The Education Team: Positive, Effective Interdisciplinary Collaboration

By Paula Jacobsen

Chapter 12

The Challenge of Programming for Students with ASDs

Students with ASDs have different ways of communicating, processing information, and understanding language than neurotypical students

Therefore, recognizing their challenges and strengths and determining appropriate expectations is not always easy

Successful Programming for Students with ASDs

The likelihood of developing appropriate expectations increases when interdisciplinary team members work together to understand the studentEach person brings to the table his

or her expertise and his or her set of experiences with the student

The Interdisciplinary Education Team Parents Student Special education

teacher General education

teacher School

psychologist

School administrator

Speech-language therapist

Occupational therapist

Behavior specialist Outside

professionals

Engaging the Student in the Collaboration Process

The student is more likely to be engaged in the collaboration process if other team members maintain positive, accepting, respectful, problem-solving relationships with him

The student is less likely to engage if he believes that the adults are primarily interested in gain his compliance

Formal Opportunities for Collaboration

Student Study Team (SST)Convened when parents or teachers

have concerns about a student who has not yet been evaluated or identified as having special education needs

Formal Opportunities for Collaboration

504 Plan TeamA 504 plan is for students who can

function adequately in general education with accommodations

Team is responsible for planning and monitoring progress

Formal Opportunities for Collaboration

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team For students who have been identified

as eligible for services (special education placements, OT, etc.)

Team is responsible for developing and monitoring goals, plus accommodations and/or modifications

Informal Collaboration

With or without a formal team, informal collaboration between teacher, parents, and any others who work with the student can facilitate understanding and enhance communication

Areas for Collaboration

Language and Communication For lower-functioning students with ASDs, their

efforts at communication can sometimes be difficult to understand, even by those who know them well

For higher-functioning students, pragmatic challenges that affect learning, communication, and relationships are not always obvious

Team members should work together to ensure that unreasonable expectations are not being set

Areas for Collaboration

Social-Emotional IssuesWhen students with ASDs are taught

new social skills, they often have difficulty generalizing these lessons from one setting to another

Team members can support the student’s needs, self-awareness, and generalization of skills

Areas for Collaboration

BehaviorSome students with ASDs have little

awareness of their emotional and behavioral escalation

Team can:• Help each other (and, ultimately, the

student) to recognize warning signs• Work with the student throughout day,

using clear expectations and pre-arranged cues

Areas for Collaboration

Academics and LearningCollaboration can help everyone

understand and accept what a student knows and how he learns

Sharing “what works” helps teachers to use the most effective interventions, modifications, and accommodations

• Each teacher doesn’t have to start from scratch

Areas for Collaboration

Academics and Learning (cont) The most effective way to prepare for the

future is to keep the student from being too overwhelmed to function in the present

The best way to help the student function in the present is to ask or require of her only what she can do

Collaboration helps all team members understand what the student can and can’t do

Preparation and Planning for Effective Team Meetings Sharing data in advance allows all team

members to prepare for a meaningful, problem-solving process Assessment results Observations Possible goals and benchmarks

Preparing the student for the meeting allows him to consider what issues he’d like to see addressed

Formal Assessments

Results of formal assessments should:Be an accurate reflection of the studentBe consistent with and help explain

what team members’ experience with the student

If they’re not, every effort should be made to understand the inconsistencyThe team members’ diverse expertise

can help find the answer

Why Formal Assessments May Be Inaccurate Does the student generally do better or

worse on a test than in the classroom? Does the student have difficulty

answering if he’s not sure of the answer?

Does the test address more concrete questions, whereas class assignments delve into more abstract issues?

Why Formal Assessments May Be Inaccurate

Can the student answer questions about rules of pragmatics, but not apply them in real-life situations?

Is the student dependent on a particular cue that wasn’t available during testing?

Formal and Informal Observations

All team members should discuss their observations at team meetings

When a formal, written observation report is written, it should differentiate between:Descriptions (concrete observations)Impressions (attempts to interpret what

the behaviors mean about and to the student)

Formal and Informal Observations

Suggestions, recommendations, and questions for the team to address should logically follow from the descriptions and impressions

If observations are not consistent across team members, possible reasons for the inconsistencies must be explored, just as with assessments

Quality Observations

Should include examples of when the student is doing well and what the teacher may be doing to support that successNoting when unusual behaviors (e.g.,

rocking) occur in conjunction with desired behaviors may help the team recognize them as problem-solving, rather than problematic behaviors

Goals and Benchmarks

The most meaningful and useful goals and benchmarks are based on an understanding of what what the student does and does not understandNot just what he can or cannot do

Benchmarks are most achievable when they address the very smallest steps that come next

Teams Can Work Together to Improve Goals

One team member suggested:“Brandon will increase awareness of

and use of abstract language and thought”

Together, the team improved that goal to read:“Brandon will differentiate questions of

fact and opinion.”

Teams Can Work Together to Write Better Benchmarks Rather than this broad, ambitious benchmark:

“During discussion of a story, Brandon will answer questions such as ‘What do you think about …?’ and ‘What might happen next?’ with one prompt 50% of the time.”

The team collaborated to come up with smaller, more focused benchmark: “Brandon will identify questions of opinion,

possibility, or personal preference as questions that do not have a right or wrong answer, one out of four attempts.”

Long-Term Goals

Rather than simply recording parents’ long-term goals for their child, the team should discuss them in the context of the student’s current functioning, including Maladaptive functioning Missing skills

Then, small steps toward improved skills and functioning can become the short-term goals and benchmarks

Factors That Contribute to Positive, Effective Collaboration

1. Team members are open to hearing, reflecting on, and trying to understand each participant’s observations and concerns.

Factors That Contribute to Positive, Effective Collaboration

2. Team members make an effort to understand the student (his strengths and challenges and how they impact his learning), as well as his responses to academic, social, and behavioral expectations at school.

Factors That Contribute to Positive, Effective Collaboration

3. Team members work to understand and show respect for the student’s perspective, whether or not it conforms to that of the team members or the student’s classmates, and work to help the student learn about the perspectives of others.

Factors That Contribute to Positive, Effective Collaboration

4. Team members are interested in and willing to provide support and develop expectations that the student can meet (a manageable environment).

Conclusions

The best plan for a student with ASDs allows him to be who he is,experience an educational

environment he can manage, and(step by small step) learn to live

and function adequately in the world as it is

Conclusions

The likelihood of success increases when team members work together to understand the student.