Special Education

Special Education A to Z

A

is for analysis and accountability, something missing from many education plans. It's also for arrogance, something you may find in too great abundance.

B

is for behavior, something that can be measured.

C

is for consequences, a means both to help our kids learn and to help change the behavior of service providers so they will do what is needed. It's also for cooperation, coordination, and consistency, essential for learning and generalization. And it stands for controversial, too, a smokescreen that some people use to pretend they don't have to pay attention to the evidence.

D

is for the developmental approach, also known as disaster for some children, a confusing bit of jargon that simply means "we expect your child to learn by observation" when he clearly may not. It's also for "due process".

E

is for expectations, which all too often set the upper limit on your child's progress. It's also for expertise, which doesn't necessarily spring from a diploma on a wall.

F

is for failure, as bad for our kids as for anybody, too often the focus of attention, instead of progress. It's also for feelings.

G

is for generalization, which can be taught, along with everything else that matters.

H

is for hand-holding and hand-waving and all the other things people (even well-intentioned ones) do to waste our kid's time. It's also for hard work, which, with the right plan, can make the best use of their time. And it stands for hypothesis, the practice that the goodness of everything we do must be measured by the effect on our children, not by trust in a philosophy.

I

is for intentions, which don't matter, unlike actions, which do.

J

is for joy. You know what I mean!

K

is for KLANG! the alarm bell to sound if your child is not making progress but everyone says "he's doing fine".

L

is for learning, which our kids do if they're taught properly. It's also for love, something they do too.

M

is for money, at the heart of it all.

N

is for "No way!", the first words out of your mouth when you're told your child can't do any better.

O

is for obstinate, which happens to everyone. It can also be overcome. And it's for obsessive, meant as a put-down but really quite a compliment - you will take every opportunity to help your child.

P

is for praise, effective at helping almost anyone learn, given in abundance both to our kids and their teachers. It's also for progress, something that can be measured, and maximized (with hard work).

Q

is for quality and Q is for quantity, which multiplied together determine your child's progress relative to his maximum potential, and both too often limited by money, time, legal wrangling, and just plain luck.

R

is for recover, an emotionally charged word. Read it instead as "Develop to his maximum potential" and throw in for good measure "as quickly as possible".

S

is for school, the "real world" we want our kids to succeed in. It's also unfortunately the place where many of them first learn to fail. It doesn't have to be that way. It's also for success, for everyone involved.

T

is for teaching, which when done right leads to learning, which leads to progress, which leads to joy. It's also for trust, which really means accountability, lack of.

U

is for uncertainty, a terrible condition to be in, but an inevitable result when there are no measures of progress in place.

V

is for victory, over obstacles both man-made and from "acts of God".

W

is for "waste his time", almost the worst thing anyone can do. Also known as "wait and see".

X

is very useful if your name is Nixie Knox.....

Y

is for yes, getting to it, so we can all stop wasting time.

Z

is for zoo, our lives.