I am excited to introduce this week’s guest blog from Allie from Miss Behavior to explain all about the diagnosis of emotional disability. Allie is a mom, author, and special educator with a passion for social emotional learning, equitable behavior practices, and trauma informed practices. She is here today to explain more about emotional disability in our students and how we can best support them.
A collaborative IEP meeting approach is needed when working to develop an IEP. Collaboration helps us solve problems, learn from each other, and improve our work. There are things that can help with collaboration at an IEP meeting. Here are a few tips: be an active listener, participate in the discussion, stick to the agenda, and celebrate everyoneβs accomplishments.Β
Children’s books that feature characters with disabilities can help promote acceptance, understanding, and inclusion in the classroom. By reading these books to their students, teachers can teach children about the challenges faced by people with disabilities, while also showing that they are no different from anyone else.
Running your first or last IEP can feel so exhausting and overwhelming. You do not need to feel this way. Everyone is just as anxious. Remember everyone in that room ultimately wants what is best for the student.
Letβs start this off very bluntly because I do think there are things you should know about Autism. I am not a medical doctor, nor a behavioral analyst. I am a certified special education teacher with 10 years of experience working with individuals with autism.
What I hope you take away from sharing these intimate details as an undiagnosed autistic child is to check in with all of your students, but also your student that has a reputation of βbeing quietβ or is viewed as a βmodel studentβ. Itβs important to look beyond what is physically in front of you, and to learn how to support needs that are expressed invisibly.
