As the Parkland students continue to show the adults what mature behavior looks like, an unfortunate subtopic that we never thought that we would have to deal with is- should any special precautions be taken for children with disabilities in situations involving school lockdown, evacuations or other crises?
Here is an interview of two special education professors on this topic. Here is an excerpt:
What’s the best way for parents to address these problems?
Dusty: Start with the teacher and the IEP team. There has to be an administrator on the IEP team, and that initial discussion can happen with all of the professionals who have direct contact and influence over the child and the policy. We are certainly going to recommend having an Individual Emergency and Lockdown Plan© (IELP) in place for the student. This way, we address teaching and progress on learning the required skills for surviving a lockdown or emergency at school as an integral part of the student’s learning experience. Going over our Teacher’s Emergency Plan Procedural Checklist with the IEP team allows all of the stakeholders to be on the same page, so to speak.
Laura: The best way for parents to support these problems is to be an active part of the IEP team. In this circumstance, it truly does take a village to support our children, and we need to be prepared to involve more than just our immediate school team.
We recommend including local first responders and any medical personnel if the student has any medical needs, and behavioral support personnel if the student has any behavioral concerns. The IELP is a great tool to help teams start to develop the crucial supports needed
A deeper dive is given by these professors in a published article here.
I have been a LIFE Skills teacher for 6 years. We have had a number of lights out, lock down, lock out drills, and 1 - what we thought was a real event. My first year was in a Behavior School, so the students were typically loud and rambunctious. Never, and I repeat, NEVER have we had any trouble with the students making noises and being out of control. Why? We practice. We practice, and practice, and practice. We make it clear to EVERYONE, including the adults that are in the room, that every time we do it, it is not play time. I have a bag that is packed, and it has snacks, books, and a ton of squishy toys, for stress. We have been so successful that no one knew we were in the bathroom, or room, and they leave after checking. Twice, we were left in the room for 45 minutes to an hour.
ReplyDeleteMy point: It can be done safely. There is no reason to have problems like that. We keep a dim light in our area, AND I have the door weatherstripped to block any light from showing around the door.
My kids will be safe, as long as there is breath in my body. I have committed to that.
AW,
DeleteThank you for your thoughts.
JG
Many thanks to Dusty and Laura for addressing something that is very important, but most of us take for granted. While many schools routinely practice for crises, I must admit that, in my own experience, little attention is given to the implications this has on children with special needs. Even though we have inclusive classrooms, I work for a small town, public school and there is not a large population of students with exceptionally significant needs that would warrant an individualized emergency plan. There may only be 2 students district-wide that would need this level of support, and I certainly hope they are getting it. That being said however, there are a multitude of students that should receive some minor modifications/accommodations in emergency drills and actual emergencies. While they may successfully get to safety, educators need to mindful of the potential stress and trauma on a child in these loud and chaotic situations. With careful planning, this stress and trauma can be minimized or eliminated altogether. This article and it's corresponding links have been eye-opening and will certainly make me mindful of putting appropriate supports in place to insure successful crises plans for ALL students.
ReplyDeleteDiana,
DeleteThanks for your comment,
JG
This is fabulous! It is, truly, the best resource I have seen. I am a special ed advocate working for a state PTI and I plan to share this with all of my teacher friends, our co-op, and schools.
ReplyDeleteUK,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Please feel free to share!
JG