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Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantI must admit that it feels a bit voyeuristic to read what others write about their own personal patterns and perceived levels of mastery in different areas. I appreciated your willingness to share your struggles. It helps me realized that if we as pretty typical adults can still struggle in these areas, how much more do our children struggle when faced with learning difficulties. Thank you for your thoughts.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantPart I: Comments Regarding Types of Patterns
Patterns of Quality
Quality is defined as a demonstration of a concept or skill in a way that, while allowing the child to accomplish a desired task, is done in such a way that it may hinder understanding of others, the accuracy of the performance, and/or may get in the way. Examples of quality include, issues around intelligibility, application of too much or not enough force, moving too quickly or too slowly, talking too loudly or softly etc. Patterns of quality don’t automatically suggest a concern; rather, they are an important consideration if they are interfering with interactions, physical health, and/or acquisition of future concepts and skills.
Comments:
I play the piano. When I think about quality in terms of playing, I think about all the different ways to make a piece sound beautiful. There is volume, phrasing, finger to key touch, petal use, pausing, expression and more. Two people could play all the right notes but still have very different levels of Quality. Then I think about this in terms of learning a skill. There are so many subtleties of being able to do a skill well. Is it easy to do? Can you do it across environments/tasks? Can you teach it to others? Can you do it quickly? A child may be able to do a skill however, the quality of the performance of that skill will look very different from others. Quality is a continuum that is always shifting as a person practices said skill.Patterns of Latency
Latency, as it relates to learning or development, is defined as the amount of time it takes for someone to act or “do” after a request or prompt. In other words, how quickly does a child respond? Examples of latency include issues around time to task or verbal responses to questions or prompts, and also include concerns around impulsivity. Patterns of latency may not always be a concern, however they are important to consider if they are negatively impacting learning, development, health, communication, and/or behavior.
Comments:
* When I think of letency, I think of processing time.
* I look for attentional issues.
* I look for possible seizure activity
* I look for word finding difficulties
* I look for receptive communication difficulties
* I look at personality (shy?)Patterns of Assistance
Assistance is when an adult, a peer/sibling, or the environment performs part of the concept or skills under consideration. Assistance alone does not warrant concern or a higher tier of instruction (i.e., assistance might be expected based on what is known about developmental expectations); however, when a pattern of needing assistance (e.g., required under predictable circumstances/situations beyond what would be expected of a novice learner, for the child’s age/present level of ability/developmental readiness, culture, and/or prior exposure) emerges, a concern is noted.
Comments:
When I think about assistance, I think about how much support a person needs to get a task done. I think of the continuum of maximum assist where you walk the child through the task entirely all the way to no assist where the child completes the task without any assistance (the skill is mastered). When thinking about assistance I give to my kiddos’ in therapy I think about hand over hand, modeling, proximity, verbal assistance, gestural assistance, pictorial assistance, I also think about assistance in time management, attention and focus. I think about the continuum of assistance that I work on with each skill going from what is needed then fading quickly to not make a child dependent on that level of assistance. I will often write within objectives levels of assistance for one skill to work on increasing independence.Patterns of Interfering Behaviors
An interfering behavior is one that a child demonstrates instead of the desired or expected concept of skills. Not all interfering behaviors are aggressive or purposeful; however many times they are (e.g., hitting, biting, throwing). At times, behaviors can interfere given that the child (by choice or otherwise) is not able to maintain or establish attention, walks away from interactions or tasks, or even outright refusal to participate. Sometimes these are unconscious (sensory/biological); so this pattern has less to do with challenging behavior and more to do with a barrier to learning.
Comments:
This is an area that is really being highlighted in our schools right now. Out district is looking at what types of traumas our children are facing and then what type of interventions are necessary to help a child learn through said traumas. We are considered a Trauma Informed school. Trauma affects learning in so many ways where triggers can happen without even knowing and our kiddos go into flight or fight response where learning is put on hold.
When I have a kiddo that is struggling these interfering behaviors are one of the first things I look for.
I consider setting events, sensory issues, attention issues, vision, hearing etc.Patterns of Unexpected Performance
Patterns of unexpected performance represent instances where the child’s performance would not have been anticipated or expected according to typical development. For example, a child was demonstrating a later skill before demonstrating an earlier skill, or was emerging across early and later skills simultaneously. This pattern may also represent situations where children have a tendency to demonstrate inconsistent performance, to the extent that they may excel or struggle on the same skill without a clear explanation for the difference in performance.
Comments:
* I often call this a scattering of skills.
* I look for Receptive greater than Expressive
* I look for what is missed and Why
* Is there an underlying diagnosis causing the missing skills? For example, with those children Diagnosed with Autism, I know that eye contact and joint reference may be missing even when verbal abilities are higher.
* To me, the unexplained missing of skills can be more worrisome than someone who is developing along a track but is perhaps slower than their peers.Part II: Example of at Least One Pattern
(Remember, you only need to complete one, but feel free to complete as many as you like.)
Patterns of Quality
List Patterns of Quality:
Pattern Considerations: What do the identified patterns mean? What does it tell you about yourself? What are the implications?
I’ll address my Quality of Data Collection. It has been something that I have been working on for a very long time. I usually use data sheets and sticky notes to collect data however, finding the time to look at the data collected to asses next steps can be a struggle. I would say the quality shifts from month to month depending on how close a kiddo is to their IEP as well as how close we are to the progress notes. This is an area that I am working on. Quality of time, energy and reflection for each child could improve. Increasing the use of the data collected would increase the level of awareness in the child’s progress and the speed of delivery in modifications.
Patterns of Latency
List Patterns of Latency:
Pattern Considerations: What do the identified patterns mean? What does it tell you about yourself? What are the implications?
Patterns of Assistance
List Patterns of Assistance:
Pattern Considerations: What do the identified patterns mean? What does it tell you about yourself? What are the implications?
Patterns of Interfering Behaviors
List Patterns of Interfering Behavior:
Pattern Considerations: What do the identified patterns mean? What does it tell you about yourself? What are the implications?
Patterns of Unexpected Performance
List Patterns of Unexpected Performance:
Pattern Considerations: What do the identified patterns mean? What does it tell you about yourself? What are the implications?
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantI like your response to Tier 1 needs. I agree that a child who meets qualifications for an IEP will have likely have skills on a continuum with possibly all tiers ad that they may require direct instruction on all those skills for growth.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantAnswer the following questions and explain why you feel the way you do:
Are all Tier 3 needs IEP worthy?
Tier three needs are only IEP worthy if we have determined that the lack of using this skill is affecting their learning in some way and that a quick burst of instruction or a change in instruction has not been successful. Even then, we want to look at that tier three need in the entirety of the child to determine how important it is to them that they learn it. So, no. Not all Teir 3 needs are IEP worthy.How would you define “the messy middle”?
When I think of the Triangle, I think of the child as a whole. I think of each skill as a pinprick on the continuum of that triangle. When I think of the messy middle, I think of all those little pinpricks going all over the place, some being higher than others and as all learning is on some continuum at all times. The messy part is that it is hard to weed through specific skills to identify what is missing and what the child needs support in especially after skills start combining for learning more advanced skills.Can a Tier 2 (targeted) need be IEP worthy?
Yes. If a Tier 2 need is paired with other needs that as a whole lead to difficulty in learning, the Tier 2 skill could be IEP worthy. It depends on what the needs are, what has been tried and whether specialized instruction needs to happen over a long period of time. Is it a foundational skill that is needed for growth in other areas? Lots of questions need to be answered before knowing if it should be addressed in an IEP.In what way can a child who is eligible for special education have Tier 1 needs?
There could be underlying factors that keep a child from accessing their skills that need help overcoming. For example, sensory needs, emotional needs, behavioral needs and attention needs. They could also have Tier 1 needs that are foundational skills for other areas of growth that need extra support. zig zag approaches would need to be tried here to determine if a change in style of learning is needed for skill growth as well as discussions with team members.Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantI have to admit that I read through your response to this before I answered mine. I was taken with the comment of being more intentional in your thought process while looking at possible modifications within the classroom under task 2. That fits in with exactly what I was thinking as well. This is a great framework for talking to each other about what we see and what we could modify. I could see this being a chart or graph for group discussions etc.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantAs discussed in Module 4.1, often we have children who struggle and have real learning needs yet they do not ultimately qualify for Special Education, and hence an IEP. The video for Module 4.1 describes how to use the zig-zag process to support children’s learning needs both on an IEP and without. Consider your own district or agency. Are there supports or resources in place that would allow a child who struggles but does not qualify to receive high quality instruction to meet their unique needs? What steps could you take to ensure this child receives what they need, even if they do not get an IEP? Does district/agency policy allow you to work with general education teachers to help kids who are not on your caseload? Describe how you usually address this situation, and what you would do in an ideal world (with needed supports or resources). STEP 2– Talk about when, where, and under what context you have observed any of the seven (7) learning progressions, as well as what you would do in the future to address them.
Task 1: I am an SLP in my school district. We have been working the last two years on implementing a more thorough process for observing a child to collect data prior to testing as well as allowing for some zig zag intervientions to take place for a couple of weeks to see to see if changing teaching styles could possible increase in learning. We also can do some intensive therapy during those weeks if we notice a missing skill but think that the child will pick it up quickly without needing to be enrolled in Special Education. This has been a response to a high number of students being tested as well as enrolled in our Special Education Program and it’s a way to try to decrease numbers but also keep out students that may need a quick burst of learning or a change in learning styles. The hope is that we will weed out learning differences from learning disabilities.
I like the examples given to decrease the complexity of a learning activity which could be used as a framework or data collection tool while observing a child during their lesson. I will be using this in the future as a way to introduce what I am looking at to the team and as a tool for offering suggestions for change.
Task 2: I think good teachers do these steps naturally. However, with the increase in students per classroom, giving individualized instruction by a specific teacher is not realistic. We do have small group learning opportunities in our “Walk to Learn” program where individuals are placed in learning groups that meet their needs for math and reading where more direct teaching of specific next steps can occur and I have seen fluid movement for students between groups depending on progress. I think more time and smaller grouping would definitely benefit the students but we are always butting up against resource and time constrictions in the system.
As an SLP, I have tried my best to monitor interests, complexities, teaching one skill at a time before generalizing or even broadening said skill, trying to use all learning modalities (drawing out pictures while I talk about examples, using play figures to set up social scenarios – play acting, writing down words, setting up visual structures that represent verbal expectations etc), finding familiar topics or using what the teacher’s theme is for the week to allow for consistency and using self as an example over broader others or external things.
In the future, I will be more aware of each zig zag process as I examine my therapy strategies and tools and modifications. I will have words to go with my process to be able to explain my thoughts and reasoning for change to others. I will be able to be more intentional in my discussions around ideas for change as well as support to teachers.Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantI like what you said about writing the goal in that you are not only looking at measure-ability but at what makes sense to the family and child and across settings. Even if we can measure a goal, if the outcome isn’t important, we are missing the point.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantWhen you think about a PLAAFP, what criteria really “matters” in determining an IEP goal? In what ways can or should families priorities and concerns be a component of that criteria? To what extent should we consider a child’s perspective as part of that criteria of “what matters”? Finally, how does the ABC formula help us in getting to the bottom of what may be IEP worthy and ultimately “what matters”?
When writing a PLAAFP based on goals I have written for Communication, I first look at what has the child been successful in over the year. What are our celebrations, what has the child enjoyed doing and I look at what is new in relationships and learning. Most often parents want to know if their child make any friends and did they learn what they needed to learn. So, I often start with those two questions in my mind and try to think of positive encounters and positive learning opportunities that happened. I love giving examples and telling the stories to show parents we care about thier child and their happiness and learning as well as to make the information real to the parent.
Then I look at where the child may have struggled. I want to indicate here the levels of supports needed in the specific areas we are working on. I want to check in with the teacher to see if there has been any noticeable differences in the classroom as well as talk about new areas of concern that may have arisen.
The child’s input is everything when it comes to therapy. You can’t make a child talk if they don’t want to and finding ways to engage a child is vital. Usually we need to provide fun along with learning in order to keep the child engaged. IF they prefer specific activities and games, I use them. If they are struggling with an activity and frustration, I modify the task to a level that is appropriate. It works best if the child is old enough/capable of having the conversation about interests. However, even if the child can’t tell me in words, they can tell me in actions. If a child in a preschool classroom, leaves an interaction with me, I need to try something else. What I was doing was not working.
If a child is able, I often try to have a conversation with them about how things are going with their friends. I want to check in to see if they feel like they are struggling with something. I want to check in and see if they enjoy certain subjects, what topics they seem most interested in etc. This gives me a lot of information when planning future activities. If the child loves dragons, I may find activities that relate to the favorite topic to provide interest in the future.Families usually indicate during the IEP what is in their heart for their child and I want to go back to those concerns and touch on what is working and what we still need to work on so that the parents feel heard. I also want to take into consideration the culture of the classroom as well as the culture of the family to ensure I am being respectful and responsive.
With the ABC’s, we are looking at measure-ability of goals. We start to look forward beyond what we have summarized, what data we have collected and observations we have made about skills, level of supports and what is working and what is not working and we are starting to think about how to use that information to plan the next stage in delivery of service. We want to know that a a goal is functional, that it can be measured, that the goal will be meaningful and that we can actually collect the data needed to monitor the goals.
These two areas are like two sides of a coin. One side of the coin is the progress on what is determined as important for the child. The other side is using that information to make changes or use what we know to have our next steps for that child. One looks to the past and one looks to the future all the while keeping in mind what is most important for the child and how we going to know that we are making a difference. After all, you can’t state progress without tracking it and you can’t track progress without having a measurable goal.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantI love the use of following directions within a time limit -latency. I didn’t think of that but it works as it gives the kiddo time to process the information as well as finishing up what they were working on etc. And so many of our kiddos have a hard time with directions. This could be a great goal for further looking into perhaps why the kiddo may not be following directions and what other supports may be needed like proximity to child while giving direction, distractions etc.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantFor each of the dimensions of behavior described in Lessons 3.1 and 3.2 (frequency, accuracy, latency, duration, endurance, intensity, and independence), provide one example of a behavior/skill that would be best measured using that technique. Provide a rationale for why you feel this is a sufficient example and why the other techniques would not be as useful for that behavior/skill.
I’m thinking about social communication goals for a preschooler who is learning to stay within a play interaction, learning how to get another’s attention and to invite them into play, learning how to keep play turns going as well as keeping a calm and gentle voice to ask for objects from others. All these skills are necessary for learning from others within play and for being able to make and keep friends as well as helping a child stay focused on activity long enough for new social and communication opportunities to arise.
Frequency:
Susie will initiate a topic of interest with a peer ten times within a fifteen minute play session given opportunity with a responsive play partner.
I think that duration could work with this goal as well. However, counting on my hand a number of times something happens is usually easy for me to keep track of and easier for me than focusing on a clock. And I like using numbers for initiation because it is one specific skill in play where as staying in a play session is also another and separate skill.Duration:
Susie will remain within a play interaction for five minutes before leaving the play area given an activity of her choice with a responsive play partner.
I like using duration goals for play interactions because it can be broad enough where you work on many play skills at once as well as attention skills within one goal. You could work on initiating, turn taking, following another’s lead, interest etc. It allows for flexibility in what you work on as well as level of support. If more support is needed, you can add modeling, support engagement etc.
Latency:
Susie will offer a peer a toy that has been requested within one minute of a toy being requested given verbal prompt “Let’s take turns” as appropriate within a play interaction given adult support.
I usually think of time with latency and was trying to think of what would be appropriate within a preschool play interaction for needing to wait and thought about the skill of sharing. Sharing is often a skill that needs guidance for learning as well as a great way to increase play interactions, awareness of others, asking for toys from others and learning how to negotiate in play etc. One minute may be long when play is happening but can also allow for a nice amount of time with a toy so the play doesn’t feel rushed. Plus, it works on patience and waiting etc all around. This could only work though if there were children willing to wait and available to take another turn after said one minute is up.Endurance:
Susie will continue taking play turns within a play activity for five minutes before moving on to another activity given an activity of choice with a responsive play partner.
(This one I made slightly different from Duration using the same skill within the play activity rather than keeping it broad as just “play”.)
Endurance goals are great for working on a specific goal and wanting to see it continue. Play turns are great pared with endurance because you don’t have to worry about number of turns as long as the child is remaining engaged as well as pauses between turns etc and allows for more flow of natural play and natural ebb and flow of supports.Intensity:
Susie will use “a gentle voice” to ask for a toy given the opportunity within a preferred play activity given a responsive play partner.
(Intensity is difficult as it can be hard to quantify – What is “Gentle” to one person may be different from one person’s ear to another and may need to be defined further)
The term intensity (force) reminds me of a toddler really wanting something badly and perhaps using more “force” physically or with their voice to get what they want as they are working out the more subtle aspects of friendship and play. Which lead me to the social communication idea of “gentle voice”. Tone of voice is such a subtle social variation that can be hard for some to master but can make a huge difference in others wanting to join in their play and can be a huge impact in a classroom happiness and feeling successful in a play interaction.Independence:
Susie will use her “gentle voice” in three different settings given the opportunity throughout day’s classroom experience to request an object from another.
(I used the idea of use in a variety of settings to measure independence here.)
I like using “In a variety of settings” to help determine if someone has mastered a skill realizing that if they can take what they learned in one situation and use it in a variety of ways, it usually means they understand why the skill is valuable and feel comfortable expanding it’s use.Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantMelinda,
I liked your honesty about wondering if the goal was something that would be of value for the teacher and the child. It’s something that I think I can easily loose track of too often when thinking about expectations we want to see for the child. You sound very reflective and collaborate in your observations and approach.Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantConsider how we can document behaviors either qualitatively or quantitatively. Provide an example of a situation where measuring qualitatively would seem to be the best approach, as well as an example of a situation where measuring quantitatively would seem to be the best approach. Be sure to explain your reasoning.
Qualitative measures such as using numbers and figures work really well when collecting data on sounds in speech. You can mark accuracy of a sound say out of ten and give percentages for each sound per each practice session. It’s nice to be able to graph the progress on specific sounds as well to look for patterns around when the accuracy is best (isolation versus in sentences and paired with what sounds etc) as well as time of the day or during what activities etc. Many goals will have written into them percentages across a number of sessions to prove that the student is ready to move onto using that sound in a more difficult way.
Qualitative measures work well with language and social goals using words about a larger variety of circumstances that may arise in a classroom. For example, if in a preschool classroom during snack time, you may have a variety of students sitting at a variety of distances with a variety of quality interactions available. So, you might need to use words such as “Given the opportunity”, “Within three feet”, “For the entire snack session” (which may change depending on how fast a student eats) etc. and “Will request when prompted”. My experience with qualitative measures is that it can be easy to use words that no longer allow for measurability. I am always careful to limit my amount of qualitative use or to be specific enough so that we can still have an idea of growth over time in a skill.
Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantDiane,
I agree with you on where the system tends to break down. I also think that once the IEP is written in our district there is less analyzing of environment, set of skills to work on etc. The analyzing and revising becomes less pliable and more stagnant. Good thoughts. I wonder if this is because it is so much work to make change. Systems get set up and tend to run smoothly once they become a regular occurrence. I think I see this the most with level of support and least restrictive environment considerations.
ChristineChristine Kleinhenz
ParticipantSTEP 1- To what extent have you or the IEP teams you have been on engaged in the DDDM process? If you have, do you or your team engage in DDDM in a continuous manner? What steps of the process have you or your team struggled the most with and which step is a strength? If you have not engaged in DDDM specifically, describe how the decision-making process you have been a part of and how that compares to DDDM. STEP 2- Respond to at least one colleague’s posting.
Step 1: Our process is a similar one. Something new that our disctrict is starting to require as part of the referral process is to ask our specialists to screen children prior to making a referral for testing. A screening may be an observation, parental conversation, teacher conversation or taking data. But, it really helps decrease the amount of referrals for testing around communication needs. Our district also has WIN groups that allows cildren to get specific instruction in “What They Need” if there is a delay or difference in a skill. This allows teachers to see if with a bit more instruction or perhaps different instruction, a child can be successful without going to testing. The SLP may find ways to support the child within their curriculum or even offer a few quick interactions to see if the child can “Catch up” with minimal interactions in the classroom as well. If a child can catch up, it means that they did not have access to the information for learning or needed a quick boost due to a delay/difference.
Once other alternatives have been shown not to work or there is a big enough difference that further testing is obvious, our service coordinators call a Planning Evaluation meeting. The meeting is conducted with parents, specialists and teachers. This allows everyone to ask questions and determine what type of testing should be conducted. This helps with getting the accurate information for later determining Eligibility.
Once, testing happens, the team comes back together to hold an IEP meeting. If there are questions, I know that individuals will ask further questions of each other and call parents for follow up etc. Sometimes, information needs to be gathered in a variety of settings in order to understand where the breakdown of skills is occurring. Also, sometimes professionals need to work together while collecting information if one area of weakness is affecting another skill areas. For example, if a child has trouble with staying regulated emotionally, the SLP may meet with the teacher/conduct observations with the teacher/testing together in order to help each other understand the underlying why’s etc.
The IEP meeting is for determining Eligibility as well as coming up with a plan for instruction. Revising instruction can happen within the activities itself which happens on a week to week basis depending on how a child is doing. But, it can also mean having another IEP meeting if larger changes like a whole different goal is needed. Each SLP takes daily notes on progress which is then written up in a progress note every Tri-trimester. Daily notes help determine level of support and even what a child is interested in or whether the child is ready to proceed to a more involved step in the goal. The progress notes are shared with the parent and help keep those working with children accountable. Program Evaluations happen each IEP as well as each session when looking at whether a child is ready for a different setting, more integration, less integration, more supports, less supports etc. Good instructors are always looking at how they can tweak the session to just what a child needs for growth.Christine Kleinhenz
ParticipantJesse,
I like your ideas about learning more about the home routine and that his safe place being his home may allow for more breakdowns. Also, I like your thoughts about a 504 plan and researching more about supports before jumping into an IEP.
Christine -
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