Laura's Blog SPED 524

In order to best decide how to handle certain behavior issues, a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) should be used to help break down what is causing the problem behavior.  "Students who display a high degree of disruptive and aggressive behavior in elementary school are at greater risk for placement in special education programs and later school failure" (Scott, Anderson, & Spaulding, 2008, p. 39).  It is in the best interest of everyone to take problem behaviors seriously, and find a way to help the student correct these behaviors as soon as possible.  Some schools rely on one person to conduct FBAs and develop the interventions that will be used to correct the behaviors.  If this is a person within the school there may be problems in scheduling and making sure the individual can address all behaviors in the school, as well as addressing what happens if that individual leaves the school (Scott, Anderson, & Spaulding, 2008, p. 41).  If the scho...

Transition planning is essential for making the leap into the post-secondary education world for students with disabilities.  It is a time for students to take ownership of their future and learn to speak up for themselves.  Without some coaching this can become a huge problem for some students.  While IDEA requires an "exit evaluation" when a student is leaving school, each state provides this in different ways (Shaw, S. F., Dukes, L. L., & Madaus, J. W., 2012, p. 7). Within transition plans a summary of performance (SOP) needs to give an overall summary of what the student's academic achievement is, as well as advice on how to help this child achieve his or her goals going forward.  Most states utilize a form that meets the standards IDEA put in place, however some of these states do not give a full picture making the plan fall short in terms of functionality. When a comprehensive plan is put in place it is the result of many years of information, and a com...

The article I chose this week examined bullying and adolescent girls with ADHD.  It sought to look at not only were these girls victims of bullying, but were they in fact more likely to bully others as well.  Students with ADHD are known to have difficulty socially including, "peer rejection or neglect, poor friendship stability and aggression" (Sciberras, Ohan, & Anderson, 2012, p. 255).  In particular this study chose to look at girls because some of the bullying behaviors are viewed differently if a boy engages in the behavior. Two different types of bullying were examined in the study:  overt bullying and relational bullying.  Overt bullying is anything that can result in physical harm, whereas relational bullying seeks to cause problems friendships and other social interactions (Sciberras et al., 2012, p. 256).  There were 22 adolescent girls with ADHD in the study as well as 20 adolescent girls without ADHD participating in the study.  They...