Week 3 Capstone

Reflect on your coursework in your program of study( Autism Spectrum Disorder ). Choose one experience ( attached Collaboration Model)from this program that aligns to Council for Exceptional Children Advanced Preparations Standard 5.

Use the attachment “Week 2″ as an example to follow. Use the attached ” ” as the assignment that you are referring to throughout this assignment. Please review the attached rubric. While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and 4 references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide,

Advanced Preparation Standard 5: Leadership and Policy

5.0Special education specialists provide leadership to formulate goals, set and meet high professional expectations, advocate for effective policies and evidence-based practices, and create positive and productive work environments.

5.1 Special education specialists model respect and ethical practice for all individuals and encourage challenging expectations for individuals with exceptionalities.

5.2 Special education specialists support and use linguistically and culturally responsive practices.

5.3Special education specialists create and maintain collegial and productive work environments that respect and safeguard the rights of individuals with exceptionalities and their families.

5.4Special education specialists advocate for policies and practices that improve programs, services, and outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities.

5.5Special education specialists advocate for the allocation of appropriate resources for the preparation and professional development of all personnel who serve individuals with exceptionalities.

COMPASS MODEL 7

Collaboration model for ASD students

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Collaboration model for ASD students

Introduction

ASD students are those who suffer from autistic spectrum disorder. ASD students always have challenges when interacting with others, have weird interests in some subjects, have variant abilities, and have an extremely high reaction to their body senses. ASD students display one or more of these behaviours; pacing, moving back and forth, spinning and flapping of hands. They have unique needs that teachers ought to attend to for them to realize their full potential. Understanding these needs is the first step for a collaborative and inclusive classroom for ASD students.

Historically, children with disabilities were educated in a different classroom from the rest of the learners. However, the inclusion of disabled students proved to be more effective, and inclusion was adopted. Although the curriculum advocates for the inclusion of ASD students in the classroom, it does not specify ways in which such students can be incorporated and how teachers can collaborate with learners. There is also increasing confusion about the issue of collaboration which has limited the actualization of the process.

Despite teachers’ efforts to create an inclusive environment for ASD students there are still challenges, especially conflicts that should be addressed through collaboration, which is primarily the role of the teacher. The struggles that these children face has been attributed to a lack of collaboration between co-teachers and students, and that is why the COMPASS Model should be implemented to promote the competence, ability and success of ASD learners. It is an intervention and integrative approach that assists teachers in formulating realistic learning objectives and coming up with effective plans for teaching, based on evidence through their collaboration with parents. The consultation model has been tested and verified for promoting outcomes for learners with ASD.

Collaborative practices

Collaborative models encourage parent-teacher collaborative practices that enhance the competence and success of ASD learners. The first and most useful practice is communication, which is key for the partnership. Teachers and parents must communicate about the children; how they are doing in school, their performance, change in behaviour, challenges, if they need any learning materials and many other things. Without communication, there is no collaboration.

Another practice is to allow parents to participate in important school functions that make the education of their autistic children better. By involving parents in the school program, they get to know the needs of their students and what efforts they can make to improve their learning environment both at home and in school (Todd et al., 2014). They can also share their ideas and experiences on behaviour management that may be helpful both to teachers and fellow parents.

The third practice is the individual approach to learning. Time is a risk factor in this approach, and teachers are encouraged to have a proper plan so that they can attend to individual students because they have varying needs. Individual’s approach to learning for ASD students requires a constant communication with parents who give information about their children. For effective decision-making, there is a call for individual assessment and evaluation.

Another collaborative practice is the frequent training of teachers and parents through workshops, and other training platforms. Over the years, researchers have revealed that the greatest strength of collaboration is empowerment. Teachers have to be trained on setting goals and collaborating with parents in tracking students’ progress. Assessing them and coming up with more effective strategies. They also need to be taught on enhancing parent-teacher relationship for the betterment of the student’s programs. Parents also need to be trained on behaviour management so that they can enhance their children’s learning while at home and promote their success and competence.

Lastly, it is advisable to hold carnivores that give students a chance to demonstrate their skills and abilities and parents will also get a chance to understand their students better. Parents will learn what need to be attended to in their children’s academic as well as medical life. It will be easier to identify their weak points such as mathematics and science and reinforce effective strategies. Such carnivores may also be an opportunity for parents to respond to respond to their children’s academic progress constructively.

Role of the compass model

The COMPASS model plays a very crucial role in consulting and collaborating with students and their families. Families and care-givers are the primary support and environment for learners with ASD. Through the COMPASS model, families are given the chance to participate in the designing of learning programs for their children. Through consultation and collaboration with parents, they share useful information that helps teachers to deal with individual ASD students throughout their learning course. They also reveal information about the behaviour of children that teachers can use to improve the existing programs.

Parents and care-givers are able to understand better the academic goals of their children and use the same information in teaching, nurturing and coaching their children at home so that the learners can achieve their goals. Research reveals that ASD children lack family support academically due to the disengagement between the parents and their learning behaviours. Most of the parents may not have time to understand what coaching techniques works best for their ASD children. The COMPASS model views parents as academic partners who play a role in the academic growth of their disabled children (Rubble et al., 2019).

By involving parents in the learning of their children, the model has helped parents to learn new ways of handling their ASD children. By interacting with other parents and teachers during school programmes, parents can share useful information on how to take care of these special children. The model also enlightens teachers and school management on family needs such as respect for stressors and the desire for confidentiality. By addressing parent’s needs and concerns, it promotes a healthy relationship and partnership between teachers and parents who work together to ensure competence and success of the children. Parents learn to focus on one task at a time, instead of several of them at ago which may be less effective.

The constant communication between teachers and parents help families to track the progress of their children in school and make necessary adjustments if there is a need. Families can track the growth of their children as they assess the effectiveness of their interventions. Parents have a chance to learn more about behaviour management and can handle situations that may arise when dealing with the children in normal home environment. By communicating with teachers, parents give out information about any new developments on their children and teacher use the information, especially when attending to individual learners.

Measurable outcomes

When implemented effectively, COMPASS results into several measurable outcomes. One of them is the improvement in grade, which can be attested by both the teacher and student. The improvement on performance can be attributed to commitment by both teachers and parents to coach and nurture students academically. There will be a noticeable change in students’ attitudes towards school and learning. They will also showcase better interpersonal skills and less behavioural problems.

Evaluating the effectiveness of COMPASS

The best techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of a collaborative model is through measurement and conceptualization (Rubble et al., 2011) Conceptualization involves coming up with the right metrics that will be used for the evaluation. For example, researchers may choose to consider factors such as students’ performance and attitude as the main metrics for evaluation. It is after conceptualization that evaluators will measure the outcomes of implementing a collaborative model.

In a nutshell, inclusion and collaboration is the first step in enhancing the success and competence for ASD students. The family-school kind of partnership enhances a good environment for academic growth of learners. when parents become part of the school program, they understand better the needs of ASD children and put effort in ensuring thy are competent and academically successful. They also learn new ways of managing the behaviour of their children. Teachers, on their part, get information that helps them to create a more personalized approach to learning.

References

Todd T, Beamer, J., Goodreau J. (2014) Bridging the gap; Teacher-parent partnerships for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Rubble, L., Birdwhitshell, J., Tolland M & McGrew J (2011) Analysis of parent, teacher, and consultant speech exchanges and educational outcomes of students with autism during COMPASS consultation.

Ruble L., McGrew, J., Snell rood, C., Adams, M., (2019) Adapting COMPASS for youth with ASD to improve transition outcomes using implementation science.

Portfolio Experience Submission Template

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