Empowered To Connect » School Issues http://empoweredtoconnect.org Just another WordPress site Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:12:39 +0000 en hourly 1 Becoming an Advocate for Your Child in School http://empoweredtoconnect.org/becoming-an-advocate-for-your-child-in-school/ http://empoweredtoconnect.org/becoming-an-advocate-for-your-child-in-school/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:59:03 +0000 Michael Monroe http://empoweredtoconnect.org/?p=1665 Tapestry recently hosted an event entitled Back to School: Strategies to Help Your Child Have a Positive School Experience. During the first half of this Tapestry event, Amy & Michael Monroe discussed keys to help parents advocate well for their child in school. Listen to Amy & Michael's presentation. You can also download the slides for their presentation and view a list of suggested resources focused on school-related issues. https://s3.amazonaws.com/Tapestry/Back+to+School+(Sept+2011).mp3]]> The school experience is an important aspect in the life of a child. And yet, school often presents unique and sometimes unexpected challenges for both children and parents in adoptive and foster families.

Tapestry recently hosted an event entitled Back to School: Strategies to Help Your Child Have a Positive School Experience. During the first half of this Tapestry event, Amy & Michael Monroe discussed keys to help parents advocate well for their child in school.

Listen to Amy & Michael’s presentation. You can also download the slides for their presentation and view a list of suggested resources focused on school-related issues.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/Tapestry/Back+to+School+(Sept+2011).mp3

]]> http://empoweredtoconnect.org/becoming-an-advocate-for-your-child-in-school/feed/ 0 A Sensory World: Making Sense of Sensory Disorders http://empoweredtoconnect.org/a-sensory-world-making-sense-of-sensory-disorders/ http://empoweredtoconnect.org/a-sensory-world-making-sense-of-sensory-disorders/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:04:34 +0000 Michael Monroe http://empoweredtoconnect.org/?p=1002 The new educational video, A Sensory World: Making Sense of Sensory Disorders, produced by the TCU Institute of Child Development features Dr. Karyn Purvis and offers insights about how sensory processing disorders make it difficult for many children to function at home and school, and can be the underlying cause of behavioral problems. The video provides parents and professionals with the insights they need to learn to recognize signs of sensory disorders as well as the practical strategies to help parents and children effectively deal with the them. In addition, child development researchers Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross, and Carol Kranowitz, author of The Out-of-Sync Child, provide a number of playful activities to help children improve their self-esteem and overcome everyday struggles that hamper their success.]]> Children from hard places are often impacted in many different ways by their histories.  One of the most profound, yet often overlooked, is the way in which these children’s sensory processing is affected.  The new educational video, A Sensory World: Making Sense of Sensory Disorders, produced by the TCU Institute of Child Development features Dr. Karyn Purvis and offers insights about how sensory processing disorders make it difficult for many children to function at home and school, and can be the underlying cause of behavioral problems. The video provides parents and professionals with the insights they need to learn to recognize signs of sensory disorders as well as the practical strategies to help parents and children effectively deal with the them. In addition, child development researchers Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross, and Carol Kranowitz, author of The Out-of-Sync Child, provide a number of playful activities to help children improve their self-esteem and overcome everyday struggles that hamper their success.

You can preview an excerpt of this new DVD by clicking here.  In addition, this DVD, along with all of the other DVD resources produced by the Institute of Child Development, are available for a limited time at a price of $30 each — which is 50% off!  Taken together, these videos offer the most extensive opportunity to learn from Dr. Karyn Purvis and her work, and are ‘must have’ resources for any agency, ministry or parent who is called to love and serve children from hard places.  Click here to view a list of the Institute’s DVD resources and to order online.

]]> http://empoweredtoconnect.org/a-sensory-world-making-sense-of-sensory-disorders/feed/ 1 Common Questions & Concerns: Behavior Issues at School http://empoweredtoconnect.org/common-questions-concerns-behavior-issues-at-school/ http://empoweredtoconnect.org/common-questions-concerns-behavior-issues-at-school/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:38:53 +0000 Michael Monroe http://empoweredtoconnect.org/?p=594 Common Questions & Concerns series, we address behavior and discipline issues that many children from hard places often encounter at school: Question: My child is struggling in the classroom and is being sent to the principal's office on a regular basis. He refuses to do some of the art class activities, has melt-downs in music class and withdraws during some class activities. To make things worse, standing in the school lunch line today he punched a child in the stomach and was sent to the prinicipal's office to sit for the rest of the afternoon (nearly 3 hours!). What can I do?]]> As part of our ongoing Common Questions & Concerns series, we address behavior and discipline issues that many children from hard places often encounter at school:

Question:  My child is struggling in the classroom and is being sent to the principal’s office on a regular basis. He refuses to do some of the art class activities, has melt-downs in music class and withdraws during some class activities. To make things worse, standing in the school lunch line today he punched a child in the stomach and was sent to the prinicipal’s office to sit for the rest of the afternoon (nearly 3 hours!). What can I do?

Response:  Even though the school is handling this situation as a behavior issue, what you are describing sounds a lot like sensory processing issues, formally called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). While it must be formally diagnosed by a trained and experienced occupational therapist, many clues about the disorder are accessible online at websites such as the ones listed below.

Obviously, the school classroom is a high-risk environment for many of our children. Because so many of our children have sensory processing issues, the noise, clutter and chaos of the classroom provide an overwhelming sensory assault. If your child has consistent problems with sensory experiences such as Play-Doh, finger paints and noisy environment (such as music class), responding to these experiences with fight (aggression), flight (withdrawing) or freeze (“checking out”) behaviors, you may want to explore the possibility that your child has some level of sensory processing disorder. It is common in a significant percentage of children generally, and is even more prevalent among children who experienced a difficult pregnancy, difficult birth or any type of post-natal trauma.

There are many quality resources that offer initial guidance to help you decide whether or not to seek further professional assistance from an experienced occupational therapist. We often recommend a book by Carol Kranowitz, The Out of Sync Child. You can find more resources from Carol Kranowitz at her website: http://www.out-of-sync-child.com.  Also, for episodes such as the ones you mentioned with your son misbehaving in the school lunch line there are sensory stories in the form of coloring book pages to help children identify and deal with challenges they face in the school environment (for example, being bumped repeatedly in the school lunch line).

Here are some other great online resources to help parents understand and respond to sensory processing issues.

Symptoms of SPD

How does SPD affect learning?

Taking care of yourself when your child has special needs

Sensory Stories (click on the “Demo” link at top for a free download)

The first link, Symptoms of SPD, provides a helpful checklist for children of various ages that will give parents some initial screening information. The second link, from Carol Kranowitz’s website, contains an article about how SPD affects a child’s learning in the classroom. The third link is an article by Carol Kranowitz focusing on how parents can do “self-care” in the midst of their child’s challenging behaviors. The final link is to the Sensory Stories website. As noted above, the story of a child in the lunch line is available for free download. Others have a small cost.

We hope these resources are helpful to you as in your journey to advocate for and better connect with your child!

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