Since I wasnt there it is hard to discern if they actually did these things..the teacher was always exhausted & overwhelmed each time I tried to talk with her about Sarah.
I will try harder on these myself too outside of school ;~p
1. Encourage her to talk with kids when it is appropriate (she feels the rule is “no talking AT ALL” in school & obeys it happilyJ
2. Have Sarah pick a buddy to be with instead of someone that may not be reinforcing to her-boy or girl will do as she sometimes likes being around the boys moreJ
3. Let the kids help her play-I have no problem with them gently encouraging/bossing if they are trying to help herJ ex. Audrey can you help Sarah with playing outside today-I usually do this in playgroup we have for her and the other kids love to help her-they just think she is shy & speech is behind.
4. Congratulate her with verbal rewards at all attempts she makes at being social or verbal towards kids-it will increase her motivation to do it againJ
5. Let her read sometimes to the class-if they think it is cool for her to be able to do that then they may approach her more…she has a hard time approaching them right nowL
6. Just FYI…. these requests would be the same ones if her ABA consultant/therapists was shadowing her in class; which I did do in kinderkids but public school won’t allow that in Texas and she is doing well with youJ
7. She loves to help others by being in a “teacher” and would benefit helping other kids if they need help with letters or words or anything you can come up with. She wants to be a teacher when she grows and she will need the practiceJ
8. Whatever activities in the day with Sarah… continue to get her to express what she did …it really helps when she gets to me in the afternoons because mama is “not the teacher” so she refuses to answer me.
9. Prompt her to look, smile, hold hands, especially if she is really zoned out. She loves it when you hold her hand in the afternoons-grins from ear to earJ
10. PRINT THIS FOR REFERENCE & THANK YOUJJJJJJJJJJJ
I'm printing this out and giving it to Mason's teacher this year! Social skills were in Mason's IEP last year, but there was so much else going on that I know they didn't enforce it as much as they should have. This is just a great little reminder of what they can do with Mason! I like the buddy one--I have thought about asking them if they could let Mason pick a buddy to help him out during their work alone time...he struggled a lot in that area last year, because I honestly feel he gets scared and overwhelmed at working alone...maybe if they let him pick a buddy to help him, that might help 2 areas at once?
Anyway, thanks for sharing!