Discussions
Here is my post:
Question 1: What are the important facts of this case?
From the perspective of the in-school team:
From the perspective of Casey:
From the perspective of Casey’s family:
Question 1: What are the important facts of this case?
From the perspective of the in-school team:
- In-school team has created an individualized plan for two students in Bonnie Sipitis’ grade 2: Albert and Casey.
- Casey is the focus of this case study. She has Down syndrome and is in inclusion education within mainstream schools. Her academic ability is lower than grade 2. We know that she has a supportive family and works hard to learn.
- Casey and Albert are engaged in an individualized program which entails pull-out and in class EA assistance.
- Much of the pull-out and in-class work is done with pairing Casey and Albert. From this Albert and Casey have developed a non-beneficial dependency which is not meeting/challenging their needs.
- This pairing has led to a social and academic segregation from the rest of their peers.
- Some of the in-school team knows that the program is not working for Casey.
- The in-school team has focused, almost wholly, on Casey’s academic progress and in doing so has ignored social progress/integration.
- With academics as their focus, Casey is pulled-out frequently and when she comes back to class, she has often missed important aspects of the lesson and so does not feel confident to contribute.
- Pull-out is often not timed properly and so she misses lessons which she could participate in.
- Bonnie Sipitis does not seem to be using any differentiation or pre-planning for Casey.
- In-school team separated Casey from her best friend, Mara for grade 2 because they believed that Casey could adapt.
- Bonnie Sipitis is not fully aware of the best practices- she has recently become aware of the connection between academics and social inclusion.
- In-school team are motivated to make changes to program to meet needs of Casey.
From the perspective of Casey:
- Casey misses her best-friend Mara and feels socially isolated.
- Casey has developed a dependency on Albert which is holding her back in many ways: oral skills, independent thinking and social inclusion with peers.
- Casey is self-conscious of her own mental capabilities.
- Casey doesn’t feel any connection with group and speaks to parents only about Albert and teachers.
- Casey is afraid of being centered out because of her skills and so doesn’t participate in many activities.
From the perspective of Casey’s family:
- Parents are concerned with Casey’s social development.
- Parents feel that Casey should not have been separated from Mara.
- Parents question pull-out timing and question whether it could be adapted to integrate Casey more.
- Parents are concerned that Casey will shut-down/ become idle and get set-in her ways if the current program continues.
- Parents are eager to assist in-school team and work with team to help Casey integrate.
Words of Wisdom
Here are some excerpts from peer posts on the same case study:
What actions can the teachers take to resolve the dilemma(s)? What are the consequences of these actions likely to be for Casey? For her classmates? For Bonnie Sipitis? More Widely?
The teacher, Bonnie Sipitis, can begin first by introducing Casey back into the classroom. Bonnie can have the entire class do a social studies Heritage and Identity presentation on their family and include Casey. Depending on Casey’s language abilities her presentation may look different then the rest of the class, such as showing a few pictures and naming her family members. This gives the rest of the class an opportunity to learn more about Casey, and that she is capable in communicating. Joyce and Bonnie can work together to create lessons and opportunities for Casey to be involved in lesson in the classroom.
During instructional time, the teacher can add opportunities for think, pair, share with a neighbor, working on the Smart Board or classroom games. Fostering co-operative learning with other children in the class, so having Casey involved becomes a normal occurrence. Bonnie, Joyce or an EA can ask Casey questions after a lesson to better understand what Casey comprehended and modify her grade one work accordingly.
The consequences of these actions for Casey will hopefully be to include her more in the classroom so she feels like a valued member and is able to share experiences with her peers. Working with class mates will allow Casey to share common interest with her peers and have topics to talk about in conversation. As Casey begins to feel more included in the classroom, and form friendships hopefully her academic development with improve. Areas such as language, communication skills and peer relationships will also increase.
As Casey’s classmates begin to see her more actively involved in the classroom and included in-group activities; they will hopefully become more accepting of Casey and involve her in social activities such as games at recess. In turn this will optimistically result in Casey’s classmates becoming more accepting of individuals with disabilities at large and reduce a lot of the stigma surrounding individuals with developmental delays.
These actions will affect Bonnie, by helping to educate the whole child, and not just focusing on Casey’s academic abilities. Both Bonnie and Joyce may feel successful when they see Casey thriving in all areas of development. Bonnie will be creating a more inclusive classroom that benefits Casey’s learning, but also the rest of the class become more understanding and welcoming to others with different needs. Bonnie is broadening her understanding of techniques and practices when working with different exceptionalities. She is acknowledging that Casey is a child first, with the same wants and needs for acceptance by her peers. She just learns at a different pace as everyone else.
These actions will affect Casey’s parents by empowering them to continue advocating for their daughter’s needs and reassuring them that they understand their child best. They may feel a sense of relief that Casey is socializing with her peers, and probably ecstatic when she begins to have friends. From the case study it is evident that Mr. and Ms. Brewer are well aware that their daughter will always be preforming much lower academically then the rest of the class. There main concern is Casey’s quality of life. I believe it would be hard for any parent to hear their child continuously say they have no friends, and all they want is a best friend.
One of the major dilemmas in this case is the lack of socialization that Casey has with the other students. She doesn’t have a lot of friends and the one friend that she did have, was taken away from her. Casey is frequently taken out of class during her academics and works with another boy with exceptionalities. Casey and this boy start to depend on each other for academic support, which isn’t helping any of them, become successful in their work. When Casey is put back into her regular classroom, she feels like she can’t relate to any of the other students because she isn’t at the same level as them academically.
Casey is being taken away from class during science class, which is something that Casey is really interested in. If she was getting extra help for math and reading, she should have been taken out during those times so she wasn’t missing out. There were a lot of times that Casey was sitting around the class with nothing to do because of this. I definitely think this affected her more than it did help her.
The meeting that the parents and the teacher had together really opened up both their eyes on how they could help Casey. I think that that needs to happen more often in order to help Casey succeed. The teacher didn’t know the parents concerns and vise versa. I think this would help Casey a lot more in the long run.
I Want a Best Friend
Question #3
This was a case about a child in Grade 2 with Down Syndrome named Casey Brewer. Her parents were meeting with her teacher, Bonnie Sipitis, and the resource teacher, Joyce Meyer, to discuss her progress to date. Casey was following an individual program in the regular Grade 2 class and both the teachers and parents were concerned about how effective it was. Originally, the teachers were concerned about the widening gap between Casey’s academic progress and that of her peers. They felt that Casey would be more successful with more intensive instruction. As a result, Mrs. Meyer has been teaching Casey reading in the resource room along with one other student who suffers from severe communication difficulties, as well as learning disabilities that affect his math, reading and written work. For the rest of the day, Casey is taught at the back of the classroom by an EA, Tom White. Unfortunately, this strategy has not been as successful as hoped. “Neither Casey nor Albert is making expected progress academically or socially.” Casey’s parents were concerned about her social development, and in particular, her lack of friends this year. Last year Casey had a best friend named Mara, from whom she has been separated this year. (The teacher felt that Casey was ready to make new friends and recommended they be in separate classes). The parents said that Casey “has less to talk about with other students because she has very little work in common with them” and that “we think this is something that has to be dealt with at school”. Both agree that the plan thus far is not working.
I think that a major dilemma in this case is that the teachers and parents are working in isolation of each other. I found that Figure 3.5 in Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools, had some very good ideas for teachers to keep in mind when planning for students with Down Syndrome. The parents should be more closely involved in developing the IEP as well as integrating learning activities. “Be mutually aware of what the student knows and is learning.” The teachers should break up tasks into small steps; use short blocks of time. One important classroom strategy focusing on social development suggested that interaction and involvement with other students be encouraged through play and classroom activities. This can certainly be addressed at school, but I would also suggest that the parents arrange for play dates with a number of Casey’s classmates to encourage social development.
What actions can the teachers take to resolve the dilemma(s)? What are the consequences of these actions likely to be for Casey? For her classmates? For Bonnie Sipitis? More Widely?
The teacher, Bonnie Sipitis, can begin first by introducing Casey back into the classroom. Bonnie can have the entire class do a social studies Heritage and Identity presentation on their family and include Casey. Depending on Casey’s language abilities her presentation may look different then the rest of the class, such as showing a few pictures and naming her family members. This gives the rest of the class an opportunity to learn more about Casey, and that she is capable in communicating. Joyce and Bonnie can work together to create lessons and opportunities for Casey to be involved in lesson in the classroom.
During instructional time, the teacher can add opportunities for think, pair, share with a neighbor, working on the Smart Board or classroom games. Fostering co-operative learning with other children in the class, so having Casey involved becomes a normal occurrence. Bonnie, Joyce or an EA can ask Casey questions after a lesson to better understand what Casey comprehended and modify her grade one work accordingly.
The consequences of these actions for Casey will hopefully be to include her more in the classroom so she feels like a valued member and is able to share experiences with her peers. Working with class mates will allow Casey to share common interest with her peers and have topics to talk about in conversation. As Casey begins to feel more included in the classroom, and form friendships hopefully her academic development with improve. Areas such as language, communication skills and peer relationships will also increase.
As Casey’s classmates begin to see her more actively involved in the classroom and included in-group activities; they will hopefully become more accepting of Casey and involve her in social activities such as games at recess. In turn this will optimistically result in Casey’s classmates becoming more accepting of individuals with disabilities at large and reduce a lot of the stigma surrounding individuals with developmental delays.
These actions will affect Bonnie, by helping to educate the whole child, and not just focusing on Casey’s academic abilities. Both Bonnie and Joyce may feel successful when they see Casey thriving in all areas of development. Bonnie will be creating a more inclusive classroom that benefits Casey’s learning, but also the rest of the class become more understanding and welcoming to others with different needs. Bonnie is broadening her understanding of techniques and practices when working with different exceptionalities. She is acknowledging that Casey is a child first, with the same wants and needs for acceptance by her peers. She just learns at a different pace as everyone else.
These actions will affect Casey’s parents by empowering them to continue advocating for their daughter’s needs and reassuring them that they understand their child best. They may feel a sense of relief that Casey is socializing with her peers, and probably ecstatic when she begins to have friends. From the case study it is evident that Mr. and Ms. Brewer are well aware that their daughter will always be preforming much lower academically then the rest of the class. There main concern is Casey’s quality of life. I believe it would be hard for any parent to hear their child continuously say they have no friends, and all they want is a best friend.
One of the major dilemmas in this case is the lack of socialization that Casey has with the other students. She doesn’t have a lot of friends and the one friend that she did have, was taken away from her. Casey is frequently taken out of class during her academics and works with another boy with exceptionalities. Casey and this boy start to depend on each other for academic support, which isn’t helping any of them, become successful in their work. When Casey is put back into her regular classroom, she feels like she can’t relate to any of the other students because she isn’t at the same level as them academically.
Casey is being taken away from class during science class, which is something that Casey is really interested in. If she was getting extra help for math and reading, she should have been taken out during those times so she wasn’t missing out. There were a lot of times that Casey was sitting around the class with nothing to do because of this. I definitely think this affected her more than it did help her.
The meeting that the parents and the teacher had together really opened up both their eyes on how they could help Casey. I think that that needs to happen more often in order to help Casey succeed. The teacher didn’t know the parents concerns and vise versa. I think this would help Casey a lot more in the long run.
I Want a Best Friend
Question #3
This was a case about a child in Grade 2 with Down Syndrome named Casey Brewer. Her parents were meeting with her teacher, Bonnie Sipitis, and the resource teacher, Joyce Meyer, to discuss her progress to date. Casey was following an individual program in the regular Grade 2 class and both the teachers and parents were concerned about how effective it was. Originally, the teachers were concerned about the widening gap between Casey’s academic progress and that of her peers. They felt that Casey would be more successful with more intensive instruction. As a result, Mrs. Meyer has been teaching Casey reading in the resource room along with one other student who suffers from severe communication difficulties, as well as learning disabilities that affect his math, reading and written work. For the rest of the day, Casey is taught at the back of the classroom by an EA, Tom White. Unfortunately, this strategy has not been as successful as hoped. “Neither Casey nor Albert is making expected progress academically or socially.” Casey’s parents were concerned about her social development, and in particular, her lack of friends this year. Last year Casey had a best friend named Mara, from whom she has been separated this year. (The teacher felt that Casey was ready to make new friends and recommended they be in separate classes). The parents said that Casey “has less to talk about with other students because she has very little work in common with them” and that “we think this is something that has to be dealt with at school”. Both agree that the plan thus far is not working.
I think that a major dilemma in this case is that the teachers and parents are working in isolation of each other. I found that Figure 3.5 in Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools, had some very good ideas for teachers to keep in mind when planning for students with Down Syndrome. The parents should be more closely involved in developing the IEP as well as integrating learning activities. “Be mutually aware of what the student knows and is learning.” The teachers should break up tasks into small steps; use short blocks of time. One important classroom strategy focusing on social development suggested that interaction and involvement with other students be encouraged through play and classroom activities. This can certainly be addressed at school, but I would also suggest that the parents arrange for play dates with a number of Casey’s classmates to encourage social development.
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