Autism Classroom Resources Podcast: A Podcast for Special Educators Christine Reeve, Special Education Support

As special education teachers, we know how important it is to have solid teacher-parent relationships. Strong teacher-parent relationships help us best serve our students by creating a collaborative team approach that helps create a supportive environment for the students both at home and at school. But understanding how we as educators can develop these solid relationships can be challenging. That is why I am so grateful that Kelley Coleman is joining us today to provide us with some incredible insight from a parent’s perspective.
Kelley Coleman is a feature film development executive turned author and advocate for parent caregivers and individuals with disabilities. Her book Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child: Your Guide to the Essential Systems, Services, and Supports draws upon over a decade of experience, including her own experience parenting a child with multiple disabilities. Kelley lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two boys, and her son’s trusty service dog.
In this episode, Kelley shares her experience with ableism and what it means, what parents find important when meeting teachers, and how teachers can help foster a strong teacher-parent relationship.
02:56 - Kelley’s journey and experience parenting a child with multiple disabilities
11:12 - What ableism is and how teachers and parents can be respectful of a child’s privacy in terms of their disability
22:15 - What educators should know about meeting parents for the first time and what is really important to parents
25:05 - How both parents and schools can foster strong, positive teacher-parent relationships
35:05 - Why teachers and parents should be in ongoing communication throughout the school year, not just at IEP meetings
Show Notes: http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode214
Resources:
Visit Kelley’s websiteFollow Kelley on Instagram @hellokelleycolemanAdd Kelley on FacebookJoin the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library Get more information about the Special Educator AcademyJoin the Free Facebook Group
If you're enjoying this podcast, could you please take a quick moment to leave your review on Apple Podcasts? It would mean the world to me and will help spread the word to other special educators. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Behavior is not a one-way street. There is an interconnectedness between student behavior and teacher behavior, which we can sometimes miss. It is so important that we recognize the impact special education teachers and special education paraprofessionals have on student behaviors to avoid any unintentional reinforcement of challenging behaviors.
In this episode, I’m breaking down the research behind how children’s behavior drives the behavior of adults without the adults realizing it. I share why understanding that behavior has reciprocal impacts is so important, how to ensure we aren’t fading out the demands on a student based on their behavior, and the importance of observing other adults in the classroom.
02:40 - The research behind how student behavior impacts teacher behavior in an educational setting
05:52 - Why being aware that behavior has reciprocal impacts within the classroom helps prevent fading out demands without a plan in place
07:15 - How being aware of the reciprocal behavior cycle can help us stop it
08:04 - Why we must create a team culture where everyone can watch each other’s backs because everyone’s behavior impacts others
Show Notes: http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode213
Resources:
Follow me on TikTokJoin the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library Get more information about the Special Educator AcademyJoin the Free Facebook Group
If you're enjoying this podcast, could you please take a quick moment to leave your review on Apple Podcasts? It would mean the world to me and will help spread the word to other special educators. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When a student’s challenging behavior is a result of a sensory function, knowing how to address it can be difficult. We want to help our students cope with sensory experiences in an effective and safe way so that their needs are met and they are not harming themselves or others. 
Whether students are looking to escape a situation that is causing them sensory distress or if they are seeking internal reinforcement from a sensory experience, we can help students find appropriate replacement behaviors. In this episode, I am sharing ways you can help students request breaks, teach self-regulation strategies, and help students find replacement sensory experiences to reduce challenging behavior. 
01:45 - Why teaching students to request a break when the sensory distress is causing them to have a challenging behavior is important
06:23 - Ideas for how to teach self-regulation 
10:36 - How to help students when challenging behavior is caused by an internal reinforcer or  sensory function
Show Notes: http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode212
Resources:
How to Help Reduce Anxiety in Students Who Don’t Want to Stand OutHow To Help Your Students Manage Anxiety EffectivelyHow to Keep Students’ Anxiety From Overflowing: Identifying Anxious FeelingsThe Incredible 5-Point Scale To Teach Self-Regulation: Review and ToolsGrab the Free Square Breathing VisualGet the Calm Down Toolkit for Self-RegulationCheck out the Teaching Self-Regulation Strategies and Anxiety Coping Skills with Social StoriesJoin the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library Get more information about the Special Educator AcademyJoin the Free Facebook Group
If you're enjoying this podcast, could you please take a quick moment to leave your review on Apple Podcasts? It would mean the world to me and will help spread the word to other special educators. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There are many myths about behavior that impact the way we talk about and approach challenging behaviors. Many people look to answer whether a student’s challenging behavior is sensory seeking behavior or intentional behavior but there are several issues with focusing solely on that question when it comes to challenging behavior.
As special educators, we have to help our students learn to cope more successfully, regardless of whether the behavior is sensory or behavior-related. In this episode, I am diving into some common myths and misconceptions about the functions of challenging behavior and what we should actually be looking at when determining the function of a behavior.
02:00 - Why asking if the challenging behavior is sensory or behavior is the wrong question to explore
03:49 - How presuming that all challenging behavior that isn’t sensory seeking behavior is willful is incorrect
08:01 - What question you should be asking to determine if the function of the behavior is sensory-related
09:19 - How to assess whether something has an automatic function by looking at if it's happening when there's nothing else going on
10:34 - Ways that escaping a sensory situation may be involved in challenging behaviors and their function
Show Notes: http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode211
Resources:
Watch the Preventing Challenging Behavior WebinarJoin the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library Get more information about the Special Educator AcademyJoin the Free Facebook Group
If you're enjoying this podcast, could you please take a quick moment to leave your review on Apple Podcasts? It would mean the world to me and will help spread the word to other special educators. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Attention-seeking behavior is a common challenge in classrooms, and addressing it effectively is crucial for the overall learning environment. One possible reason for this attention-seeking behavior is that some of our students do not yet have the effective communication to gain attention in a more appropriate way. For these students, we need to explicitly teach them these communication skills.
When we provide explicit instruction and reinforcement, we can help students acquire the communication skills necessary to seek attention in a positive manner rather than through negative attention-seeking behaviors. In this episode, I am giving a quick overview of choosing which communication form to use, how to provide practice and repetition to help students develop these communication skills, and the importance of providing the appropriate type of attention.
03:41 - Things to consider when choosing the communication form you will teach your student to use when seeking attention
06:33 - How to provide practice for a student to gain your attention using a set-up teaching situation
09:15 - How to use a brief overview of what to expect and your knowledge of the student to help prevent behavior problems when working on attention-seeking communication
12:02 - The importance of giving the student attention in whatever way the FBA states
14:23 - Why using “wait cards” can be helpful in helping students understand when you cannot give them attention
Show Notes: http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode210
Resources:
Get the Waiting for Attention & Getting a Teacher’s Attention Social StoryJoin the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library Get more information about the Special Educator AcademyJoin the Free Facebook Group
If you're enjoying this podcast, could you please take a quick moment to leave your review on Apple Podcasts? It would mean the world to me and will help spread the word to other special educators. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All attention is not equal. We have likely all worked with students who engage in behavior just to get attention, whether it be positive or negative. Even when students are getting what we feel is a lot of attention, they may still engage in attention-seeking behavior because the attention they receive is on our terms, not theirs. 
Students often realize that our response to negative behavior is larger and more consistent than our response to positive behavior. This, in turn, reinforces to them that if they want attention, negative behaviors are the way to get it. In this episode, I am breaking down the three advantages negative attention has over positive behavior and ideas of ways you can try to encourage more positive attention-seeking behaviors.
05:56 - How consistency gives negative behavior an advantage over positive behavior
06:51 - Why the magnitude of our response to behaviors matters
07:29 - The impact of learning history on behaviors
09:10 - How increasing the magnitude of our response to positive behaviors can help encourage more positive behavior
13:26 - The importance of consistency in boosting replacement behaviors
Show Notes: http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode209
Resources:
Watch the Preventing Challenging Behavior WebinarGet the Social Stories - Waiting for Attention & Getting a Teacher’s AttentionJoin the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library Get more information about the Special Educator AcademyJoin the Free Facebook Group
If you're enjoying this podcast, could you please take a quick moment to leave your review on Apple Podcasts? It would mean the world to me and will help spread the word to other special educators. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️