Reflection

ESP 621 has open my mind and gives me a new understanding when it comes to assessment. I have been working with children on the spectrum for about six years now but I was not aware there are different kind of assessment.  Teachers tend to realize only on standardize test when most of the kids don't demonstrate what they learn in test. There should be other method involve to accommodate everyone on  the spectrum.  I definitely agree that anyone who has contact with the child should have a role when the child is being assess. Also it is important for parents to be involve in the process because the child might exhibit a behavior at home and the people at school have not experience.  I learned a lot from doing the wiki with my teammates. It allows me to think outside the box and be creative. I feel like many parents are lost and they don't know where to look for help.  Since my wiki was about group home the recreation section was important.  Many times parent take his or her child home but he does not know where to take that child for something fun.   If he was to come across that particular  wiki he will have an idea on where to take the child.  Now that I have a better understanding about assessment I feel confident to give my opinion at my work place.  I am so glad I took that class because it was definitely an eye opener. The reading and assignment pushed me to think beyond the class.  I also liked the idea of discussing the reading before class, if something did not make sense to me I would get clarification during class. It was a good idea to start out the program with this class because now I have a better understanding of assessment and I will be using the tools as I go forward in my career.

Final Reflection

This class was very useful and informative in my pursuit towards a BCBA. It gave me a well rounded view on assessments as well as the Theory of Mind. As a behavior therapist I do perform assessments however I never had the chance to look at assessments from the point of view of an educational team. As a behaviorist "theory of mind" is one of those things most would question because of its implications on the mind. But after learning and discussing it I can see how some would feel that it is an important area that needs some attention. I also enjoyed creating the Wiki. The Wiki I helped create will be an amazing tool for others who work as home based therapists. The contents of this class will assist me throughout my career. Thanks Professor Lynch!!

reflection

ESP 621 has helped me a lot in learning more about assessments and the assessment process when working with children with autism.  I have been in the field for a few years now and hear about all the different assessments that can be given to children, but I never understood or had a chance to learn the specifics of the assessments.  The assessment process it a continuous process when working with children and even in the beginning when with a child to determine what the strengths and weaknesses are and what the best approaches might be to help the individual child.  I learned a lot when discussing the topics of possible duel diagnoses, I did not realize the close similarities that some disorders/conditions have and it helps me in looking at behaviors more specifically and in more detail.  I learned a lot when developing the Wikki, I really have never heard of them until this class and I enjoyed developing one, especially in helping people in the workplace keep in contact and have the opportunity to ask questions and continue learning about the field.  This class has been very enjoyable and I will continue to apply what I have learned to my future and in my career.

Reflection

More than anything, this class has taught me how much actually goes into an assessment.  Assessments are not just the standardized tests that we are required to give from year to year.  When I first thought of this class, I assumed we would simply focus on the many standardized assessments used with the ASD population.  Instead, we spent a great deal of time talking about the actual process of assessment and what goes into it.  I found this much more helpful as I could easily relate it to my experience and it felt like a much more holistic approach.  Assessments should be comprehensive and address the whole child; while standardized tools can be helpful in some sense, they should not be relied on completely.  Instead, assessments should include observations, data collection, portfolios, etc.  The process of completing an assessment should also include a wide variety of team members who are constantly communicating and sharing information to help put together an accurate picture of a child.  This I will certainly remember in my daily practice.

In terms of assignments, I found the wiki particularly helpful.  It is an excellent tool to use, especially in this day and age.  I particularly liked how interactive it could be.  For me, it came at a very appropriate time as I have struggled with my parent population this year and needed to find a way to address these issues.  Not only did I find learning how to actually use a wiki beneficial, but researching inclusionary classrooms and all of the benefits of inclusion re-affirmed how I felt and gave me solid content to relay back to my parent population.  I will certainly be using this from year to year.

Overall, I feel that ESP 621 has opened my mind a bit more to assessment and all that is involved.

Final Review

I am very pleased to write that the ESP 621 course has taught me a great deal about assessment, including the amount of detail that is involved with assessing an individual. As I began this course I was inexperienced with assessments.  However, as a result of ESP 621, I found the information very useful in helping me develop a fundamental understanding and awareness. In addition, with the conclusion of this course I will now be prepared to relate to future content information with my future courses.

ESP 621 was one of my first courses in graduate school. And though I have many other topics to learn in the future, I am confident that having developed a background in assessments at the beginning of my graduate program will greatly help me recognize the significance of ASD assessments, as well as the treatments.

I found the assessment text book by Glasberg to be very useful by the manner in which the topics were presents. This was especially beneficial because of my background. I will definitely recommend this text for my future classes due to its structure and information involving assessments, FBA, how behaviors are learned, as well as why many behaviors occur. In addition, the information I have learned from the ESP 621 class discussion is another reminder of how important communicating with a variety of a team’s members is essential on a daily basis for bother educators and assessors.

The Wiki website concept was such a great idea. I was a little hesitant at first, because I never heard of a Wiki, and was unsure what was involved. Working in groups was also beneficial because we had chances to learn from each other about our experiences in the classroom. This experience helped each of us to easily share our own  material through the Wiki. The Wiki not only helped me contribute to the classroom, but also provided a clearer understanding of an inclusion classroom, especially its importance for younger children.

Overall, ESP 621 was a great class and definitely kept me on my toes! It made me really think and process what I have learned over the semester. And even though there is so much knowledge to remember when discussing assessment, I can now leave this class being confident that I know much more then I originally did. I look forward to using assessment knowledge in my future

Reflection

ESP 621 has completely changed my idea of what assessment is.  Prior to this course when I thought about assessment I thought of standardized tests.  Now I realize that assessment is ongoing.  We never stop assessing the growth that the students we work with.  Assessment of ASD can be difficult.  We need to keep in mind that not every student is the same, and we may need to administer standardized assessments differently for every student (i.e. short durations, reward systems, ect.).  My contribution came from ten years of experience working one-on-one with students both at their homes and within a school setting.  I have a thorough understanding of the family dynamics involved in assessment.  When practicing as a BCBA in the future I will keep these things in mind, as well as everything we learned about Theory of Mind.  I find that a lot of professionals do not have a thorough understanding of the lack of Theory of Mind in individuals with autism, and I hope to be able to teach them about it.  I found both the wiki and the annotated bibliography very helpful in expanding my knowledge as a scholar.  I am now able to think about ASD with an open mind, and I am ready to continue to learn.

Reflections on the semester...

When looking back on this semester, there definitely were some things which I learned throughout the course.  Although I came into this semester with a wide range of experiences from my job, this class helped me to combine those experience ad really take a closer look at all the different assessment tools that I have seen, experienced, and help to implement over the last few years.  The main thing that was stressed in this class I believe was the key component to assessment that I think many people forget, communication.  The fact that we discussed so in depth the importance of communication and the many ways that it can go wrong I think is useful information that everyone can take from this class.  I hope that I contributed lots of insight to the class as a whole and helped others to get as much out of this course as I did throughout the semester.  Have a great summer everyone!

Reflections on ESP 621

This class helped to confirm what I’ve known in my practice as a special education teacher, and that is the fact that assessments are very important and ongoing.  Informal assessments can be conducted daily with the individuals that we work with while formal assessments are used (maybe) yearly.  I think that this class helped to point out the importance of informal assessments; I think informal assessments are very important because a lot of our students do not perform well with the standardized formal assessments due to their disability.  I feel this class gave me a better understanding of concepts such as Theory of Mind, the need for a team approach when conducting an FBA, and co-morbidity.  I enjoyed the wikis; I thought they were a useful way to see how other students in the class were using the information on assessments to apply it to what they know because it is so different from the environment that I work in.   Although I have already finished my ILP, I do feel that the annotated bibliography is a great tool for all those who have not finished.  It is a great start to your literature review for those of you doing a research project related to ABA, as you will use a lot of the information that was summarized in the annotations in your literature review.  Overall, I found this class to be informative and helpful in my professional life as well as in my studies.

Reflection

This class was enjoyable however it did not change my mind about assessments in individuals with ASD, but only because I have had some previous experience with them.  As a new(ish) teacher I had to start from scratch and learn quickly how to utilize the team during an IEP.  It took me a few tries but I feel now I really have a grasp on how to use the assessments that are asked of me.  IEP were especially challenging due to their complex nature and individuality based on the individuals needs.  This class did give me some insight on how other organizations use assessments outside of the education facility I work in.  I was very interesting to hear and see some of the other issues and assessments that others use in their line of work.  I like to think I added a lot to the discussions and blog.  I always like to try to take a light hearted approach to the things I do, adding a funny picture or comment in a constructive way on how to approach an assessment.  I will take the skill I learned from this class and continue to use them in my professional development guiding special needs children in the right direction with the help of a team and parents, I feel having that support structure for the teachers and students adds a level of security for everyone knowing that we are making the best decisions we can for that student.

Reflection

ESP 621 has helped confirm what I already knew and applied in my practice everyday.  The great part about this class is I now have peer journal reviews, books, and knowledge from the professor to back up my beliefs in formal and informal assessments.  The hardest part is trying to convince others that informal assessments are just as valuable as formal assessments of children on the spectrum.  I believe that the wiki projects will be very helpful and a great resource to have my colleagues go to and use.  In addition to having my colleagues look at the wikis I feel that I could have my students create wikis in our classes.  This is a project I think my students could do on a specific topic or even to have them reflect on how they deal and cope with their disability.  I think that the annotated bibliography is a good skill to know how to do.  Unfortunately I have already finished my ILP but this is something I did prior to writing my ILP.  One of the most valuable topics I found was the topic of co-morbid disabilities.  One of my students this year is labeled as Emotionally Disturbed and I feel, after taking this course, that he is more of a student on the spectrum and have ED as a secondary diagnosis.  His ED is due to the lack of communication skills.  We are working on a better placement for him for as he transitions to the high school next year.   I learned a lot from this course and will apply it as I take the national exam for my BCBA as well.  Assessment is essential, but what is most important is being able to apply the results appropriately to minimize testing and maximize learning.  

Reflection: How have you grown this semester?

How has ESP 621  changed your ideas about assessment in general and assessment of ASD in particular? Everyone in the class contributed something unique to the discussion; what was your contribution? What will you bring to your professional practice  from the course? How has your experience it helped you grow as a scholar?

Theory of mind- A teachable skill

Dr. Firth views theory of mind as a concept that can be taught this is incredibly important in that it takes theory of mind as a hypothetical construct that is just something we imagine going on and makes it an observable behavior that can be acquired.  It makes it a little more user friendly in a way, something those of us who actually have a concept of theory of mind, can not be daunted by teaching it.
Dr. Firth breaks the development of theory of mind into four developmental stages.  The first is recognizing mental states of others, then communicating them to others, manipulating them in others, and reflecting on mental states.  This almost seems like a program guide when written out like this.  We teach children to recognize emotions (mommy is crying she must be sad), communicate them ("Why are you sad?), manipulate emotions (if mommy is sad give her a hug to make her feel better), and reflect on emotions (Mommy was sad because her friend got hurt, I gave her a hug and she felt better).  However I have never thought of any of this as teaching theory of mind.  I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Firth's lecture and take away from it what I have long believed to be true anyway.  Anything can be taught it is just extremely important that we find the teaching technique that works before giving up on it.