12/7/90
Thank you for letting me observe speech & OT yesterday. I liked what I saw in both. When I was observing the class I noticed a couple of things that disturbed me.
- One was Kat's speech. Please try to use two words and have her say them whenever you refer to her or ask her to do something.
- I noticed that you were using prepared popcorn which is loaded with preservatives. I f you have a problem making the other popcorn let me know. We can make it at home and send it to you.
- I noticed that Kat and the other children stim a lot more when they are waiting for things. It would help if you could keep her occupied when something needs to be done. I will be happy to send a video so that Kat can watch while you have to attend to other things.
Danuta
12/7/90
Teacher:
I was a little disturbed by your note. We use two words or more with directions- at times directions are short to emphasize clarity for the children. For waiting-during snack- the goal is for students to use their language to express want's/needs through prompting.... I appreciate your input on video tapes, however we do not feel it is appropriate to work on during snack, etc. as waiting is a target goal. Cosac has been in & gave a lot of positive feedback.
I guess I touched a sensitive nerve, a little defensive don't you think? I bet you Cosac saw everyone on their best behavior. They did not see kids separated in another room doing nothing. They did not see you lock the kid in the chair contraption, who came up with this thing. anyway. That chair looked so much like an electric chair for executions, all was missing was some wires to give a kid an electric shock periodically. But we can't always say what we think can we.
12/7/90
I may have "not clearly" stated some of the items when I wrote in the note. I was writing it very quickly. What I meant about the two words is to have Kat say minimum of two words each time everyone refersto her. What we do at home is we require Kat to look at us with a physical prompt and have her say what she needs to do. I believe that she needs to constantly practice the eye contact and the speech. I could stop by this week to demonstrate what I mean if you'd like. It might be easier than trying to explain. (Cosac has thought us this method and it seems to work at home. I found that Kat is a lot more vocal at home than what I saw at school. She might have had a bad day. I will try and observe next week if you can tell me what is the best time.)
Atta girl, when they throw experts in your face throw them back in theirs. As I was learning more and more about autism I was starting to turn into Kat's advocate. They saw Kat for 3 hours five days a week, that's 15 hours, I knew her the remaining 153 hours each week, who is the expert on Kat?
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