Re: ARD question

[Guest guest]

Is your son in the general education setting most of his day? I am assuming

that he is. I

think this is very important to address in the ARD/IEP.

One thing that is very helpful is to have a modification of peer support and

working in

small groups. If the teacher has support in the classroom through an aide, it

would easy

for the teacher and/or the aide to " scaffold " the social skills that he is

needing practice

with. You will have to make sure that they know what skills are being worked on

so they

can set up natural situations that will require practice. Working in groups is

a really

natural way to practice social skills with general ed peers. I find this much

more helpful

than a social skills group that is made up of others who do not have the skills

themselves.

It actually helps all of the students to learn better.

Another thing that is helpful is to have a general education peer matched to

your child for

friendship. They would be matched by shared interests. This works. They have

something they both like and are interested in and the peer can guide your child

through

certain social situations. This is how the Best Buddies, bestbuddiestexas.org,

bestbuddies.org, organization does it. We just started this program at our high

school this

year and it is going very well for all so far.

Another approach could be to have his In Home Trainer support social skills

goals and

objectives by taking him out into the community to practice the skills with the

In Home

Trainer providing the " scaffolding " that will lead to his eventual

generalization of the skill.

If your child is in middle school and 14 years old, these goals and objectives

can be a part

of his transition goals. These need to be started as soon as possible because

our children

need lots of practice and repetition to generalize these skills.

Daphne

>

> Has anyone included specific social accommodations in their child's

> ARD? My son with Aspergers is in middle school and really needs help

> building appropriate social relationships and interacting with peers.

> He has speech that helps with social skills but he needs more hands on

> constant assistance. Being in middle school, this is a huge issue and

> will only get more challenging to navigate as he gets older. His ARD

> is approaching in a few weeks and just wanted to know if anyone else

> has been able to get some solid assistance in school with this problem.

> thanks!carol

>