treated her. She is not sure that she will ever be able to do so. Yet they stay
together “for the kids” and, on occasion, for the care they are somewhat able
to show to one another.
Scott and Marsha met in college and graduated the same year.
Scott was trying to start his own business, and Marsha was working in retail
while she tried to find work in the marketing field. They had been able to buy
a house because of money Scott had inherited from his uncle – it wasn’t a huge
amount, but enough to give them a nice down payment and a bit of a financial
cushion. Until, of course, the market tanked, and they lost “everything” as
Scott was often heard saying. Marsha knew it wasn’t that bad, but Scott took it
terribly. His business was just beginning to turn a profit, and it seemed like
there was no hope. In the midst of the turmoil, the Pennington’s welcomed their
first child into the world – a healthy baby boy. Without insurance, the
Penningtons still have medical bills they are paying on the birth of their
children, and this debt contributes to the stress. Scott and Marsha’s house is
small, but they could possibly sub-let the basement to someone. It might help
Scott’s high blood pressure to ease just a bit.
Lisa’s brother is now 9 y/o. He is doing well in school.
Lisa, however, is another story. She was identified as a student needing intervention
last year while in Kindergarten. She was simply unable to sit still. When
teachers would attempt to work with her, she would scream and throw a tantrum,
kicking and flailing on the floor. One time, she picked up a stapler and threw
it at the teacher’s aide. Incredibly, the school did not carry out a full scale
evaluation for Special Education but instead implemented pre-referral
interventions. These have proved to be useless in the face of Lisa’s
increasingly “out-of-control” behavior.
* Describe some pre-referral interventions that a school
might implement with a student like Lisa. Consider her age, cognitive
development and socio-emotional development.
* Describe typical developmental milestones for a 6 ½ year-old.
* What is the next step in the process of Special Education
assuming that pre-referral interventions have failed?
DECISION POINT
* Do Scott and Marsha decide to sub-let their basement?
The Elementary and Middle Schools Technical Assistance Center (EMSTAC) explains what a pre-referral intervention is, “a school-based intervention that allows educational professionals and stakeholders to brainstorm ways to have a positive impact on students who are experiencing difficulty in the general education classroom.” 1 EMSTAC also details that pre-referral interventions are not the same as the referral stage in the Special Education Process. Lisa may need pre-referral interventions from her school. Lisa exhibits “frequent outbursts for no apparent reason,” repetitive body movements or behavior patterns”, “physical or emotional problems that are out of the ordinary.”2
ReplyDeleteLisa should be cognitively developing ways to express herself. Lisa needs a pre-referral intervention that teaches Lisa how to express herself. A pre-referral intervention that may be useful is social stories. Through reading or reviewing these social stories, Lisa will be able to learn that throwing tantrums all the time is not acceptable in school or for her age. A few other pre-referral interventions that the school could use with Lisa are modeling. They could tape her while she is doing something good or positive, and then play it back to her, reminding her of how to correctly complete a task. She could also keep a chart of progress where she gets smiley faces or stars for good behavior and sad faces for bad behavior. At the end of the week if there are X amount of smiley faces/stars, she gets some sort of reward - recess, a book, etc.
References:
1 Disproportionality The Disproportionate Representation of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Special Education. (n.d.). EMSTAC. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from www.emstac.org/registered/topics/disproportionality/researchhighlights/prereferral.htm
2 Parent Handbook on Special Education. (n.d.). Department of Defenses Education Activity. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from www.dodea.edu/curriculum/special_ed/publication/MAX-268_ParentGuide_12-13.p
McCarney, S., & Cummins, K. 2006. Pre-Referral Intervention Manual. Hawthorne Educational Services. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from http://www.hawthorne-ed.com/images/pre-referral/samples/h00680sb.pdf
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ReplyDeleteLisa has now entered middle childhood (6-8 y/o). In middle childhood, Lisa should be functioning much more independently. Lisa’s physical development should include an ability to “dress” herself, “go to school,”1, make her own lunch, 2 , and make friends. Similarly, Lisa should not be wetting the bed but be able to toilet herself. 2 Lisa will develop emotionally and socially as well. Lisa should be and want to be making friends, be able to “understand more about his or her place in the world,” and becoming “more and more independent from her family.” 1 Lisa should be developing “confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports.” 1 Lisa’s cognitive development should include a “rapid development of mental skills,” being more expressive of her “thoughts and feelings,” and being concerned “for others”. 1 Also, Lisa’s language should be progressing. She should have “more precise pronunciation, sentence structure, and word use.” 2 Lisa should be able to listen attentively and relating to certain experiences. 2
ReplyDeleteReferences:
1 CDC - Child Development,Middle Childhood (6-8 years old) - NCBDDD. (n.d.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html
2 What to expect this year: Social, cognitive, and physical milestones | BabyCenter. (n.d.). BabyCenter | Homepage - Pregnancy, Baby, Toddler, Kids . Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://www.babycenter.com/0_what-to-expect-this-year-social-cognitive-and-physical-miles_72383.bc
According to the Virginia Department of Education, there are 5 steps in the process of Special Education. Lisa has has some pre-referral interventions placed forth by teachers, but from the sounds of it has not been officially referred. The first step in that case would be for a parent to provide a request, either written or oral, for evaluation to the school. Once that is completed, the second step is to execute an evaluation of the child to determine if there is any disability. Provided that there is a disability, school officials will move on to the third step in the process, which now determines if the child is eligible for special education services from the school. Again, if it is deemed that the child is eligible, then the fourth step is creating an IEP, or Individualized Education Program, to be written out for the child. The IEP will be reviewed at least once a year, but the child will be re-evaluated every three.
ReplyDeleteParent's Guide To Special Education. 2010. Virginia Department of Education. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/parents/parents_guide.pdf
We think that Scott and Marsha should go ahead to sub-let their basement under the following conditions: there is a background check done on whomever they decide to allow live there and the tenant pays rent along with helping out the family through babysitting, helping the children with school, cooking, cleaning, etc. It could potentially allevaite some of the problems the Penningtons are having regarding money, time, and stress to have another set of hands in the household.
ReplyDelete