D10: Navigating special education in BC

D10 Navigating special education in BC
Lizzie Midyette

Gather some tips and tricks for understanding the process of identifying, supporting, and maintaining services for students with exceptional learning needs in BC.

Target group: K – 12

“Welcome to Holland” opened up the session. I had never heard or read the powerful essay before, which Midyette read aloud.  Now it’s something I will never forget.

Teachers should note that sometimes parents of disabled kids have not passed grieving, with some denying themselves any notion to grieve at all.

Most of us didn’t miss skipping round-table introductions after this, which Midyette  noted were usually ‘unsubstantial substance’ in large groups. Finally, someone said it!

One way to look at special education is by exceptional and typical students.

For the kids, one thing interesting to note is the complete deconstruction of tasks. What are the steps to do this?

How do you do your homework?

What are the steps to eat lunch in the classroom?

One technique: chaining

You start the ball rolling on the steps, and the student catches on & completes the task/sequence.

Special Education educators need to be aware of how you will taper the lessons so your child achieves mastery.

Another thing to keep in mind is to

Isolate the problem — Stick to 3 goals or less (what, how & when)

There are so many solutions to some of these student’s needs, it’s easy to get sidetracked. Try to narrow it down to check for results.  And, be patient with results. They may take years.

I liked the idea of a “transitional goal”, where transition means “life skills beyond high school”.

Midyette noted that Speech Language Pathologists are excellent district resource people who have expertise in communications and learning programs.

Midyette spent most of the second half of the seminar showing us a few different types of IEP‘s, or Individual Education Plan.   These look like they take some time and thought to fill out, nevermind execute. 

My high school friend and English-Lit  teaching guru Melanie Guyot noted that she had barely seen one of these in her university program before stepping into a classroom practicum dedicated to special needs students.  W.O.W. I salute you, Ms. Guyot. And thanks to Lizzie Midyette for giving me some insight into some of the enormous administration that goes into special education, nevermind the amazing energy and work done in modified instruction itself.

This also highlighted the integrity and truly special skill set of special education teachers in BC, who are at risk of losing control over the quality of service, thanks to a government overturning collective bargaining and cutting 100 million dollars out of the education budget this year.

I was thinking about doing something with special education, but Holland suddenly looks a lot more bleak to me.  I can see why there is a “7 year itch” or burnout period for these specialists.

Midyette’s solution is to schedule the fun in the workplace, as well as not taking on more than you can handle–especially as a new teacher.  So get your  “cupcake cult”  together and head to a school near you.