November 21, 2024 • 31 mins
Can mastering the intricacies of school-based therapy unlock the potential of students with disabilities? Join us as we celebrate Edwin Hubble's legacy and explore the vital services available for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Discover how occupational and physical therapy can transform the educational journey for students with disabilities, enabling them to overcome challenges and excel academically. Through personal stories and expert insights, we shed light on the essential role of related services in tackling comorbid conditions and breaking down communication barriers that often lead to frustration and behavioral issues.
In this episode, we break down misconceptions surrounding occupational therapy, illustrating its impact on developing fine motor skills critical for daily school tasks. Discover how physical therapy not only supports peer participation but also lays the groundwork for future employment opportunities. We dive into the unique challenges posed by vision and hearing impairments and the need for proactive parental advocacy to ensure students receive the support they need. From Adaptive Physical Education to Applied Behavior Analysis, we cover a spectrum of educational supports that can empower students with disabilities to thrive in their learning environments. Tune in to understand how a collaborative approach can make a world of difference in the lives of these students.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
so, on the date of this recording, it is edwin
hubble's birthday.
Do you know who edwin hubble is?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
is he the hubble telescope guy?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I was pretty sure he created hubble bubble chewing
gum hubba bubba okay, I wasclose.
So today's conversation we aregoing to talk about the
different kind of services thatare accessible I think that's
the right word Accessible forstudents that have an IEP, and
(00:42):
it's kind of shocking to thinkabout all that is that is
offered for students.
So we talked a handful of weeksago about FAPE, or the Free and
Appropriate Public EducationAct, and or not act for an
appropriate public education,public education Paper.
(01:04):
Yeah, anyway, so, in the bestinterest of the students, trying
to provide everything that canbe provided for them, schools,
school districts, offer thesedifferent services, and so we're
going to take just a moment anddiscuss some of these services.
We're going to take just amoment and discuss some of these
(01:28):
services and, uh, but, laura,can you give me like, can you
tell us briefly, why would theseextra services be provided?
Like, what is, what is this?
I mean, I understand the wholeum supplying a free and
appropriate public education,but when we start talking about
things like physical therapy andoccupational therapy and all of
that, why is that lumped inthere?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, a lot of times individuals with disabilities
have comorbid conditions orcomorbid disabilities that are
in addition to or go alongsidewith their condition or their
disability, that can impactdifferent areas of their
(02:13):
development.
Just because somebody has onedisability doesn't mean that it
encompasses that.
You know, having an IEP andworking on academic goals is
going to allow them to make theprogress necessary to be
successful.
So a lot of times you have tohave some related services that
(02:36):
go along with that, andsometimes we have.
We see a lot of times in ourstudents with disabilities.
They have fine motor delays.
They're behind on how to hold apencil, how to cut, how to pull
their pants back up.
There's things that we use ourfingers for.
(03:03):
A lot of times our students havespeech and language delays.
We talked, I think, a littlebit about the expressive and
receptive language delays andthey need someone to come
alongside them.
We need someone to comealongside us to help us with our
(03:23):
students.
Sometimes it can impact ourstudents.
Sometimes it can impact ourstudents that their disabilities
can impact them in a physicalmanner.
Sometimes it's behaviors thatcome along with the conditions
that they have or thedisabilities that they have, and
sometimes these behaviors canbe part of not having these
(03:45):
other functional skills.
There's other medicalconditions that will come along,
that are vision difficulties,some hearing impairments or
deafness, and so there's just aslew of things that can go along
with a disability, andoftentimes it's not just one
(04:09):
thing that you are that we'reworking with when we work with
our students.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And you know, I know, we've seen it multiple times
too where the maybe the deficitsin some of these areas, whether
it be speech or more of aphysical impairment, that it
causes this extra frustration.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
You know, one of the things to consider is, you know
we talk about our students thathave speech services, and so for
some it's you know they'll workon articulation and things of
that manner.
But then sometimes we've gotstudents that can't speak,
they're nonverbal, for the mostpart, can't say anything, so
(04:58):
they learn how to use devicesand sign language and things
like that to be able tocommunicate, because it's I mean
, just I know that we've had theprivilege of going over to um,
going over to ethiopia I knowweird segue, but stay with me
and one of the things that kindof like really hits you in the
(05:18):
face when you're standing in themiddle of their capital city is
that there's nobody around youthat can understand what you're
saying.
Like if you needed to talk tosomebody and you needed help or
you needed direction, you wouldhave to be as creative as
possible to help them understandwhat it is that you're saying
(05:42):
and then, in return, be able tounderstand their response.
And and so I know that thatwhen we stand in a place like
that, it's it's kind of um,overwhelming, it's, it's it's uh
, somewhat can make the anxietykind of flare up a little.
So now let's put ourselves inin the place of one of our
(06:03):
students that is alreadystruggling academically.
But they can't verbalize whatit is that's going on, that's
going on in their mind, that'sgoing on in the way that they
feel, and so that just brings ona whole bunch of frustration.
And if I don't have a healthyway to express what's going on
(06:28):
inside of me, it's got to comeout in the form of behavior.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
And so, and that's just I mean, that's just one
small piece of the puzzle Thento consider, you know, if
there's, if a child has acertain physical restriction or,
along with that, whether it'shearing or vision, or you know
if there's, if a child has acertain physical restriction or,
along with that, whether it'shearing or vision, or there's
added, there's added stressthat's going to Prohibit them
(06:55):
from engaging in their schoolmaterials and assessments and to
be able to engage with what itis that they're being asked to
do.
And then, like you, add all thison top of it and it's just
incredibly frustrating, I'm sure, for those students.
(07:18):
So let's talk just a little bitabout what are some of those
services that are out there.
That, because I got to tell youI, you know, I, when xander was
small, before we even got intoall the sped world ourselves, um
, it was one of those, like I'dshow up to a meeting and and
they'd have to tell me well,here's, here's what he needs and
(07:41):
it's like, okay, well, yeah,that this is what y'all do, this
is your world, but would havenever guessed that there were so
many different supports outthere, and so what we do know is
that, again talking about FAPE,that the government has set
forward to say, all right, togive these students the best
(08:03):
shot possible, here are someother services that we're going
to put out there so that theycan engage, so they can engage
at their highest potential withwhatever materials are given to
them.
So what are some of those?
We already talked about speecha little bit, but what are some
of the other ones?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
right.
Well, you know, touching on thatspeech and um therapy, that um,
I think that's probably themost common, that almost most
individuals that have an iepthat are in like our setting and
then more of the small groupadapt curriculum, they're going
(08:43):
to have that speech therapy, um,and you also have students that
have an IEP only for speech.
You have students that haveIEPs just for academics, but
when I think one of the mostprevalent provider or additional
services is is speech, and youtalked about articulation, and I
(09:05):
think a lot of times whenthey're and I'm sure we'll learn
a little more about this in thefuture episodes but they work
on the things that the studentsneed to be successful and
sometimes articulation isn't oneof the first things that they
(09:26):
work on, because if they canunderstand the child enough,
they're.
It's like oh no, we got tofocus on some of these other
things, which that was one ofthe things I found.
That was interesting when Ifirst started in the school
system is that's what I thoughtspeech did.
Well, they taught you how totalk, right.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Makes sense.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Right.
But no, they work on a varietyof skills and whether it's just
having conversations, teachingthe children how to say good
morning and how to playcooperatively sometimes and
those things positional words,verbs and nouns, I mean all
(10:09):
sorts of things.
So it's not just they're goinghere to learn how to talk, it's
really an encompassingcommunication.
Then, another service that alot of our students are
qualified for is occupationaltherapy.
I think we touched on this alittle bit in one of our other
episodes, because people think,well, occupational therapy,
(10:31):
that's the therapy that you getfor doing jobs or skills, and
well, in the school setting,that school is our kids' jobs,
and so the occupationaltherapist will come in and work
on those fine motor skills tohelp them be able to do the
things needed in school.
(10:52):
Now are there outsideoccupational therapy, of course,
and they can work.
They'll work more on theeveryday living tasks, but in
the school setting it's moremaking sure that they can hold
their pencil, making sure theycan use scissors or use a glue
(11:12):
stick, and then, you know,making sure that they're not
writing their letters alldifferent sizes, and so that's
what the occupational therapyprovides, and you want me to
keep going.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Sure, well, or I can say this like so I know that we
we've been able to work withsome really cool occupational
therapists over the years, butthe one that we get to work with
now is really cool because,like so, over the summer, my dog
bit my finger off well, not mywhole finger, but the top third
of it and it was gross it was.
It was like hanging there byskin and anyway.
(11:50):
So yeah, I know it was a it wasa crazy experience but it was
really great to be able to go toher after, you know, talking to
the doctors and all and justsimple things that she was able
to share with with me about howto help work in my finger back
into where I can use it, BecauseI mean, the finger was stiff,
(12:12):
as could be, because it was allwrapped up for so long that it
was just like I had thisperpetual middle finger.
And I'm surprised I didn't getyelled at more things thrown at
me because it was just likealways sticking up and I wasn't
doing it on purpose, I promiseum but her understanding of how,
(12:33):
like the joints and, oh, I hitmy microphone but her
understanding of how you knowthe joints and the fingers work
and all that, and to be able togive me some some direction on
how to get where I can use myhands.
So now you know, take that sameconcept into for a student that
you know may have more strugglethan just they got the top of
(12:55):
their finger bit off right.
Some like real developmentalissues that.
So now again, kind of like wedid with the whole I was talking
about the whole Ethiopia thingtake a kid and put them in a
classroom and ask them to writea sentence.
Well, one.
Most kids don't want to writesentences, right?
(13:17):
I don't like writing sentences.
I'm 47 years old and I don'tlike writing sentences, but I
just don't like it.
It's not that I can't do it.
So now you know, again, putyourself in the place of one of
these kids that they go toschool, there's academic
(13:37):
requirements, but I can't hold apencil right.
So how in the world am I goingto be able to spend any of my
time focusing in on what you'retrying to teach me when I can't?
I can't write it Right, and so,again, that's another place
where one of these servicessteps in to help give this
platform for the child to, forthe student to be able to engage
(14:03):
more in their education.
So what else we got?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Physical therapy.
Yep, I don else.
We got Physical therapy.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yep, I don't know anything about that one.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
No.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Nope, other than it's therapy and it's physical Right
.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Does that make you think of?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
that song?
What was it?
Let's get physical.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Sorry, it's okay.
Anyways, I have the voice of anangel.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So now I know a little bit about physical
therapy.
So remember again we're talkingabout, like all school based
Right.
So there is a big difference andin the near future we're going
to have people on to that knowthat understand this stuff way
better than I do anyway.
I do anyway.
(14:52):
But the physical therapy in aschool, setting the purpose
behind it or the point is tohelp the child to participate,
or the student to participate inwhat's going on.
So if we can give this extraphysical therapy, the hope is
that in turn, that student willbe able to engage in the same
things that his typicallydeveloping peers engage in,
(15:12):
right?
So, given that extra step, thatextra, that extra push so that
they can experience To thefullest extent the same thing
that their friends areexperiencing.
So friends are experiencing so.
So with that, with the physicaleducation, it can again, it can
work on our physical education.
(15:33):
That's PE Physical therapy.
What it does, is it?
It helps them to not only gofurther in their schooling, but
then there is consideration forfuture employment, right?
So it's all of these thingsbuild on each other, right, for
the betterment of the child.
Because it's not.
You know, people don't?
(15:59):
I don't know that anybody wouldever say or agree to the idea
that.
You know, let's just get ourkids in school until they age
out, and then you know who cares.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Just stick them in a room somewhere or whatever, but
the idea is not any differentfor students with disabilities
than those that are, again, thetypically developing.
The school is to help childrennot only just learn things, not
just learn math and reading andall of that, but learn how to
(16:37):
interact with people, learn howto be in a community, learn how
to have a conversation right.
All of these things are a partof school educational
development for people and thewhole idea behind it is so that
once you have finished this timehere, go be a contributing
member to society, go and giveback to the place, the area that
(17:02):
you live in, and the studentswith disability world, the
special education world, is notany different.
We still work to help thesechildren be who they can be, to
be a contributing member in thesociety that they live in, and
(17:26):
so when it comes to the physicaltherapy during the course of
their school career, it mightallow them to get a job at some
other position or at some otherplace after school, simply
because now they have anotherjob, they have another ability
(17:49):
they can bring to the table.
And so now I can I can bend overand pick this up, or I can move
from this point to this pointstable, right, and so then it's
just another, like I said,another thing that they can
bring to the table and findingemployment and contributing to
something bigger than themselves.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I know you had touched on also about like
communities and you'd say to oneanother one of our episodes
that you know, when theIndividuals, they grow up and
they become adults and theydepending on what their
caregivers plan for them, is, ifthey, if, if the desire is for
(18:30):
them to move out and go to acommunity setting, the more
skills that they have and themore adaptive skills they have,
the more they can do forthemselves, the better chances
of them being accepted intothese different communities or
(18:52):
living facilities, and so, likeyou said it is, it's that
continuum there.
You have to look at them.
Even those pre-K andkindergarten, even babies, can't
wait.
Is that it's all trying toprepare them for that
post-secondary life?
Speaker 1 (19:13):
well, and we found too that in a lot of our
research and looking for thingsfor the you know, future,
possible future for xander isthat it's very similar to to
students that are start applyingto colleges and the more things
that you can have on thatresume when you apply to a
college, the better chance youhave of being accepted into that
(19:34):
college, right?
So, if you know, if I apply to Idon't know Harvard and I have a
do they still have D's inschool now, a D average or
whatever right I have notpositioned myself very well for
that right.
I've not taken the time.
(19:55):
If I haven't doneextracurriculars, if I haven't
done all this other stuff beeninvolved in different groups and
different programs anddifferent this and different
that if I haven't done thingsthat catch the eye of the
decision makers at thateducational setting, I'm not
going to be accepted.
Well, we found that when itcomes to students with
disabilities, that the more theycan bring to the table, the
(20:18):
better chance they have of beingaccepted into these different
areas, because what they don'twant is this is you know, you
don't want to push somebody intoan environment that they cannot
, that they cannot function,they cannot um function function
or even thrive.
Thrive, that's the word, thankyou very much.
That they can't thrive andbecause?
(20:39):
Then it just adds to thefrustration, right for them.
It adds to the frustration ofthe people that are running the
program and it'll take away fromwhat they can do.
For the ones that can thrive,right.
Never suggesting that anybody'sless valuable.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
But there are.
There are opportunities outthere for everybody, of every
different.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Ability yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And so, and so, to take the time now, as you say
quite often, do all the hardwork up front.
It better prepares thosestudents for those options down
the road.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
It's true.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
I know I said it.
That's all I do is say truethings Sometimes.
So what do we talk about?
We talked about OTPT speech,what else?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
what else is there?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
what else yeah?
So there also is there's visiontherapy now that I really don't
know anything about and I thinkI'm fairly new to this too.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
It was Andrew's teacher last year and the year
before she left the classroom tofulfill this spot, which
apparently is definitely neededin the county.
But oddly enough it isn'talways offered.
Offered it can kind of go stateby state.
(22:15):
Um, some states say it's amedical service and so it's not
covered under idea.
Um, other states do offer itbut what it does is it helps.
Um, the vision therapists willcome in and they'll work with
the students and try to helpretrain their brain so they
understand and process thatvisual information more
(22:39):
effectively and efficiently.
And so you know, throughdifferent activities and
different exercises they workwith them to be able to help
them understand what it isthey're seeing.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And I think that's a really important thing to
identify issues.
It's not about just having poorvision, like I know.
We've been, again fortunateenough to hang around a lot of
people that know a lot of thingsthat we don't.
Again, fortunate enough to hangaround a lot of people, I know
a lot of things that we don't,and, for instance, we've talked
about how myself, when I'mreading a book, or if I'm
reading something online that my, for whatever reason, my eyes
(23:20):
are like drawn to the spacebetween the sentences, right,
and then I have to I end upreading the same line over and
over and, you know, kind of losemy place.
I have to I end up reading thesame line over and over and, you
know, kind of lose my place.
And so now I'm using all thistime to try to figure out what
I'm reading that I'm notspending a whole lot of time
(23:42):
comprehending what I'm reading,so I have to keep going over it
over and over and over again.
Vision would assist in notnecessarily just being able to
see, but that communication thattakes place from whatever it is
that the student's looking at,to processing it in their mind
(24:02):
right, seeing what's there andthen, at the same time, being
able to walk down that path of Isee this, I understand it as
this comprehending what it isthat I see in the moving on from
there, versus spending thatextra energy trying to say I
don't decode or stay focused onthe line or whatever other
(24:27):
things might get in the way ofof being able to really
understand what it is thatyou're seeing, right, and so
that's important to keep in mindas well.
And we know that there'shearing services and those can
range from like I know I've seensituations where it was there's
(24:47):
a little bit of time thatsomeone would come in and work
with making sure that the childis taking care of their hearing
aids properly and that they'restaying clean and functional and
you know, adding support thatway.
And then there's other areaswhere there's more sitting and
(25:07):
working with the student.
Do you have anything to add tothat?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Just like you said, they come in and they, whether
it be just partial hearing lossor complete hearing loss, and so
there seems like there's awhole range of help that can be
given there, and I know we'vealso seen where the the county
will go out and find people thatthat know sign language, that
(25:38):
can speak to those that are deafor hard of hearing, that that
know how to sign um, and so thereason we bring all this up in
in this manner is it's importantto know that.
I think when you have a lawlike idea right, it can be
(26:04):
interpreted in many differentways, and so I think that what
it is we in sharing thisinformation, what we want to put
out there, is it.
If you think your kid needs itand you don't know if it's there
, ask questions.
Definitely find out Right, dig,push, talk to your, your kid's
(26:29):
teacher, talk to anybody that isinvolved in in that world.
And, hey, is there somethingthat can be done about this?
I see this taking place in mykid's life.
I see this that I think mightbe a hangup.
Is there something out therethat can help them work through
this particular issue?
Um, because if you don't,there's a good chance that it
(26:54):
may not happen, and it's notnecessarily anybody's fault.
It's not a matter of people justtrying to not provide services
for kids.
Is that?
There's a lot out there.
I mean, there's a lot of kidsout there that need special
education services, right?
We know that, like we've saidbefore at the national level,
(27:16):
that 15% of our public schoolstudents are being served with
an IEP.
Some may just be speech, likeyou said earlier, some may focus
more on academic, but not allof them.
So there's a lot out there andit's easy for students to kind
(27:38):
of fall under the radar.
So there's nothing wrong with aparent, a guardian, going to a
special education teacher andsaying, hey, I'm really
concerned about this.
Is there anybody that can help,right?
Um, because I know that, whilewe know we don't know everything
, we know a lot of people right,and so we'll ask the questions.
(27:59):
Find out and uh and so and soreally, that's, that's the whole
thing, and we haven't even.
I mean, that's just the onesthat we know about.
We know there's all kinds ofstuff out there.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
And there's we didn't talk about APE, which is the
Adaptive Physical Education, andthat's for the students that
can't physically, can't do do PE, participate in PE, Not the
(28:32):
ones that just won't.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I know we have several that just won't do it,
but it makes me sweat, but thisis for the ones that physically
cannot.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
They physically cannot kick a ball, they
physically cannot catch or throwor jump, and yeah, that's what
the adaptive PE is for.
And then I don't know if you'dcall it a service, the ABA,
(29:06):
applied Behavior Analysis and Iknow we have providers that come
in and do some observations andwork with teachers and I don't
believe that's like a servicethat our county offers at this
time.
In this classroom, however, wedo have access to those
therapists that come in and helpthe teachers with some of those
(29:30):
behaviors and give them someSome guidance, some direction.
Support yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, I'm not good with words.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Not methodology.
Give them, yeah, give themMemeology Symbolism.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, give them the good Mamiology Symbolism.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Yeah, practices, and yeah, help them.
I think they get it.
Give them some help.
Yeah, I think they get it.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I think y'all know what we're trying to say If
you're teachers and you'relistening.
Yes, we are teacher-tired, yes,so.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
I think.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Is there anything else that we wanted to talk
about?
I don't believe, so I thinkwe're going to go ahead and wrap
up this episode.
So, hey, feel free to check usout on social media.
You can find us on Facebook,you can find us on Instagram.
You can find us on Instagram,you can find us on YouTube and
(30:36):
we might even be on X.
You know, it used to be Twitter, we Twitter.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Twitter yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
See, we don't do all that stuff very well.
It's like they talk.
Somebody talked to me todayabout watching the tickety talk
and I'm like I I don't evenunderstand it because I'm old,
but that's okay, that's okay.
So, anyway, until next time.
Uh, yep, I'm jared.
I'm here with my awesome wifelaura, and we'll uh talk to you
(31:07):
later next time.
so, on the date of this recording, it is edwin
hubble's birthday.
Do you know who edwin hubble is?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
is he the hubble telescope guy?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I was pretty sure he created hubble bubble chewing
gum hubba bubba okay, I wasclose.
So today's conversation we aregoing to talk about the
different kind of services thatare accessible I think that's
the right word Accessible forstudents that have an IEP, and
(00:42):
it's kind of shocking to thinkabout all that is that is
offered for students.
So we talked a handful of weeksago about FAPE, or the Free and
Appropriate Public EducationAct, and or not act for an
appropriate public education,public education Paper.
(01:04):
Yeah, anyway, so, in the bestinterest of the students, trying
to provide everything that canbe provided for them, schools,
school districts, offer thesedifferent services, and so we're
going to take just a moment anddiscuss some of these services.
We're going to take just amoment and discuss some of these
(01:28):
services and, uh, but, laura,can you give me like, can you
tell us briefly, why would theseextra services be provided?
Like, what is, what is this?
I mean, I understand the wholeum supplying a free and
appropriate public education,but when we start talking about
things like physical therapy andoccupational therapy and all of
that, why is that lumped inthere?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, a lot of times individuals with disabilities
have comorbid conditions orcomorbid disabilities that are
in addition to or go alongsidewith their condition or their
disability, that can impactdifferent areas of their
(02:13):
development.
Just because somebody has onedisability doesn't mean that it
encompasses that.
You know, having an IEP andworking on academic goals is
going to allow them to make theprogress necessary to be
successful.
So a lot of times you have tohave some related services that
(02:36):
go along with that, andsometimes we have.
We see a lot of times in ourstudents with disabilities.
They have fine motor delays.
They're behind on how to hold apencil, how to cut, how to pull
their pants back up.
There's things that we use ourfingers for.
(03:03):
A lot of times our students havespeech and language delays.
We talked, I think, a littlebit about the expressive and
receptive language delays andthey need someone to come
alongside them.
We need someone to comealongside us to help us with our
(03:23):
students.
Sometimes it can impact ourstudents.
Sometimes it can impact ourstudents that their disabilities
can impact them in a physicalmanner.
Sometimes it's behaviors thatcome along with the conditions
that they have or thedisabilities that they have, and
sometimes these behaviors canbe part of not having these
(03:45):
other functional skills.
There's other medicalconditions that will come along,
that are vision difficulties,some hearing impairments or
deafness, and so there's just aslew of things that can go along
with a disability, andoftentimes it's not just one
(04:09):
thing that you are that we'reworking with when we work with
our students.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And you know, I know, we've seen it multiple times
too where the maybe the deficitsin some of these areas, whether
it be speech or more of aphysical impairment, that it
causes this extra frustration.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
You know, one of the things to consider is, you know
we talk about our students thathave speech services, and so for
some it's you know they'll workon articulation and things of
that manner.
But then sometimes we've gotstudents that can't speak,
they're nonverbal, for the mostpart, can't say anything, so
(04:58):
they learn how to use devicesand sign language and things
like that to be able tocommunicate, because it's I mean
, just I know that we've had theprivilege of going over to um,
going over to ethiopia I knowweird segue, but stay with me
and one of the things that kindof like really hits you in the
(05:18):
face when you're standing in themiddle of their capital city is
that there's nobody around youthat can understand what you're
saying.
Like if you needed to talk tosomebody and you needed help or
you needed direction, you wouldhave to be as creative as
possible to help them understandwhat it is that you're saying
(05:42):
and then, in return, be able tounderstand their response.
And and so I know that thatwhen we stand in a place like
that, it's it's kind of um,overwhelming, it's, it's it's uh
, somewhat can make the anxietykind of flare up a little.
So now let's put ourselves inin the place of one of our
(06:03):
students that is alreadystruggling academically.
But they can't verbalize whatit is that's going on, that's
going on in their mind, that'sgoing on in the way that they
feel, and so that just brings ona whole bunch of frustration.
And if I don't have a healthyway to express what's going on
(06:28):
inside of me, it's got to comeout in the form of behavior.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
And so, and that's just I mean, that's just one
small piece of the puzzle Thento consider, you know, if
there's, if a child has acertain physical restriction or,
along with that, whether it'shearing or vision, or you know
if there's, if a child has acertain physical restriction or,
along with that, whether it'shearing or vision, or there's
added, there's added stressthat's going to Prohibit them
(06:55):
from engaging in their schoolmaterials and assessments and to
be able to engage with what itis that they're being asked to
do.
And then, like you, add all thison top of it and it's just
incredibly frustrating, I'm sure, for those students.
(07:18):
So let's talk just a little bitabout what are some of those
services that are out there.
That, because I got to tell youI, you know, I, when xander was
small, before we even got intoall the sped world ourselves, um
, it was one of those, like I'dshow up to a meeting and and
they'd have to tell me well,here's, here's what he needs and
(07:41):
it's like, okay, well, yeah,that this is what y'all do, this
is your world, but would havenever guessed that there were so
many different supports outthere, and so what we do know is
that, again talking about FAPE,that the government has set
forward to say, all right, togive these students the best
(08:03):
shot possible, here are someother services that we're going
to put out there so that theycan engage, so they can engage
at their highest potential withwhatever materials are given to
them.
So what are some of those?
We already talked about speecha little bit, but what are some
of the other ones?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
right.
Well, you know, touching on thatspeech and um therapy, that um,
I think that's probably themost common, that almost most
individuals that have an iepthat are in like our setting and
then more of the small groupadapt curriculum, they're going
(08:43):
to have that speech therapy, um,and you also have students that
have an IEP only for speech.
You have students that haveIEPs just for academics, but
when I think one of the mostprevalent provider or additional
services is is speech, and youtalked about articulation, and I
(09:05):
think a lot of times whenthey're and I'm sure we'll learn
a little more about this in thefuture episodes but they work
on the things that the studentsneed to be successful and
sometimes articulation isn't oneof the first things that they
(09:26):
work on, because if they canunderstand the child enough,
they're.
It's like oh no, we got tofocus on some of these other
things, which that was one ofthe things I found.
That was interesting when Ifirst started in the school
system is that's what I thoughtspeech did.
Well, they taught you how totalk, right.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Makes sense.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Right.
But no, they work on a varietyof skills and whether it's just
having conversations, teachingthe children how to say good
morning and how to playcooperatively sometimes and
those things positional words,verbs and nouns, I mean all
(10:09):
sorts of things.
So it's not just they're goinghere to learn how to talk, it's
really an encompassingcommunication.
Then, another service that alot of our students are
qualified for is occupationaltherapy.
I think we touched on this alittle bit in one of our other
episodes, because people think,well, occupational therapy,
(10:31):
that's the therapy that you getfor doing jobs or skills, and
well, in the school setting,that school is our kids' jobs,
and so the occupationaltherapist will come in and work
on those fine motor skills tohelp them be able to do the
things needed in school.
(10:52):
Now are there outsideoccupational therapy, of course,
and they can work.
They'll work more on theeveryday living tasks, but in
the school setting it's moremaking sure that they can hold
their pencil, making sure theycan use scissors or use a glue
(11:12):
stick, and then, you know,making sure that they're not
writing their letters alldifferent sizes, and so that's
what the occupational therapyprovides, and you want me to
keep going.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Sure, well, or I can say this like so I know that we
we've been able to work withsome really cool occupational
therapists over the years, butthe one that we get to work with
now is really cool because,like so, over the summer, my dog
bit my finger off well, not mywhole finger, but the top third
of it and it was gross it was.
It was like hanging there byskin and anyway.
(11:50):
So yeah, I know it was a it wasa crazy experience but it was
really great to be able to go toher after, you know, talking to
the doctors and all and justsimple things that she was able
to share with with me about howto help work in my finger back
into where I can use it, BecauseI mean, the finger was stiff,
(12:12):
as could be, because it was allwrapped up for so long that it
was just like I had thisperpetual middle finger.
And I'm surprised I didn't getyelled at more things thrown at
me because it was just likealways sticking up and I wasn't
doing it on purpose, I promiseum but her understanding of how,
(12:33):
like the joints and, oh, I hitmy microphone but her
understanding of how you knowthe joints and the fingers work
and all that, and to be able togive me some some direction on
how to get where I can use myhands.
So now you know, take that sameconcept into for a student that
you know may have more strugglethan just they got the top of
(12:55):
their finger bit off right.
Some like real developmentalissues that.
So now again, kind of like wedid with the whole I was talking
about the whole Ethiopia thingtake a kid and put them in a
classroom and ask them to writea sentence.
Well, one.
Most kids don't want to writesentences, right?
(13:17):
I don't like writing sentences.
I'm 47 years old and I don'tlike writing sentences, but I
just don't like it.
It's not that I can't do it.
So now you know, again, putyourself in the place of one of
these kids that they go toschool, there's academic
(13:37):
requirements, but I can't hold apencil right.
So how in the world am I goingto be able to spend any of my
time focusing in on what you'retrying to teach me when I can't?
I can't write it Right, and so,again, that's another place
where one of these servicessteps in to help give this
platform for the child to, forthe student to be able to engage
(14:03):
more in their education.
So what else we got?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Physical therapy.
Yep, I don else.
We got Physical therapy.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yep, I don't know anything about that one.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
No.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Nope, other than it's therapy and it's physical Right
.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Does that make you think of?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
that song?
What was it?
Let's get physical.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Sorry, it's okay.
Anyways, I have the voice of anangel.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So now I know a little bit about physical
therapy.
So remember again we're talkingabout, like all school based
Right.
So there is a big difference andin the near future we're going
to have people on to that knowthat understand this stuff way
better than I do anyway.
I do anyway.
(14:52):
But the physical therapy in aschool, setting the purpose
behind it or the point is tohelp the child to participate,
or the student to participate inwhat's going on.
So if we can give this extraphysical therapy, the hope is
that in turn, that student willbe able to engage in the same
things that his typicallydeveloping peers engage in,
(15:12):
right?
So, given that extra step, thatextra, that extra push so that
they can experience To thefullest extent the same thing
that their friends areexperiencing.
So friends are experiencing so.
So with that, with the physicaleducation, it can again, it can
work on our physical education.
(15:33):
That's PE Physical therapy.
What it does, is it?
It helps them to not only gofurther in their schooling, but
then there is consideration forfuture employment, right?
So it's all of these thingsbuild on each other, right, for
the betterment of the child.
Because it's not.
You know, people don't?
(15:59):
I don't know that anybody wouldever say or agree to the idea
that.
You know, let's just get ourkids in school until they age
out, and then you know who cares.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Just stick them in a room somewhere or whatever, but
the idea is not any differentfor students with disabilities
than those that are, again, thetypically developing.
The school is to help childrennot only just learn things, not
just learn math and reading andall of that, but learn how to
(16:37):
interact with people, learn howto be in a community, learn how
to have a conversation right.
All of these things are a partof school educational
development for people and thewhole idea behind it is so that
once you have finished this timehere, go be a contributing
member to society, go and giveback to the place, the area that
(17:02):
you live in, and the studentswith disability world, the
special education world, is notany different.
We still work to help thesechildren be who they can be, to
be a contributing member in thesociety that they live in, and
(17:26):
so when it comes to the physicaltherapy during the course of
their school career, it mightallow them to get a job at some
other position or at some otherplace after school, simply
because now they have anotherjob, they have another ability
(17:49):
they can bring to the table.
And so now I can I can bend overand pick this up, or I can move
from this point to this pointstable, right, and so then it's
just another, like I said,another thing that they can
bring to the table and findingemployment and contributing to
something bigger than themselves.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
I know you had touched on also about like
communities and you'd say to oneanother one of our episodes
that you know, when theIndividuals, they grow up and
they become adults and theydepending on what their
caregivers plan for them, is, ifthey, if, if the desire is for
(18:30):
them to move out and go to acommunity setting, the more
skills that they have and themore adaptive skills they have,
the more they can do forthemselves, the better chances
of them being accepted intothese different communities or
(18:52):
living facilities, and so, likeyou said it is, it's that
continuum there.
You have to look at them.
Even those pre-K andkindergarten, even babies, can't
wait.
Is that it's all trying toprepare them for that
post-secondary life?
Speaker 1 (19:13):
well, and we found too that in a lot of our
research and looking for thingsfor the you know, future,
possible future for xander isthat it's very similar to to
students that are start applyingto colleges and the more things
that you can have on thatresume when you apply to a
college, the better chance youhave of being accepted into that
(19:34):
college, right?
So, if you know, if I apply to Idon't know Harvard and I have a
do they still have D's inschool now, a D average or
whatever right I have notpositioned myself very well for
that right.
I've not taken the time.
(19:55):
If I haven't doneextracurriculars, if I haven't
done all this other stuff beeninvolved in different groups and
different programs anddifferent this and different
that if I haven't done thingsthat catch the eye of the
decision makers at thateducational setting, I'm not
going to be accepted.
Well, we found that when itcomes to students with
disabilities, that the more theycan bring to the table, the
(20:18):
better chance they have of beingaccepted into these different
areas, because what they don'twant is this is you know, you
don't want to push somebody intoan environment that they cannot
, that they cannot function,they cannot um function function
or even thrive.
Thrive, that's the word, thankyou very much.
That they can't thrive andbecause?
(20:39):
Then it just adds to thefrustration, right for them.
It adds to the frustration ofthe people that are running the
program and it'll take away fromwhat they can do.
For the ones that can thrive,right.
Never suggesting that anybody'sless valuable.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
But there are.
There are opportunities outthere for everybody, of every
different.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Ability yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
And so, and so, to take the time now, as you say
quite often, do all the hardwork up front.
It better prepares thosestudents for those options down
the road.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
It's true.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
I know I said it.
That's all I do is say truethings Sometimes.
So what do we talk about?
We talked about OTPT speech,what else?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
what else is there?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
what else yeah?
So there also is there's visiontherapy now that I really don't
know anything about and I thinkI'm fairly new to this too.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
It was Andrew's teacher last year and the year
before she left the classroom tofulfill this spot, which
apparently is definitely neededin the county.
But oddly enough it isn'talways offered.
Offered it can kind of go stateby state.
(22:15):
Um, some states say it's amedical service and so it's not
covered under idea.
Um, other states do offer itbut what it does is it helps.
Um, the vision therapists willcome in and they'll work with
the students and try to helpretrain their brain so they
understand and process thatvisual information more
(22:39):
effectively and efficiently.
And so you know, throughdifferent activities and
different exercises they workwith them to be able to help
them understand what it isthey're seeing.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And I think that's a really important thing to
identify issues.
It's not about just having poorvision, like I know.
We've been, again fortunateenough to hang around a lot of
people that know a lot of thingsthat we don't.
Again, fortunate enough to hangaround a lot of people, I know
a lot of things that we don't,and, for instance, we've talked
about how myself, when I'mreading a book, or if I'm
reading something online that my, for whatever reason, my eyes
(23:20):
are like drawn to the spacebetween the sentences, right,
and then I have to I end upreading the same line over and
over and, you know, kind of losemy place.
I have to I end up reading thesame line over and over and, you
know, kind of lose my place.
And so now I'm using all thistime to try to figure out what
I'm reading that I'm notspending a whole lot of time
(23:42):
comprehending what I'm reading,so I have to keep going over it
over and over and over again.
Vision would assist in notnecessarily just being able to
see, but that communication thattakes place from whatever it is
that the student's looking at,to processing it in their mind
(24:02):
right, seeing what's there andthen, at the same time, being
able to walk down that path of Isee this, I understand it as
this comprehending what it isthat I see in the moving on from
there, versus spending thatextra energy trying to say I
don't decode or stay focused onthe line or whatever other
(24:27):
things might get in the way ofof being able to really
understand what it is thatyou're seeing, right, and so
that's important to keep in mindas well.
And we know that there'shearing services and those can
range from like I know I've seensituations where it was there's
(24:47):
a little bit of time thatsomeone would come in and work
with making sure that the childis taking care of their hearing
aids properly and that they'restaying clean and functional and
you know, adding support thatway.
And then there's other areaswhere there's more sitting and
(25:07):
working with the student.
Do you have anything to add tothat?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Just like you said, they come in and they, whether
it be just partial hearing lossor complete hearing loss, and so
there seems like there's awhole range of help that can be
given there, and I know we'vealso seen where the the county
will go out and find people thatthat know sign language, that
(25:38):
can speak to those that are deafor hard of hearing, that that
know how to sign um, and so thereason we bring all this up in
in this manner is it's importantto know that.
I think when you have a lawlike idea right, it can be
(26:04):
interpreted in many differentways, and so I think that what
it is we in sharing thisinformation, what we want to put
out there, is it.
If you think your kid needs itand you don't know if it's there
, ask questions.
Definitely find out Right, dig,push, talk to your, your kid's
(26:29):
teacher, talk to anybody that isinvolved in in that world.
And, hey, is there somethingthat can be done about this?
I see this taking place in mykid's life.
I see this that I think mightbe a hangup.
Is there something out therethat can help them work through
this particular issue?
Um, because if you don't,there's a good chance that it
(26:54):
may not happen, and it's notnecessarily anybody's fault.
It's not a matter of people justtrying to not provide services
for kids.
Is that?
There's a lot out there.
I mean, there's a lot of kidsout there that need special
education services, right?
We know that, like we've saidbefore at the national level,
(27:16):
that 15% of our public schoolstudents are being served with
an IEP.
Some may just be speech, likeyou said earlier, some may focus
more on academic, but not allof them.
So there's a lot out there andit's easy for students to kind
(27:38):
of fall under the radar.
So there's nothing wrong with aparent, a guardian, going to a
special education teacher andsaying, hey, I'm really
concerned about this.
Is there anybody that can help,right?
Um, because I know that, whilewe know we don't know everything
, we know a lot of people right,and so we'll ask the questions.
(27:59):
Find out and uh and so and soreally, that's, that's the whole
thing, and we haven't even.
I mean, that's just the onesthat we know about.
We know there's all kinds ofstuff out there.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
And there's we didn't talk about APE, which is the
Adaptive Physical Education, andthat's for the students that
can't physically, can't do do PE, participate in PE, Not the
(28:32):
ones that just won't.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I know we have several that just won't do it,
but it makes me sweat, but thisis for the ones that physically
cannot.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
They physically cannot kick a ball, they
physically cannot catch or throwor jump, and yeah, that's what
the adaptive PE is for.
And then I don't know if you'dcall it a service, the ABA,
(29:06):
applied Behavior Analysis and Iknow we have providers that come
in and do some observations andwork with teachers and I don't
believe that's like a servicethat our county offers at this
time.
In this classroom, however, wedo have access to those
therapists that come in and helpthe teachers with some of those
(29:30):
behaviors and give them someSome guidance, some direction.
Support yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, I'm not good with words.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Not methodology.
Give them, yeah, give themMemeology Symbolism.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, give them the good Mamiology Symbolism.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Yeah, practices, and yeah, help them.
I think they get it.
Give them some help.
Yeah, I think they get it.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I think y'all know what we're trying to say If
you're teachers and you'relistening.
Yes, we are teacher-tired, yes,so.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
I think.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Is there anything else that we wanted to talk
about?
I don't believe, so I thinkwe're going to go ahead and wrap
up this episode.
So, hey, feel free to check usout on social media.
You can find us on Facebook,you can find us on Instagram.
You can find us on Instagram,you can find us on YouTube and
(30:36):
we might even be on X.
You know, it used to be Twitter, we Twitter.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Twitter yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
See, we don't do all that stuff very well.
It's like they talk.
Somebody talked to me todayabout watching the tickety talk
and I'm like I I don't evenunderstand it because I'm old,
but that's okay, that's okay.
So, anyway, until next time.
Uh, yep, I'm jared.
I'm here with my awesome wifelaura, and we'll uh talk to you
(31:07):
later next time.
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