Repeat Questions from Students
with Special Needs in the Classroom:
What to Do?

Children raising hands in classroom

A teacher recently shared that she has a student in her class who keeps repeating the same question even after she has responded to it. The student will ask the teacher, “When will we get our tests back?” To which the teacher will reply, “I will give them back tomorrow, as I have not finished making all the corrections yet.” However, 10 minutes later, the student will proceed to ask the same question.

This reminded me of a similar scenario with a student I know of who used an AAC device. This student also repeated the same question, even though the teacher had responded to the question. The student would activate his device to ask, “When do we go to the library?” To which the teacher would respond by saying, “We will go to the library after break.” However, within 10 minutes of the first question, the student proceeded to repeat the same question. Continue reading “Repeat Questions from Students
with Special Needs in the Classroom:
What to Do?”

Riding the Whirlwind: Human Interactions and Emotional Resonance

Whirlwinds

On a recent visit to South Africa, I realized again the importance of traveling to bring fresh perspectives as well as new insights into human interactions.

Moral Compass: Political cartoon of Nelson Mandela by Zapiro
[Source]
Truth be told, this is a difficult time politically in South Africa; and dealing with political views while visiting family can be interesting albeit quite disturbing at times. A political cartoon by Zapiro (Daily Maverick) stayed with me, as it connected to a dilemma that I encountered while visiting an elderly friend who lives on her own in Johannesburg. The cartoon depicts Nelson Mandela showing the way to go, while the current President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is caught up in a moral whirlwind (windvane) without an escape route. The depiction of “being caught up in a whirlwind” struck me as I reflected on the situation that my 91-year-old friend finds herself in. Continue reading “Riding the Whirlwind: Human Interactions and Emotional Resonance”

Listening, Communication Intent, and Rabbits

Rabbit in a field of grass

What Can We Learn from Our Leporine Neighbors?

I have been watching the rabbits in our garden in the early morning hours as they nibble at the grass and momentarily stop to listen, before continuing with their nibbling. This process of nibbling, abrupt stopping and listening, nibbling and stopping and listening fascinates me. It is almost as if the rabbits realize that while they are busy nibbling grass, they can’t listen (or become aware of potential threats), hence they have to stop, albeit momentarily, to listen.

While the idea of stopping in the midst of daily activity is not new, it made me think about our communication intervention practices. I have been trained (and have also trained others for a long time) to understand that communication is an intentional, goal-oriented process of exchanging messages to achieve specific outcomes. The closer the outcomes resemble the initial intent, the more successful we deem the communication to be. But is communication with others really purposeful in that way? Is the process of developing meaning with others really that predictable? Continue reading “Listening, Communication Intent, and Rabbits”

iPads, Electronic Media Use, and AAC Users

Child using an iPad tablet

Should students who use iPads for communication purposes be allowed to use the iPad in the classroom for academic purposes? This question was raised recently by Maria Landon in the ASHA Leader (June 2018 issue):

Then the classroom teacher starts talking about a great new current-events application she just heard about. The occupational therapist wants to install a handwriting app. The student’s one-on-one aide thinks a visual timer would be very helpful during transitional times. So, now what?

Continue reading “iPads, Electronic Media Use, and AAC Users”

The Young, Not the Elderly, Are Loneliest

Lonely teenager

This is the heading of an article in USA Today (May 1, 2018) in which the writers describe outcomes of a study in which the national loneliness score was 44 on a 20–80 scale of loneliness. Social isolation of those aged 18–22 raised even more concern. According to this study, the score for loneliness for these young people was 48 in comparison with 39—the score for elderly people older than 72. In short, counter-intuitively, it is the youth among us in the United States, not old people, who are the loneliest.

In the article, the link between loneliness and physical and mental illness is also explained. Continue reading “The Young, Not the Elderly, Are Loneliest”

R.I.P.—Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking being presented by his daughter Lucy Hawking at the lecture he gave for NASA's 50th anniversary

I just read that Stephen Hawking passed away last night—a great man who did a lot to promote the use of AAC worldwide.

From Daily Skimm:

 

RIP Stephen Hawking. The world-famous physicist and bestselling author died early this morning in England. He was known for going deep on how the universe works, especially black holes. And came up with the idea that they aren’t entirely black after all, but instead radiate particles. Hawking’s theory was a major breakthrough in trying to combine quantum mechanics—which studies the (really) small things in life—with Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity—which handles the big picture. He’s the subject of The Theory of Everything, which Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for. And happens to have done a lot of his groundbreaking research and writing while suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, aka ALS. Which severely limited his physical movements. When he died, his family shared something Hawking once said: “It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.” RIP.
[Source]

About the Florida Shooting, Empathy, and Not Being Able to Speak

Empathy: Grieving teen with paper lamp

I was reflecting on the 2/14/2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the massive impact this event has had, once again, on all of our communities: not just in collective grief, but in the outpouring of empathy for the victims.

A young man shooting people randomly at a school seems incomprehensible. Yet, how do we go about helping students and families to make sense of such traumatic events? The easiest solution is not to do anything; but is this an ethically tenable position to take? Continue reading “About the Florida Shooting, Empathy, and Not Being Able to Speak”