SPD Foundation Online training

[Dr. Myers]

The SPD Foundation has a new elearning training module that is just amazing. It features leading experts on SPD and is a fun way to learn about the disorder, characteristics, and teaching strategies. October is SPD awareness month.

Go onto the website at:http://www.spdfoundation.net/elearn/index.html and complete some of the modules. What did you learn? What do you think of this as a way to educate parents and teachers? Should school systems or parent resource centers set up elearning programs like this for parents or is what is already available enough? Share your thoughts.

[CS]

Hey Dr. Myers,

I tried to go and complete the modules, but they did not open for me. I think they are working on the sight.

I can tell you that this would be a very useful sight for me, I am working with a student that is simply labled 'severe and profound', but I feel that he is specifically autistic and MR based on the behavior he displays. He is non-verbal, and we have no special equipment to work with him at all. He is the schools first non-verbal and administration does not seem to feel that he should be at our school so they are trying to convince the school board that he should be in a special autism program. However due to his lack of label, the school board is refusing to help him and both the Principal and I have been given a gag order in regards to talking to his parents about this. In the meantime, I am not a trained autism teacher and am doing things with him by instinct and what I hear (or read) from you. (I attended your brown-bag workshops with Dr. Hooper).

The real problem is, I am not at all sure how to work with this child when he does not want to do any work at all. His former teacher and parents keep telling me he is just lazy, but I don't think so, I think he likes isolation and wants to be left alone. He watches everything we do with the other students and we can tell he is listening because when he hears something he likes his ears prick up. But I feel like I am not the best person to work with this child because he can learn so much more in an autism classroom (we do not have one).

The good thing is we have figured out that he responds to one word commands - sit, stand, walk, food, etc. and is "tactile". I think that is the right term, he likes to touch different surfaces with his hands. But that is all I know so far.