Disability Visibility

 In my advocacy research I ran across this title and had to explore it. Alice Wong's Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century is a series of essays she collected. All the authors have some disability, many have intersections with other minority categories (race, gender, orientation,...). The essays vary. Some I found to be easy reads and others not. Some were more complaint oriented and others more advocacy focused. Together they create a collage of the challenges and attempts to solve the challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

Two essays strongly resonated with me. One, "The Fearless Benjamin Lay," by Eugene Grant highlights the lack of disability portrayals in history. Many authors and researchers have expounded on this. His essay pointed out a character who was an early abolitionist with whom I was not familiar but more than that, he had dwarfism. This essay could be a great introduction to someone with dwarfism to historical characters of impact by people like them. Further, it showcases a strong person with a disability who strongly advocated for a worthy cause, even though it had negative repercussions.

"Six Ways of Looking at Crip Time" by Ellen Samuels, irritated me. I have heard so many excuses for not being timely and it irritates me. Parents of small children who "can't" get out the door. People who are just "bad with time." People who are just "too busy." Public transport doesn't arrive in a timely manner. People with disabilities who can't make it because it took too long to charge their device or assemble their go pack. Full disclosure. My mother was habitually late. Yes, there were 8 kids, one of whom has a significant disability. Yes, her husband had a TBI and was erratic and unable to see other perspectives. I, however, was the last child to be picked up with the pitying adults there asking if they should call my home to make sure someone was coming. I was the scared child left waiting. As an adult, I am neurotic about being on time. I hate when people start meetings late waiting for stragglers because it lacks respect for the people who made it on time. I sit in parking lots waiting for an appropriate time to go in. I lived in Hawaii where "island time" was an excuse to not be punctual. My students were habitually late. I get that your life is hard and has challenges. I get that you may have executive function issues that make it hard to be punctual. I get that public transport in this country is often not timely and reliable. "Manic Monday" by the Bengals highlights the issue. Everyone can make excuses for why they are not on time. We can do better. It takes work, training and thoughtfulness, but it can be done. I do not expect perfection, but being late should be the exception, not the rule.

Some authors quote statistics and research which they do not provide links to. I wish they did. Overall, however the picture painted highlights concerns, many of which I had not considered. It highlights some of the work done to try and get additional help for people that need it. I am not for full socialism, but we need to be a compassionate capitalist state that takes care of our neediest citizens. 

A thought provoking read that I highly recommend.

Brain Fundamental Functions

 Annually Seth Perler hosts an online summit about executive function. Alan P Brown's speech about the Brain's 3 fundamental needs. He shared what are the basic needs of the brain- nutrition, exercise and sleep. His research related to people diagnosed with ADHD often are not doing a good job of meeting the needs of their brains.

From a nutrition standpoint brains need protein. Snacks and meals should include protein. Nuts, hard boiled eggs, cheese, yogurt, humus, nut butters are all examples of things that can be included with other foods to create a snack or meal that will feed your brain and help prevent crashes. Your brain needs food both glucose- from complex carbohydrates and protein for the building blocks of enzymes and neurotransmitters.

Exercise helps get blood to your brain. It does not need to be a work out in a gym, but walk outside, swim, do a series of chair based exercises. These all get your body moving and help it metabolize nutrients more efficiently. When people are sedentary, not only do they run the risk of becoming overweight with all the associated health risks of that, they find their brains may not work as well. Many people believe that 60 minutes a day is a good goal and others try to get 10,000 steps a day to see if they are active enough.

Lastly, sleep. Teens and adults need at least 8 hours of sleep a night to function well. Less sleep makes the brain work at a lower capacity. A study demonstrated that with each hour below 8 per night of sleep, there is a corresponding drop in functional IQ: 15 points for the first hour and additional points for additional lost sleep. What is the number one problem with sleep- no it is not circadian rhythms that make it hard for teens to sleep, it is cell phones. Phones have no business being in the bedroom. Get a cheap alarm clock (Amazon has some for under $10). Turn notifications off. Develop a sleep routine. Go to bed at the same time every day and wake up at the same, or nearly the same time, every day. Teens who sleep until afternoon on weekends and vacations are teens who are going to have trouble getting enough sleep. Then Alan Brown threw in the one that always gets me. A lack of sleep mimics ADHD. Before an ADHD diagnosis, a sleep evaluation should be completed to ensure that someone is getting enough sleep. If not, they should try behavioral modifications to improve sleep. If you are a parent who does not want their child to be put on medication, it is the easiest thing to try.

Rate yourself- have your kids rate themselves 1-10. Be honest. First number that comes to your head.

1. Are you eating a balanced diet?
2. Are you exercising regularly?
3. Are you getting enough sleep?

If your are not doing well in any of these areas, try to make a little change to bring the number up. Add a glass of milk at breakfast. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or park in the farthest parking space rather than the closest. Put your phone down earlier and turn off notifications so that it is not going to disturb your sleep. Try to establish a sleep routine for the weekends that is not radically different from the weekdays. Start small. Try it for a couple of weeks and see how you feel. Do you have better self-control? Are you more awake for your morning classes or meetings? Do you burn out in the mid-morning or afternoons like you did? Can you concentrate better throughout the day? Once you take one step, take another small one. 

Executive Function Toolkit: Emotional Regulation

 

Understood.org defines executive function as “a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We use these skills every day to learn, work and manage daily life. Trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions, among other things.” Some of these skills are not well developed in people with ADHD, ASD, anxiety, and depression, and substance abuse, but they are also often a challenge with people who are neurotypical. Further, because these skills are found in the front of the brain, a part that does not develop fully until the mid-twenties, children are in a constant state of developing them. These skills are far easier to exhibit in calm times and can be taught to be more age appropriate.

Children, especially, have big emotions. They need to feel them, process them, and deal with them. Being able to do this leads to better learning, relationships and self-esteem. Adults with poor emotional regulation often experience challenges at work and home and may have increased negative interactions with law enforcement.

How do we develop these skills? Here are three strategies to help people improve their emotional regulation. Remember this is a process, improvement may be slow and erratic. They involve talking. Do not try to implement the strategies in times of heightened emotions.

1.       I notice…

Reflect what you notice. ex- I notice you are breathing hard, not saying much, hunched over, clenching your jaw, choosing these words ___, looking sad, not answering a question… What’s going on?

When people talk freely and openly about their emotions allows them to notice them and try to deal with them.

 

2.       Temperature check

·         On a scale 1-10 (10 good, 1 bad) what is your temperature about… (ex self care, the test coming up, how you are getting along with …)

·         Why? (Use “tell me a bit more” to get them expand)

·         What would make it one point higher?

Reflective questions help kids articulate emotions. Be patient and use wait time to allow them to expand on their thoughts. I like to count during wait time. If you keep talking, others can often not process. Counting 3 seconds is a minimum, but I like to count to 20. It can be very uncomfortable at first, but stick with it.

3.       Identify triggers

Triggers are stimuli- either external or internal, that cause emotional responses.

Common triggers: fatigue, hunger, over stimulation, frustration, disappointment, anxiety

 

·         Observe and become familiar with situations that trigger emotional responses. (Use the I notice strategy above.)

o   After the child has calmed down. I noticed that you got angry when/because…

·         Discuss and label the physical feelings that come with anger (ie racing heart, red face, pounding in your ears, body tenses, sweating, …)

·         Recognize trigger and plan ahead.

o   Ex- When you are hungry you get angry more easily. What can you do to try and stop that cycle?

Resources:

Calmthe Chaos of Parenting

SethPerler

Better Up

The Savvy Ally

 Teenagers are in a constant state of a search for identity. They are trying to figure out how they are unique, what are their interests, who do they want to be. As someone who works with teenagers, I see this struggle regularly play out. Jeannie Gainsburg's The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate is a text that explores how we can support people struggling to find their place in the world. 

Admittedly, I am only beginning to learn about the vocabulary around the LGBTQ+ community. It has exploded since my childhood and I felt I needed to know what the kids are talking about. Also, I feel it is incumbent upon me to be a safe place for students to come and I need to better understand the culture of different communities so that I can provide that. Jeannie threw out a statistic which surprised me: 1 in 20 people fall in the spectrum of LGBTQ+. That is at least one student in every classroom. About 50% of these people are not out. They are searching for how to find acceptance for who they are as people- a quest every teenager is on, but for these young people, the quest is especially difficult because of the lack of acceptance they may receive from their family and community. Our language and behavior creates a space that is either more or less likely to help each child find peace with who they are are.

I encountered the term ally first with people who were BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color). Allies are people who are not a member of a marginalized group but stand up and advocate for the people in that group. I would like to think that although I am just beginning to explore how to best be an ally, I am making progress toward being one. While I had not originally conceived of allies with the LGBTQ+ community, they too play an important role. Further, the intersectionality between these two groups is critical to consider as well. People who are of color and LGBTQ+ often find a more challenging path than those in one or the other categories. Adding up your memberships in marginalized communities just showcases the challenges you get to encounter along the way. It is necessary for nonmarginalized people to recognize the challenges faced by others and work to eliminate or ameliorate them. This is hard, but as the author says, "I challenge us all to not shy away from conversations about race and intersectionality, but to bravely embrace them and create spaces for honest discussions without judgements and with the assumption of good intent" (p. 73).

This book is crazy informative and a good starting place for learning about the LGBTQ+ community without burdening the community with being your primary teacher. It is an easy read and well laid out for understanding the elements of being an ally. 

Making content comprehensible for secondary English Language learners

 It has been a while since my last fray into English Language (EL) learners and I am having an increasing number in my classes, I thought it was time to do a little more research. Making Content Comprehensible for Secondary English Learners: The SIOP Model by Jana Echevarria, MaryEllen Vogt and Deborah J. Short seemed like a good fit. Years ago I took an asynchronous class on SIOP and this book was a great companion to that information. The text is broken into parts: an introduction, elaboration on each major component of the model and a discussion on major concerns and conclusion. 

The piece that seems to truly set it apart from other teaching systems is the language objective. The model requires both a content and a language target for each lesson. They admit that a lesson might take more than one day, but the objectives guide everything else. By writing them out, both the students and the teacher are focused on both. The language objective could include use a limited number of vocabulary terms in discussion, practice using a particular academic language structure such as if-then or x because y, use verbs to describe character actions, or language tasks such as summarize a passage. See a scope of language tasks from WIDA here.  Be aware that language learners need to address prerequisite skills, not just those at the current grade level. Ideally, student in rich language environments should progress through skills below grade level in English at a faster rate, so long as they have the skill in their first language.

As a special education teacher, I find many of my students have limited language skills. Creating a focus on language is essential for them as well. Toward that end, the SIOP model has research supporting its use with all students, not just ELs. Consequently it makes for a great Tier one intervention to increase language skills among students. Since language is the medium through which we learn, think and demonstrate what we know, it is essential that all students continue to develop their skills. 

Another key component of the system is vocabulary development. At the secondary level, we expect students to learn extensive collections of words. Each subject could probably provide a list of 5-20 content specific vocabulary each week. That is independent of the academic (Tier 2) words like compare, summarize and explain, that we expect students to be fluent with. High School is undoubtedly one place where language learning is emphasized. Without teachers recognizing and truly working on vocabulary development, our students will continue to struggle whether they are ELs or not. One suggestion that the authors propose is word walls. These tools display key vocabulary students need to use. One tool that is similar to Frayer Charts that I have used is the 4-corners Vocabulary chart (see image below). Students could use this tool to create personal vocabulary journals or teachers could use them as part of a word wall.  

Anyone who works with ELs should make time to understand the basic principles of teaching students with language differences. This book does a great job of outlining specific steps to take to increase the performance of both ELs and students in general.