IEPs & Remote Learning, Cognitive Rehab & TBI, & Difficult Conversations

Although it may not always seem like it, IEP’s and 504 plans are not set in stone. And there’s a good chance the ones that are in place now don’t provide accommodations for remote learning.

This article from the Child Mind Institute provides some excellent advice on how to go about making modifications to IEPs and 504’s. It’s geared toward parents, but I’ve found the information helpful for advising some of the families I treat.

Some take-aways:

• Stay focused on what the child needs and try to be reasonable with your requests. Make a list of priorities and focus on your top two or three.
• Get everything in writing (or email) and send follow-up emails summarizing conversations you’ve had with teachers and administrators.
• Keep notes about what you see at home: is your child able to complete his work? How long does it take him to complete his work? Is he having meltdowns about school? What seems to be triggering the meltdowns?
• Email your concerns and observations to the teacher/special education director regularly so that everyone understands your child’s present level of performance.
• Be flexible about how your child receives services and be open to brainstorming non-traditional strategies. A non-traditional strategy is sometimes better than no strategy.
• Prepare the child before a service change so he understands what it will look like. Will it be in person? In a different location? Will it require homework?
• Consider listing an adjustment to the child’s screen time as an accommodation. Can he start with just an hour and slowly ramp up?
• Be patient. But be persistent. As in all things related to special education, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

A small study recently published in Scientific Reports shows promise for computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation in children who have had traumatic brain injuries.

Of note, the study reports that “…after hospitalization, a high number of children with ABI do not receive any help or support” which leads to a host of issues with returning to school.

OT’s are in the perfect position to address this lapse in continuity of care.

This study used Lumosity Cognitive Training with 32 school-aged children who had a history of brain injury.

“[F]ive games stimulating five different core cognitive abilities (memory, attention, cognitive flexibility, speed of processing and math problem-solving) were selected from the pool of exercises available from Lumosity Cognitive Training.”

The children participated in 5 Lumosity sessions per week for 8 weeks.

The children who completed the study showed clinically significant improvements in visual-spatial working memory and arithmetic calculation speed. These skills are directly transferable to skills required for school.

The study provides support for early and intensive cognitive rehabilitation after a brain injury.

There’s an art to surviving difficult conversations with your relationship intact, and the skill isn’t taught in school.

I recently ran across this helpful article that has tips that are widely applicable in therapy and in life.

A few of the tips:

• Imagine the conversation went the best way possible. What would you say to the other person if that happened?
• Always show empathy before lodging a criticism. The example given in the article: “I can tell you care a lot about reaching our team’s goals, but the way you go about it is causing great difficulty to everyone around you.”
• Resist your knee-jerk need to avoid being generous and kind when you think the other person doesn’t deserve it. They may not deserve your emotional generosity, but they are likely to hear you and make a change if you can provide it anyway.
• Identify the biggest emotion you are feeling about the person and the biggest emotion they are likely feeling about you.
• Identify your goal for the conversation. The best outcome may be an improved, shared understanding of the problem rather than a complete resolution.
• Listen at least as much as you talk.
• Understand that your grievances may emotionally overwhelm the other person and cause them to shut down or to become defensive.
• Reflect on the conversation. What did you learn? What commitment are you willing to make as a result of the conversation?