The Story of our Inspiration
As a grade 6/7 teacher in the province of British Columbia, one of my duties is to consult with the local high school on the Gr. 8 transfer process. Over the years I have had a number of students on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and had multiple meetings with school counsellors and administration on how to best meet the needs of these students as they venture out in to the complex world of high school. Commonly ‘low functioning’ students who require a good deal of support academically receive the accommodations they need with little resistance. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for ‘higher functioning’ students who don’t need academic support. These students still require the assistance of an Educational Assistant to help them with social interactions and to remind them to use their calming strategies when needed. Autistic children are usually unaware that their emotional state is escalating until it is too late. An adult familiar with that child’s warning signs needs to visually monitor the student and intervene before escalation occurs. Because this is not an academic issue in the traditional sense, and high functioning student perform to or above standard, Education Assistants are not provided. However the consequences of a serious outburst, such as violence against self or others and verbal threats, is typically suspension or expulsion and possibly physical injury to another person, this does become a serious issue that needs to be address. Just because a student has been labeled ‘high functioning’ does not mean that their education isn’t at risk every day.
This year I graduated a student with whom my E.A. and I have worked very hard. Teaching a split grade afforded us the time to build a strong connection with ‘Mark’ (name changed to protect anonymity) and become very familiar with his physical and verbal cues. As we prepared him for his transition to Gr. 8 and met with the specialists of the high school he would be attending, it became disturbingly clear that he was not going to have any support. Our hearts broke. Through collaboration, communication and teamwork with his parents and behavioural interventionist we had deescalated Mark from daily outburst of threats of violence and self-harm to only a few per semester. Was this all to be lost? The cold truth of public education and pooling of special education funding was that Mark was very low on the priority list and that the money needed to be spent elsewhere. He would be on his own.
From the love, care and concern of this student, his parents and educational team have come together with technology specialists to create a new software that can support students like Mark ubiquitously.
Virtual Angel
This year I graduated a student with whom my E.A. and I have worked very hard. Teaching a split grade afforded us the time to build a strong connection with ‘Mark’ (name changed to protect anonymity) and become very familiar with his physical and verbal cues. As we prepared him for his transition to Gr. 8 and met with the specialists of the high school he would be attending, it became disturbingly clear that he was not going to have any support. Our hearts broke. Through collaboration, communication and teamwork with his parents and behavioural interventionist we had deescalated Mark from daily outburst of threats of violence and self-harm to only a few per semester. Was this all to be lost? The cold truth of public education and pooling of special education funding was that Mark was very low on the priority list and that the money needed to be spent elsewhere. He would be on his own.
From the love, care and concern of this student, his parents and educational team have come together with technology specialists to create a new software that can support students like Mark ubiquitously.
Virtual Angel