Looking back #2...

FINALLY! it was time to wrap up my master's program and teacher certification for special education.

I wasn't at the university this one day that I'm going to write about in my blog today, instead I was substitute teaching at my kids' elementary school, Chance Elementary. Later I discovered that the building's principal, Judy Musgraves, hadn't been at Chance that day, she was in Columbia attending a meeting.

At her meeting she happened to strike up a conversation with a principal from Columbia. At the time I never would have predicted anything would come out of their conversation. However, their conversation would affect the rest of my life. No, not affect my life, dramatically change my life!

Mrs. Musgraves' conversation had been with Dr. Jack Jensen, who at the time was the principal at Two Mile Prairie Elementary School. Their conversation went something like this:

Dr. Jensen: "Judy, I need to hire a special education teacher.  I have a teacher who is leaving immediately. Do you know any special educators looking for a position?"      

Mrs. Musgraves: "Yes. She's substitute teaching in my building right now." 

By the time I arrived back home that evening the light on my answering machine was flashing, indicating a message was waiting for me.
They say there are no such things as coincidences. I agree.  It was no coincidence that day; everything happened the way it was meant to happen.

The next day I was back substitute teaching and Mrs. Musgraves arranged for me to take a call from Dr. Jensen.  The rest, as they say, is history!  From there I went to Two Mile Prairie, interviewed for the teaching position, and was offered that very position the following day.

Wait. Remember, all I really wanted was to rest for a bit? Rest. What a luxury it seemed to be. And the thought of simply doing NOTHING did flash through my mind the second I heard Two Mile Prairie needed a Special Educator. But I never looked back.

From the moment I went into that interview for the position everything began to fall into place!

From here the journey took on a new route.  Well, maybe not as much a new route or a new beginning as much as a continuation along the path that I was meant to travel!

Looking back...

It was the fall of 1998 and I was nearing the end of my master's degree program for special education. It had been a long process happening over several years of time and I could not wait for it to be done so I could ... do absolutely NOTHING!

I know, master's degrees don't normally take four or five years to complete, but I had been a single mom through much of this school process -raising my four children on my own, along with working a part-time job, and substitute teaching for grades from special education preschool, to at risk high schoolers, to everything in-between.

Getting this degree had been a very long process, needless to say. I took several classes every semester, oh, but did I tell you that right in the middle of it all, I quit.  I'd had a growing feeling there was more to learn, more that I needed to learn, and that I wasn't learning all I should in the program I was in. But as time went by I knew that I had to finish what I'd already started, so I returned.

And now, somehow, the end of my program finally came in-sight.  How that happened I can only speculate because it seemed that the end only grew further and further away as time progressed on.

Did I mention that all I wanted to do when the end did finally roll around ... after years of raising four kids, in the woods where we had goats and trees galore; helping my children with their schooling, and activities and interests ... where we did 4-H projects and I lead 4-H groups, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, youth groups, Sunday school classes ---man, the list goes on and on and on. Now my degree was finally coming to the stopping point and all I could imagine was

-NOTHING.

Nothing but resting; finally, resting! 

Do you know those times when you think you've got everything all figured out.  Times you're certain that finally the order that's meant to be has arrived. Times when the ending point is right around the corner. That's how I finally felt. It was so close all of a sudden I could taste it.

I was wrong, so wrong. Because just when I was sure I had it all constructively accounted for I was let in on a little secret: it wasn't the end, it was only the beginning. 

Because one day as graduation neared I got a phone call that would change everything.
Come back tomorrow to read about that phone call that changed everything.

What Not to Wear

I confess, on Sunday afternoon I was sitting lazily reclining in my living room, barely awake. An episode of "What Not to Wear" with Stacey London and Clinton Kelly came on; you know TLC TV's show where radical wardrobe transformations happen. Suddenly something caught my attention and I woke up.

As I started watching in earnest, my chair went from reclining to upright. I needed a better viewing angle. This show featured a 30-something mom, Amanda, who is an at-home-blogger. The at-home blogger description sounds like a perfect scenario for someone who's staging a clothing style revolt, right? This What Not to Wear candidate leisurely spends her day in over-sized T-shirts and sweat pants.  Sounds comfortably okay, right?

If I told you that fashion and dyslexia have similarities would you argue with me? As I began watching the show that's all I could think about...the similarities of the two.

If you know someone in need of a complete fashion transformation and you are willing to help make it happen, submit an application and recent photos to nominate her as soon as possible...

That's from an online page for getting people on the What Not to Wear show; but check out those words, "complete fashion transformation." Transformation.  Now that's what I'm talking about!

Here's a link to listen to the pronunciation of Transformation (listening to the correct pronunciation can be helpful for dyslexics who can mix-up the sounds of trigger words.)  http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transformation

             Here's one definition of transformation:

1. A marked change in appearance or character, especially one for the better.

As to transformation, here's where it happens: hiding behind the clothes is a mom doing what she loves -writing.  At the same time this woman feels something's missing.  On the outside she wears a sign which is a phony smile plastered over her true feelings -those are her words.

In her writing she jots down little quips that send out jabs.  Phrases like "I'm the dumb mom," and "I don't feel like a grown-up" fill her mind and her blog pages. On the outside she sticks to the persona of a writer; she's a blog conferences speaker and successful in her own right. On the inside it's not enough.

Not even Stacey and Clinton will tell you that clothes are all you need. In my business where the clay is like the clothes someone might hide behind there's more to it. It's more than the mental tools and theories that we trust in...it's about what's deep within our soul. 

What Not to Wear candidates have no idea their fashion choices are connected to self-esteem. My clients usually have no idea that clay therapy has the power to change how we feel about ourselves. But it happens.

Stacey and Clinton spent a week guiding Amanda down the friendly fashion path. In the end they equipped her for real life back home. Yes, she learned fashion rules and spent $5,000 on brand new clothes, but it was more than the money or the material goods; it was a transformation.

"I feel like I have more control over my live", she said, after the make-over week. 

"Now I'm the real Amanda". 

What have you worked hard to cover up (poor handwriting skills, difficulty reading out-loud, lousy spelling....) Check out the these 37 Common Traits of Adult Dyslexia

http://www.dyslexia.com/library/adult-symptoms.htm

Need help navigating all of this? Give us a call at 573-819-6010 or email us at onpointlearning@yahoo.com

What Not to Wear link: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/what-not-to-wear
 

Finding the GENIUS inside those kids who like to talk back!

In the beginning, sometime after I began drawing landscape plans when I was about 5 years old, to the time I started working in a greenhouse in high school, I had a saying: I like working with plants because they don't talk back!

Not sure where that phrase came from because other than having a very talkative little sister I had no real experience with "talking back."

So to move out of the woods, where I'd been living with 100 year old mighty oak trees for 25 years has been a learning process for me. But now, in some crazy, stubborn, red-headed way (No, I DON'T have a temper to go with that red-hair; well, maybe a little bit!) my heart says: "you don't live in the country anymore, you can't still love the trees".  I know, it's just an emotional response; really I KNOW that.

But knowing something doesn't necessarily halt your imagination's super-power that makes crazy things seem real. Plus, remnants from the three-phased moving process from last year, I guess, are still in my mind adding to the mix.

When the seasons began to change last fall, my first seasonal change in my new house, I had a new  adjustment to city living. Literally. Without the canopy of old oaks covering my house's view of the sky it truly was a new beginning. Now I can see the maples.

The maple trees in my new neighborhood began drifting into hibernation last fall with an  outlandishly vibrant transformation. From green to scarlet, to crimson; to colors of red I felt like I'd never seen before.

It certainly wasn't the same as my life in the country but even a gal with an Ag degree can survive in the city. Right?  I could survive AND enjoy it!

I like kids who talk back!
When my children were young, without me even being conscious of the change, an encroachment for all things educational began it's movement. It overpowered my love for flora. I'll blame my children -their educations made me a junkie!

One day when my oldest daughter was in elementary school her teacher came to me with a concern.

Teacher: "I don't know what to do with her. She answers every question correctly on all the tests we've given."

Me: "Is there anything I can do to help?"

And she said?
The next day I was right back at the school.  Before I got 15 feet into the building I was directed into the principals office. (Fortunately, I loved that principal.)

(Through my whole school career, I'd only been in the principal's office once. That was in 4th grade. I was only a messenger for my dad. That terrified me!)

The principal quickly got to the point and said that my offer to help had alarmed the teacher. To this day I really don't understand why that was threatening, but it was.

The main point of our conversation should have been how to better meet the growing academic needs of my child -and to the principal's credit I always found her to be a good child advocate-but now I know there's so much more we can do.

But that was one of my experiences in the early days of converting from a "I like trees because the don't talk back" kind of gal to a "I love working with the kids that talk back."

In Monday's Columbia Tribune the editor, Hank Waters, had a saying at the end of his editorial that said:

To teach is to learn twice. 

I can teach you about trees; identify their genus and species, but what I truly love, more than my beloved oak and maple trees, is finding the GENIUS inside those kids who like to talk back! 



Trees beginning to turn to red this fall

It took an act of GOD
I lived in the woods for a quarter-of-a-century. Trees were my first love. I knew it would take an act of God to get me out of the woods.  And it did.

Trees have their own special way of exposing color, transposing the sunlight into a million shades and hues a human cannot re-create.

But I have a new love. Sunsets. For Christmas my daughter gave me some new chairs that fit perfectly into the small alcove in front of the high-arched window in my upstairs office. I've grown to love the view up there. It transforms me every time I walk into the room, as dusk approaches.  I look out at the twilight sky, sitting in my new chairs ... my goodness, it is breath taking.

My view is not from a majestic mountaintop or the shore at the mighty expanse of the ocean; nor from a vast desert or a beautiful city skyline -still it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Last night was not one of those nights where a spectacular scene unfolded. Most people probably drove on to their destinations totally unaware of the sky.

But they missed something.

The Stopping Point
It was mostly a dreary, gray-blue sky but as the time came for the sun to hit that certain point of the horizon, a vibrant orange-rose color shot up. It arched over the earth presenting a beautiful contrast to the events of the day and said: STOP.

The tufts of clouds higher up reminded me of a tie-dye fabric I'd once used for a Girl Scout project. But it was not a simple pattern. The formation moved along ever so slightly. Looking more closely, the contrast of the movement of the clouds to the lines of the window panes, I saw it was all moving so much faster than I'd expected.  I'll never look at the sky in the same way.

A few months of nightly watching the transition of late afternoon, to evening, to dusk, to night has changed me. Such beauty that's as multifaceted as our fingerprints or the patterns of a snowflake. Amazing.

And peaceful.

There's so Much More
As evening approached I had a call from a mom. She told me of the years she's searched for answers. Her son is smart, and works oh, so hard, but never seems to catch up in reading, writing.... She wonders what it's going to be like when he goes to middle school and the work gets tougher. And relationships become more complicated. He looks like a kid who is smart. Someone who should be able to get it but the teachers can't understand ... because after all, they're only teaching the same way they learned. If they learned this way, why can't he?

But as I looked at the gray winter sky at the end of a very cold day and saw the tie-dye tufts of fabric-puffed-up-sky floating along I thought to myself about the sky. Isn't it just a dark dreary night? No.

Even in the least likely of places, like the winter sky, there is such majestic beauty.

Forgive me for comparing a child to a bleak wintry sky because in the children we have a light that shines brighter than almost any other we could possibly know; our hope, our future and our promise.

But if you could only hear the voices of the parents who call me, seeking answers to their questions about the children that many have given up on, you would understand just what I'm talking about.

I know tomorrow, or maybe the day after, the sun will shine again. And I also know that there's all the reason in the world why the young man I just told you about can find the dawning of a new way of learning and life for himself.

A Little Mark Twain RESEARCH!

Research?

Recently I've read articles that detail how parents should deal with their child's IEP (Individual Education Plan -gives specific goals and measurements for a student's education.)

One article was geared toward parents of dyslexic children and had ideas about working with an IEP team. But there's something I'd like to clear up.  Often the IEP team members don't know they’re dealing with dyslexia. Most classroom teachers and special educators are not knowledgeable about dyslexia nor are they dyslexic therapists.

The discussions I read were mostly child centered but I didn't agree with this statement that was suggested for parents to follow: 

I would like my child to be taught using a research-based program that is directly responsive to his/her individual needs. Under IDEA and NCLB he/she should be taught by a highly-qualified teacher. I would like the curriculum you are using to be noted in the Notes section of the IEP, and I would like to see the research that indicates that this curriculum will be effective for my student. Furthermore, I would like evidence that the teacher has received training in teaching reading to students with dyslexia. I would like progress reports every month, and I will be sending someone to observe my student during specialized academic instruction.
 

I really have nothing against research-based methodology, I love research; but, what's actually behind the research is the real question. 

Mark Twain

In the 1990's I plunged into the upper levels of educational math -a foreign area to me- but Assistant Professor, Leslie Lukin, made the area of statistics come to life for me. 

I remember Dr. Lukin leading several discussions about the phrase "liars, damned liars, and statisticians", a quip originally made popular by writer Mark Twain. 

Just because something is research-based, and has statistics behind it, does not necessarily give it a golden-seal that magically makes it applicable. 

Where's the Research?

A website known as What Works Clearinghouse: Students with Learning Disabilities is backed by an unbiased and independent group who conduct thorough reviews of the current research literature and critically assess the evidence. They concluded: 

" ...well-established programs in use in many schools, including Orton-Gillingham based tutoring; Wilson Reading System, Alphabetic Phonics, and Barton Reading System... the traditional, phonics based instructional approaches to dyslexia that schools today are most likely to offer in an IEP, and that parents are most likely to request – are not supported by even a single scientific study that passes muster, according to the US agency in charge of evaluating such research."

Read that Statement Again

If parents continue looking for 'research-based' information without looking into the actual methods themselves, we have a problem.  If we use the information from the clearing house, trusting that their unbiased conclusions are saying the methods often found in the schools are not truly effective, where do we turn from there?  

If you aren't giving students in our schools tools that are actually working how can we show in an IEP setting that any of this is really working? 

Rounding Up

*I’ll never forget walking into Dr. Lukin's class on the final day of the semester for our educational measurement class. As I walked in the room and past her desk she whispered, < "I round up!". >  

What?  

"I round up...you scored 89.7% in the class." 

Ah, it seemed like an eternity passed but finally what she was hinting at made sense. My grade for the semester was an 'A' !*

Now, I don't know about the research behind Dr. Lukin's teaching but there was obviously something in her methods that worked for me!

Link to What Works Clearinghouse:

http://www.dyslegia.com/position-statements/position-statement-scientifically-based-research/


Link to the Davis Dyslexia methods: 
http://www.dyslexia.com/program.htm 

The Beautiful Face of Autism

In the News
When stories hit the news that talk about how real people deal with dyslexia and autism in their personal lives, it gives us a genuine perspective on what it means to live with these differences.

This week the story of Alexis Wineman, who will represent Montana in the Miss America pageant, has been a popular feature.

Ms. Wineman, who is 18 years old, is the youngest contestant in the pageant this year. That's not the only thing that separates her from the others competing for the title of Miss America: she's also autistic.  

In fact, she's the first contestant diagnosed with autism, to be part of the pageant.

"Diagnosed at 11, Wineman says she has "very mild symptoms," including melting down in stressful situations, occasional difficulty communicating and taking things literally. But she says these things are now a part of who she is and hopes her pageant appearance will help raise awareness for others coping with autism." 

Autism Diagnosis
Alexis' symptoms of -taking things too literally, -having melt downs in stressful situations, -needing time and tools to help her focus, are all part of why she was diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder and mild autism at the age of 11.

"for the longest time I just wanted to know what was wrong with me." 

This beauty queen says that diagnosis at age 11 came too late; a diagnosis at birth would have been better she feels. Regardless, her struggles lead her to feel that graduating from high school would never happen because of her difficulties with autism.

I can only speculate why she feels this label came too late for her, because, she's certainly reaching toward goals that not everyone obtains, like training herself for public speaking, putting herself into situations where quality competition and presentation skills are essential, plus having the self-assuredness that's required to be in the limelight; and now she's preparing to go to college. These are all things that say she's already taken great strides to be the best she can be.

But Alexis feels there's more. Now she's ready to show off her talents and skills, in front of a live audience and television viewers, where pose and sophistication will reign.  After tonight, regardless of the results of the pageant, she will continue to spread her message.

'Oops, wrong planet' has been used to talk about people who are on the autism spectrum but Miss Montana says she's just someone with a few differences, someone who wants to continue to change, and to become the best person she can be. Sounds like a goal anyone could have!

Here Are the Facts
"Most people do not understand what autism is." Wineman explains in her online finalist video.

"And one in 88 people having some form of autism -- this understanding is becoming more and more necessary "   -Alexis Wineman

For more information on the Davis Autism Approach: http://www.davisautism.com/what_daa.html

To read more about Alexis Wineman: http://www.examiner.com/article/miss-montana-coping-with-autism