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Overwhelmed special educators: Reduce your stress and support student success with this practical toolkit for whole-classroom organization. A lifesaver for special educators in any K 12 setting, this book-and-CD set will help teachers expertly manage everything, from schedules and paperwork to student supports and behavior plans.

Cindy Golden, a seasoned special educator, administrator, and psychologist with almost 30 years of experience, has based this teacher-friendly toolkit on her popular OMAC (Organization and Management of All Classrooms) system an innovative approach to creating effective classrooms for students with all types of disabilities. Special educators will get step-by-step, ready-to-use guidance on managing six key aspects of their daily work:

1. Environment. Make the most of every inch of classroom space! Clean out clutter, arrange furniture to improve traffic flow, and construct classroom zones, work stations, and bulletin board displays that support learning.

2. Communication. Implement low-cost communication supports that meet student needs. Make simple picture symbol books, interactive schedules, labels for classroom areas and objects, and more.

3. Teaching Methods and Materials. Determine student needs, create schedules, simplify the IEP process, and pinpoint the best methods for teaching academic, vocational, behavioral, social, and life skills.

4. Behavioral Systems. Organize a successful behavioral system that motivates students, helps them improve behavior and social skills, and uses positive reinforcement techniques.

5. Data and Paperwork. Learn the secrets to creating a simple, logical, highly efficient system for managing paperwork so more time can be spent on teaching.

6. Staff and Home Supports. Build trusting, respectful relationships with classroom staff and parents with stress-free strategies like team meetings and home communication notebooks.

For each of these critical areas, special educators will discover dozens of proven strategies, vivid examples, and clever tips and tricks to help them make immediate improvements in their classroom. They’ll also get a CD-ROM with more than 60 printable forms and tools they can use right away to support learning, safety, and positive behavior.

This is the ultimate guide for every special educator, from the first-year teacher setting up a new classroom to the seasoned veteran who wants a down-to-earth guide to current best practices.

Teachers will come away empowered and motivated to get and stay organized and they’ll see the positive results year after year in their classrooms.

One of our newest sponsors is the SONS organizational system.  We wanted to introduce the system offered by SONS and a little bit about how it can impact the learning and organizational skills of a child with autism.

Children with autism and poor organizational skills require a structured teaching approach for an effective instruction.  Lack of organization, memorization and planning are just some of the flags that will flash immediately that there is a need to develop structural abilities.

Executive function in humans is the ability to organize, memorize, plan and establish priorities.  Students without well-developed executive functions may experience poor organization skills, resulting in low academic performance and in most cases, will experience frustration and anxiety.  It is widely known by now, that children with autism, will process visual information faster and easier than verbal information.  Providing them with visual materials will promote independence and infuse confidence.

Well-known experts, such as psychologists, therapists, teachers and entities related to this field, have studied, evaluated and theorized on the use of color in the organizational function of people. SONS System is honored to provide our students with an excellent organizational tool that will show improved scholastic performance in a simple, efficient and convenient way.

SONS System provides a logical and convenient solution that uses colors to organize the individual, while creating an immediate recognition of the subject matters at hand, all through association.  With the color coded notebook folders and agenda, the process of organizing is naturally simplified.

To further develop the executive functions in children and teens, SONS System provides the complete package, through the use of color in their school materials. It is crucial for children and students to maximize their learning potential early in life.  SONS System leads to increased performance and productivity, and at the end of the day, it helps to improve grades and the day-to-day of any person using it.

Good organizational skills are key factors for success in school. Get organized! Get SONS!

Dr. Golden’s Interview

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By: Stephanie St. Martin

Johanna C. knows all too well the chaos and anxiety that come with back-to-school season.  The mother of three active boys spends much of her time catering to their various needs: carting them to practices and after-school activities and helping them with their homework. But for her eldest, Jack, who suffers from dyspraxia, a motor-planning disorder that affects speech and motor skills, Johanna’s worries extend beyond the classroom.

Often times, parents become overwhelmed with the planning of a birthday party.   The event planning is even more of a challenge especially if the celebrant is a child with special needs.   For example, social situations present challenges for Jack that most parents don’t even think twice about. “People often plan birthday parties that have activities—arts and crafts, pick up soccer in the backyard, and the trend as of late—laser tag.  Unfortunately, Jack becomes overwhelmed and often can’t participate in the fun.”  Her suggestion is simple: plan an appropriate party for your special needs child and think appropriate inclusion when it comes to party planning.

3 Things to Consider for Your Special Needs Child

1. How Do We Make This Work?:  Rather than overwhelming my son at his party, Johanna needs to consider , ‘How do I make this work for my son and the guests?’ when planning the event.  She usually chooses an activity that allows her son to interact with his friends, but make sure that it isn’t too demanding for him socially requiring constant engagement.  This past year, she and her husband planned a movie outing and a trip to get ice cream.   Jack was thrilled and happy and was able to “keep up with his friends”.  To read up on the challenges that face children with certain disabilities and syndromes, read Care.com’s Caregiver Guide for Special Needs.
2. Invite Receptive Guests:  Johanna will call parents prior to sending out invitations. “I like to call parents first before sending out the invitations to let them know about the event.  I want to make sure there will be guests attending before I send anything out.”  By seeing if friends are available and families are receptive to the idea, Johanna knows that classmates will be able to celebrate with her son.  “The worst thing would be to set a date and have nobody come.”
3. Prepare the Guest of Honor: For children with special needs, it’s important for parents to prepare them for the party.  Sit down with your child and review the guest list, what the activity is going to be and the location it will be held.  “Reviewing the party’s activity also allows Jack to help set expectations.  Since he has been to a movie before, he knows what to expect during the party itself.”

“Extra effort by other parents is always appreciated,” says Johanna. “Common courtesy goes a long way.”

Stephanie works at Care.com which is an online community that helps families find care.  They dedicate a part of their service to helping those families who have children with special needs.

We had so many Emails and a few comments to put in the Random selector so that we could have our winner of the Fun and Function giveaway.

Our randomly selected winner is:

“Brand new sped teacher! Desperate for materials and supplies…I love the tactile cushion.

I bought one from amazon and it was thin and large…this one seems awesome!”

Congratulations to Laura!  Laura – please email us at Cindy@snrmag.com and provide your mailing address so that Fun and Function can mail out your prize. Thanks so much.

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Recently SNRMag was asked to review a product by a company called Fun and Function.  This was a new company to us and after looking over their website — we were very impressed.  This company has SO many products available to our professionals and parents of children with special needs.  Several of the items we had not seen before.

Fun and Function’s motto is “Where Special Needs is Cool — and affordable too!”  They did have great prices on all of the items in their catalog.  You really need to check them out because there are so many cool items.  Here is the link to their catalog and a few of the items we thought were really cool:

The item that Fun and Function asked us to review was the Versatile Tactile Cushion:

Now we have seen items like this before but this one is different.  It's cushion-y. It's taller but smaller in diameter so that it fits comfortably in small size chairs.  One side is smooth and the other has soft spikes for stimulation.  Very sturdy and comfortable.  Great quality.  Would also be great for sitting on the floor when the students have to sit in a circle during group time.

We loved it.....and we know that you will too!  Because Fun and Function is going to giveaway a free Versatile Tactile Cushion for one of your students or your child!

You know the drill -- either comment below OR email us at:  Cindy@snrmag.com  to enter.  We will randomly choose a winner on Friday afternoon.  Only US residents please - due to the high cost of shipping.  Good Luck!

Clothespins for labeling — I don’t know why we haven’t thought of this before – but it is a good idea.

Large pegboard storage — this is great for a classroom or for a homeschool room.

Plate Rack turned into Book Shelf — I love this.  Look around for these plate racks – or if you have someone handy they would be easy to create.

Magnetic wall and magnetic cups   love the ease of magnetic walls.  Some of you in the classroom may already have walls that are magnetic.  Be creative!

Freezer Calendar Labels — use for when IEP’s are due

Your own Chalkboard Paint in any color.  This is just cool for creating surfaces you can write on – and you can colorcode.

Pegboard Organizer  Love this for the classroom that can not affix pegboard to the walls.  Great idea.

Cord Storage  Love this for all of those cords for the computers.  Group them together and contain them in these.

What is trauma?  Here is a list of events that may be classified as trauma events in the lives of our children and students:

• Death of parent or friend
• Natural disaster – tornado, hurricane, flood, earthquake
• Man made disaster – car wreck, house fire
• Sickness in family or self
• Loss of pet
• Physical abuse or witnessing abuse
• Bullying or witnessing bullying
• Neglect or abandonment
• Substance abuse of family or friends and everything that surrounds it
• Arrest and incarceration of family member or friend
• Emergency that involves fire department, ambulance or police coming to home
• Loss (repossession of family items like car or loss of home)
• Loss of job which results in significant reduction in family finances (witnessing changes in family lifestyle)

Child trauma affects our students with special needs in a much different way.  Our children and students have needs that affect their ability to process a traumatic event such as:

• Sensory differences
• Communication differences
• Ability to understand social situations
• Relational differences
• Difficulty in understanding Cause & Effect
• Difficulty in predicting events of the future
• Difficulty in processing anger/sadness

Trauma therapy with children who have special needs is a much different kind of therapy.  Here are a few things that I want you to think about:

• How do you do talk therapy with nonverbal students?
• How do children with sensory differences process the sensory overload that is paired with trauma?
• How do children with social deficits understand the nature of the trauma – what actually happened and how it affects them?
• How do children with communication deficits process the anger and sadness involved in traumatic event aftermath?
• How do children with special needs understand the cause/effect of the event?
• How do they process and predict how the event will effect their own future?
• How do they process the fear and fear of the event happening again in the future – especially when is is paired with a sensory event like the smell of smoke or riding in a car or even a thunderstorm?

Here are a few things that we need to constantly remind those who do not understand our children and students:

• Just because a child does not speak does not mean that that they are not attentive to what it going on.
• Just because a child can not see does not mean that they do not sense panic.
• Just because a child does not appear to hear does not mean that they are not listening.
• Just because a child isolates himself does not mean that he/she does not want comfort.
• Just because a child is delayed does not mean that they do not understand there is a problem.
• Just because a child appears aloof does not mean that they do not feel emotion.

When a child has experienced a trauma, regardless of their functioning level, it should be addressed by a professional – by not just anyone and not just any type of therapy.  Don’t just choose the first type of counseling/therapy that is recommended – especially if the therapist is a one-size-fits-all type. You are the expert in what your child needs.  Research and think about other types of therapy:

• Adventure therapy
• Art/Creative therapy
• Music therapy
• Play therapy
• Puppets
• Talk therapy
• Group therapy
• etc.

Since, this was just a short cursory view of child trauma – here is a great Child Trauma toolkit that will provide a great deal of good information for both teachers and parents.

Becky also has a child with Autism.  And in this she is so much like many of you.

You need to visit her website. Organizing Made Fun  Becky has a great post that includes several wonderful ideas about organizing to help you child with autism.  She talks – from a parents point of view – about how Consistency, Organization of the environment and creating Schedules and routines can help your child relax and progress.  This sounds so much like what we teach but this time it is coming from a parents viewpoint.

Some of my favorite ideas that Becky has posted about are:

How to make it out the door in the morning

Creating Schedules for your kids

Organizing School Lunches

Getting Ready for School

You need to go get a cup of coffee and come back and read through Becky’s site.  She lives the life every day – juggling 2 children, a husband and all that is entailed with having a child with autism.  She knows IEPs and accommodations and everything else that goes along with it.  She is also a wealth of knowledge about how to organize your home.

Enjoy!