Parents and Special Education Services: A Series, Part 2

Last week, I started what will be a series of posts of interviews with parents who have children in Special Education. You can find the first post here. Our next interview is with McKenzie, who has a darling six year old boy who is receiving SPED services. Like me, McKenzie is also a former teacher who was familiar with SPED from a teacher’s perspective, and had to learn how to see it from a parent’s perspective. Let’s see what she had to say!

Please tell me a little about your child who is receiving Special Education services. (Age, grade, etc.)

E. is 6 years old. He just finished kindergarten this year and was on an IEP starting in preschool. He is on the IEP mainly for speech therapy, but also receives OT for a sensory processing disorder. He is also in the process of an autism diagnosis. 

What kind of services does your child receive? (general education with pull out services for speech/math/reading, etc., behavior unit, mild-moderate life skills class, etc.)

E. does OT in school as well as Speech Therapy. He is in the GenEd class the rest of the time. 

What has been the most difficult thing about navigating the SPED world in schools?

I wasn’t prepared for the emotional toll as a mom. I have a BS in Elementary Education and know the ins and outs of SPED and IEPs and this whole SPED world, but I knew it from a teacher’s perspective. I wasn’t as prepared to enter it as a parent, and it was emotional seeing it from that perspective. 

As a parent, what has been the most rewarding or positive thing about working with SPED services in schools?

Watching E. improve and thrive in school has been incredible. We were extremely worried about sending him to public school and considered home schooling him, but watching him meet his goals on his IEP over time felt very rewarding. Working with the SPED team has also been incredibly rewarding because of the community and support they provide (more on that in the next q). 

How do you feel other students and teachers respond to and interact with your child? Do you feel like there is a good amount of inclusiveness at your child’s school?

The outpouring of love and support from everyone on his IEP team has been incredible! His speech teacher, his OT, the principal, the GenEd teacher, even the PE teacher and the secretaries… literally EVERYONE he interacts with has his best interests in mind and they all have wanted to rally together to give E. the best school experience possible. 

As far as other students, they are too young to even register that there are small things that set E. apart from everyone else. I do worry about how the students will start treating him in later grades when they see him wearing his noise cancelling headphones often, playing with fidgets constantly, and being able to walk out of the classroom for a break whenever he wants (per his IEP).

As a parent, what are some ways you advocate for your child to make sure they are in the least restrictive environment and receiving the services they need and deserve?

Right now, I’m not having to do much in the school to advocate for E. In fact, I think the teachers are advocating for him TO ME instead! I was nonchalant about getting him tested for autism because I’ve had so much push back from medical professionals to the point of one doctor saying flat out “He doesn’t have autism and you’re wasting your time trying to get him a diagnosis.” So I stopped pursuing it. But at an IEP meeting, they convinced me that I needed to push for it more and listed all of the ways an autism diagnosis could help him day to day and in the long run. Now we are back to working on an autism diagnosis with a new team of doctors, so that’s where I’ve spent all of my time advocating! 

If you could tell one (or two or more) thing(s) to people who don’t have much experience with working with children with disabilities of any kind and severity, what would you tell them?

That these kids are not bad, even though they sometimes may come across as that. Their brains are just working differently than yours, and that’s not something to be punished or looked down on, it’s something that needs tolerance, understanding, and love. And you’ll get much further with these kids acting out of tolerance, understanding, and love than you will any other way. 

Thank you, McKenzie! Thank you for reminding us that kids in SPED need our love and understanding!

Vestibular Sensory Input Ideas for Kids

I have a child with high sensory needs. You can read more about it here. One area we discovered to be a struggle with was regulating his vestibular sensory input. He was having the hardest time eating meals, going to bed, listening to stories, and more. Once we realized his vestibular sensory input needed regulating before we attempted these tasks, it changed our lives! We get all of our kiddos involved with this sensory input and it helps all of them, even those without sensory needs. 

I can’t help but be grateful for figuring this all out before he starts kindergarten in a few years, instead of figuring it out when he starts school for the first time. This is not the story with many families, and it can make the transition to starting school that much more difficult. 

Instead of pulling sensory input ideas out of my head each time we needed something, I made a quick printed paper of options for my kids to choose from. We have one laminated full sheet of paper to look at, and one that I cut into strips and laminated for when we want to randomly draw them out of a cup. 

It’s nothing special, just something I whipped together one afternoon. But if it’s something that can benefit your household or classroom in any way for those higher sensory needs kids (or any of your kids or students that just need a movement break), then here’s the free printable for you! Just click on the pdf to download and print. Enjoy! 

Discovering Our Child Was a Sensory Seeker Did Nothing But Positivley Impact Him and Our Family

My son is currently 3.5 years old. From the time he was born, I knew there was something going on that I just couldn’t put my finger on. Was it autism? A learning disability? But how can you even diagnose that at such a young age? You cannot! 

As he got older we discovered his love for music. No… not love. Obsession. 

Spending time outside digging in the dirt wasn’t just our routine, but our essential routine. 

We quickly started acquiring more and more supplies in our house such as swings, slides, crash pads, soft mats, and more. 

At 2 years old our doctor finally gave us the term sensory seeker and suddenly our lives started making more sense! 

When I started my research on a sensory seeker kiddo in a classroom, I found information on adaptive seating in classrooms. And OT time outside of the classroom. Teachers offering pencil toppers for chewing and small, quiet sensory toys to keep inside of their desks. 

But the biggest turning point for our family was when I discovered this little golden nugget of wisdom-

“Learning cannot and will not happen unless all sensory needs have been met.” 

Take out learning and swap it with any verb needed- Eating. Sleeping. Listening. Participating. Reading. Independent play. It all applies. 

Once I started learning more about the different senses in our body, touch, taste, sight, feel, hearing, vestibular, and proprioceptive, and the needs that come with each of them, it started making more sense to us. We were realizing that a lot of the behaviors we were shutting down and trying to stop were actually just him craving the sensory input his body was seeking. Now instead of dismissing his sensory needs, we’ve fully embraced them and used them to our advantage, too! 

Since then, he’s been eating better, sleeping better, playing better, and learning so much more. 

It’s fascinating what we can learn about our children in the way they learn and think and develop! And it’s even more fascinating to see what develops when we allow them the space to do so on their own terms, and not ours. 

We still have a long way to go on this journey for him and for us, and I’m very curious to see how it plays out with school and around peers someday. But for now, we’re loving and embracing this information.