The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms By Julie Causton-Theoharis

The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms
By Julie Causton-Theoharis, Ph.D.

"Excellent ... clarifies the important roles that paraprofessionals can take in the classroom—and provides a myriad of ideas and suggestions for helping educators meet the needs of students with disabilities in effective and enlightened ways." —Kimber Malmgren, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

"A book that everyone associated with inclusive education will want to read and talk about ... Parents, teachers, and school leaders alike will surely count it among their most valued resources." —Douglas Biklen, Ph.D., Dean of Education, Syracuse University

What does a great paraprofessional need to know and do? Find out in this handy survival guide, equally useful for the brand-new paraprofessional or the 20-year classroom veteran. Packed with friendly guidance, practical tips, and relatable first-person stories, this book reveals the best ways to provide effective, respectful services to students in inclusive classrooms.

Julie Causton-Theoharis, a teacher, professor, and educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience as a paraprofessional instructor, knows exactly how to help readers stop feeling overwhelmed so they can start making a difference. She answers all the urgent questions paraprofessionals have as they navigate their complex job in the inclusive classroom, showing readers how to:

• provide skillful and subtle support to students while encouraging their independence
• resolve challenging behavior in gentle and positive ways
• find students' strengths and match support practices to them
• fade their support
• make informed decisions about content-specific accommodations, modifications, and adaptations
• presume competence and keep expectations high
• facilitate peer supports and friendships
• partner with teachers, SLPs, psychologists, families, and other members of the educational team
• relieve their own stress and avoid burnout
  

To help them master the daily ups and downs of the inclusive classroom, paraprofessionals will get ready-to-use practical content: tips for supporting students with specific disabilities, helpful question-and-answer sections, examples of successful problem-solving, a quick-guide to acronyms in education, easy ideas for improving teamwork, and more.

The essential guide for every paraprofessional—and a must-have for the educators and other professionals who support them—this empowering book takes the guesswork out of a critical classroom role and helps students with disabilities reach their full potential.

The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms

Table of Contents

About the Author
Foreword
Paula Kluth
Preface
Acknowledgments

1. The Paraprofessional

2. Special Education

3. Inclusive Education

4. Collaborating with Others: Working within a Team

5. Rethinking Students: Presuming Competence

6. Providing Social Supports: Standing Back

7. Providing Academic Support

8. Providing Behavioral Supports

9. Supporting You Supporting Them: Self-Care

Appendix: Useful Web Sites and Resources for Assistive Technology

Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid!

From trips to self-centered therapists, to mothers experimenting with Ritalin, to the harsh reality of school calls (no good can come from them), Shut Up About . . Your Perfect Kid! bravely ventures where other books haven't, featuring humorous, heartwarming stories from a wide range of parents of "imperfect" children. Narrated by two "imperfect" sisters and mothers of children with Asperger's syndrome and bipolar disorder, the book features a compilation of stories that demonstrate the sheer humor and absurdity of raising imperfect children in a perfection-preoccupied world. It will have virtually any parent laughing out loud and appreciating the gifts and beauty that every child has to offer (yes, even imperfect ones).

Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid! (Shut Up About. . .)

Amazon Reviews
"Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! has it all. Humor, practical, advice, and inspiration. Most of all, it is a heartfelt outpouring of love from two mothers with special children who discovered themselves along the way. Read this book and you too will discover yourself." -- V. John Alexandrov, best-selling author of Your Spiritual Gold Mind, Affirmations of Wealth, and The Money Chi

"A book of hilarious, imperfect proportions. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but mostly you'll breathe a deep sigh of relief when you read about all the other parents with wonderfully, extraordinary imperfect kids just like yours." -- Deb DiSandro, founder and president of Slightlyoff.com and author of Tales of a Slightly Off Supermom: Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Clean Underwear

"Instead of emphasizing the problems they face, Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! celebrates the strength of children with disabilities and their families. [It] illustrates wonderfully the power of humor as a tool for coping with the challenges facing children with disabilities and those who love them.

The combination of warmth and hilarity evident in the stories in this book will help parents of children with disabilities maintain a healthy perfpective on the joys and pains they face every day. The honesty, openness, and self-deprecating humor of the mothers who wrote this book -- and the children who let them write it -- provide many valuable and hilarious lessons that will be appreciated by any parent of a child with special needs." -- Deirdre Logan, Ph.D. Children's Hospital Boston, Assistant Professor of Pscyhology, Harvard Medical School

"Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! is a delightful compilation of anecdotes from the real lives of sisters, Patty and Gina Terrasi, who parent their children with unconditional humor and do so with resounding success. Their ability to make the oridinary family one of extraordinary poignancy, by honoring the humanity in each of their special children, is a blessing for all parents who struggle with their own family issues of acceptance, expectation, and authority. As an educator and psychotherapist, I am struck by the humility and forthrightness of these authors as they present a long-overdue look at the lives of special families who must contend with a society that emulates perfection. Above and beyond the contagious humor within this book is the caveat it contains for all of us: open your eyes to the gifts that each and every one of us bears -- young or old, large or small, abled or challenged -- you may miss the most brilliant gems in life if you merely scan the surface of human existence." -- Sally McCue, LICSW

"Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! provides an articulate, hilarious, and compelling perspective on raising a special child. It should be mandated reading for every parent of a child with special needs and offers parents a welcome respite from the barrage of confusing and sometiimes contradictory self-help books usually recommended." -- Leslie Spieth, Ph.D. clinical child psychologist

Instead of emphasizing the problems they face, Shut Up About. . . Your Perfect Kid! celebrates the strengths of children with disabilities and their families. It illustrates wonderfully the power of humor as a tool for coping with the challenges raising children with disabilities and those who love them. The combination of warmth and hilarity evident in the stories in this book will help parents of children with disabilities find new ways to maintain a healthy perspective on the joys and pains they face every day. The honesty, openness, and self-deprecating humor of the mothers who wrote this book -- and the children who let them write it -- provide many valuable and hilarious lessons that will be appreciated by any parent of a child with special needs. --Deirdre Logan, Ph.D., Psychologist, Children's Hospital Boston

Shut Up About . . Your Perfect Kid! has it all; humor, practical advice and inspiration. Most of all, it is a heartfelt outpouring of love from two mothers with special children who discovered themselves along the way. Read this book and you, too, will discover yourself. --John Alexandrov, best-selling author of Your Spiritual Gold Mind, Affirmations of Wealth, and The Money Chi

Shut Up About . . Your Perfect Kid! is a delightful compilation of anecdotes from the real lives of sisters who parent their children with unconditional humor and do so with resounding success. Their ability to make the ordinary family experience one of extraordinary poignancy, by honoring the humanity in each of their special children, is a blessing for all parents who struggle with their own family issues of acceptance, expectation, and authority... Above and beyond the contagious humor within this book is the caveat that it contains for all of us: open your eyes to the gifts that each and every one of us bear -- young or old, large or small, abled, or challenged -- you may miss the most brilliant gems in life if you merely scan the surface of human existence. --Sally McCue, LISCW

Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid! (Shut Up About. . .)

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979071305
• ISBN-13: 978-0979071300

Chantal Sicile-Kira

Chantal Sicile-Kira Brings Her New Autism Book to Autism One Radio

The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from my Silent Son by Annie Lubliner Lehmann

The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from my Silent Son (Paperback)
by Annie Lubliner Lehmann

A child teaches without intending to . . . . Having severe autism does not stop the author's son from teaching her some of life's most valuable lessons. "The Accidental Teacher" is a heartfelt memoir about self-discovery rather than illness and uses insight and humor to weave a tale rich with kitchen table wisdom. This book is a must-read for anyone who has been personally touched by a major life challenge.

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• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
  
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434376966
• ISBN-13: 978-1434376961

The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from my Silent Son

Autism: Dr. Jed Baker Collection on Social Skills and Preventing Meltdowns

Dr. Jed Baker has recently appeared on ABC World News with Charles Gibson, Nightline, and CBS's "The Early Show".




No More Meltdowns: Positive Strategies for Managing and Preventing Out-Of-Control Behavior

"Jed Baker, in this excellent book, gives us the tools to deal with and prevent out-of-control behavior. Wisely, he leads us grown-ups to understand how to change our own behavior in order to help our children change theirs."

Carol Stock Kranowitz

Author of the best-seller

The Out-of-Sync Child

It could happen at the grocery store. At a restaurant. At school. At home. Meltdowns are stressful for both child and adult, but Dr. Baker can help! Author of the award-winning Social Skills Picture Book series, Dr. Jed Baker offers parents and teachers strategies for preventing and managing meltdowns. His 20+ years of experience working with children on the autism spectrum, combined with his personal experiences raising his own children, have yielded time-tested strategies, and results!

Dr. Baker offers an easy-to-follow, 4-step model that will improve your everyday relationships with the children in your life:

1) Managing your own emotions by adjusting your expectations,
2) Learning strategies to calm a meltdown in the moment,
3) Understanding why a meltdown occurs, and
4) Creating plans to prevent future meltdowns.

The Social Skills Picture Book Teaching play, emotion, and communication to children with autism

Social Skills Training for Children and Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome and Social-Communications Problems

Preparing for Life: The Complete Guide for Transitioning to Adulthood for Those with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome

Autism: Moondance at Midnight (Understanding Autism and Parenting)

" Being called a bad mother shot through my body like a burning bullet, destroying my already precarious psyche. Hurtful, cutting words so profound, so deep, so uncalled for they continue to drift in and out of my conscious mind, haunting me to this very day..." Moondance at Midnight is a raw emotional, and powerful true story. Written beautifully and designed to capture the reader's heart. Every detail has gone into the book to ensure an enjoyable and easy reading experience. Not just a book but something extra special when you really need it. Enjoy!

Moondance at Midnight by Juscelia

Amazon Review
... an emotional experience... I found it very powerful and felt that it was important reading for professionals who work with parents and their children (with Autism and/or other challenges). It gave me a strong sense of the isolation and desolation Celia felt, and of her heartbreak, but also of her great joy. I honestly felt that the strength of Celia' s love for her child could be felt on every page. Anita H. (Occupational Therapist 28 years experience working with children and families with Autism and other challenges.) --Anita H. Occupational Therapist

A totally engrossing story which comes from deep within the heart. It brings back memories of my son's earlier years with Autism. The attitude of "professionals" towards parents is daunting and frightening. I had never felt more like a stupid parent... --Alexa B (Parent)

Juscelia is not your everyday author, nor is her book Moondance at Midnight your everyday story.... Beautifully written and spacious Juscelia leaves plenty of room for the reader to join her on the journey. Events unfold and the drama while very real given it's based on the actual events leading to and following the official diagnosis of her autistic son, is discreet. As a reader you are not force fed anything and you come away with an insight into motherhood. Her fluent style and Juscelia's down-to-earth interpretation guide you into her world as she understands autism and how to provide for her beautiful son. --Alison Mooney Whitsunday Times

• ISBN-10: 0980571502
• ISBN-13: 978-0980571509

Moondance at Midnight by Juscelia

Autism: Recovery Against All Odds by Kristi Chrysler

Autism: Recovery Against All Odds by Kristi Chrysler

Book By N. Texas Mom Details Son's Autism Recovery

NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21)It was a diagnosis that a Burleson mother just wouldn't accept. Doctors said her five-year-old son was so severely Autistic, that she should send him to an institution. Today that son is 12-years-old and, according to his doctors, shows no signs of the disorder.

Kristi Chrysler is a single mother who has had her share of challenges raising a family. Her son, Richie, began to regress in his abilities at 12 months. It took nearly four years for doctors to diagnose Richie with Autism. By then, the signs were unmistakable. "He was very aggressive, he had major breakdowns, 10 times a day," explained Chrysler. "Each one could last from 10 minutes to 60 minutes where I would have to hold him to prevent him from banging his head, hurting himself or running after and hurting someone else."

Doctors told Chrysler there was no hope for Richie. "Every night, I'd put him to bed and sit there and he'd have to rub my arm to fall asleep and I'd sit there with tears streaming down my face just thinking, 'Who in an institution is going to do this for him?'"

[More ...]

"Understanding Jason" by Marsha Rae Osborn (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

“Understanding Jason”, the new book written by Marsha Rae Osborn and illustrated by DeOnna Mills, tells the story of a group of typical students who learn from their teacher how to accept and help an autistic student, Jason, fit in with their class.

Told in playful rhymes with accompanying colorful illustrations, “Understanding Jason” delivers a powerful message to children about respecting people’s differences. The story begins in an average classroom, where the students notice that one of the boys, Jason, is a little different from everyone else. Osborn writes:

“We don’t understand,” kids say, “Why does Jason act that way? He is different from us all, He can’t even catch a ball.”

Their questions about why Jason won’t or can’t talk to them opens a dialogue with their teacher about the ways in which Jason is different and similar to them. The teacher points out that while Jason might find it difficult to talk to the other children, play games with them and do simple tasks like opening jar lids, he is also a kid who can do many other activities. She reminds them of how well he can climb, name animals and learn sign language and numbers.

Through their conversation as a group, the students begin to understand how to include Jason in their class activities. The teacher impresses upon her students the need for compassion and kindness with other children who may be different from themselves, asking them to appreciate those differences. Ideal for children between kindergarten and second grade, “Understanding Jason” offers young readers and listeners alike insights into the world of autism.

Marsha Rae Osborn is a Registered Nurse and the mother of two twin boys, one of whom has autism. She lives in Alabama with her husband and children. “Understanding Jason” is her first book.

For more information: www.authorhouse.com

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1438944039
• ISBN-13: 978-1438944036

Related:

• (Reuters) New Illustrated Book Helps Children Understand Autism

Autism: Heartfelt Thoughts From Fathers

Fathers from all over the world share their honest, most heartfelt thoughts regarding what it really feels like to raise a child (or children) with autism, Aspergers or PDD.

You will truly be touched by these wonderful, inspiring, dedicated dads! A great resource for family and friends! Photos and favorite resources included.

* Paperback: 148 pages
* Publisher: HighView Publications Autism Enhancement; 1st edition (2007)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1883175127
* ISBN-13: 978-1883175122

AutismLearningFelt: Three Times The Love Book Review and Giveaway

AutismLearningFelt

More Than a Mom: Living a Full And Balanced Life When Your Child Has Special Needs

MORE THAN A MOM explores how women can lead rich, fulfilling personal lives while parenting a child with special needs. The authors' skillful blend of research, personal experiences, and feedback from over 500 mothers across North America results in a book that is jam-packed with practical strategies, advice, and reassurance for mothers trying to create more manageable and fulfilling lives.

MORE THAN A MOM addresses the universal concerns and questions of all mothers, coupled with the added intensity of raising children with disabilities. This how-to guide looks at the challenges mothers face at home, at work, and within themselves, with special attention paid to:

Staying healthy both physically and emotionally;

Keeping friendships;

Staying organized;

Maintaining your marriage;

Nurturing interests and goals;

Seeking flexible work options;

Changing careers or starting a business;

Rejoining the workforce;

Finding specialized childcare;

Advocating for your child.

The mothers who were interviewed for the book have diverse backgrounds and family dynamics. Given their differences and the fact that their children have such varied disabilities, it s striking that these mothers face such similar issues. MORE THAN A MOM provides mothers with many voices and solutions that will resonate with their own circumstances. Husbands, extended family, friends, support organizations, and service providers will also want to read this insightful and fact-filled book.

More Than a Mom: Living a Full And Balanced Life When Your Child Has Special Needs

Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows ... Special Needs

Candid, passionate, personal, and heartbreakingly funny, a view from within the whirlwind of parenting a child with special needs

Three years ago, magazine editor Denise Brodey’s precocious four-year-old son, Toby, was diagnosed with a combination of sensory integration dysfunction and childhood depression. As she struggled to make sense of her new, often chaotic, often lonely world, what she found comforted her most was talking with other harried, hopeful, and insightful parents of kids with special needs, learning how they coped with the feelings they encountered throughout the day.

In The Elephant in the Playroom, moms and dads from across the country write intimately and honestly about the joyful highs and disordered lows of raising children who are "not quite normal." Laying bare the emotional, medical, and social challenges they face, their stories address issues ranging from if and when to medicate a child, to how to get a child who is overly sensitive to the texture of food to eat lunch. Eloquent and honest, the voices in this collection will provide solace and support for the millions of parents whose kids struggle with ADD, ADHD, sensory disorders, childhood depression, Asperger’s syndrome, and autism—as well as the many kids who fall between diagnoses.

Offering readers comfort, community, and much-needed perspective, The Elephant in the Playroom is sure to become essential reading for parents of special needs kids. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594630356
• ASIN: B00149NX8C

In My Mind: Through the Eyes of Autism by Adonya Wong

In my mind, I see many colors, bright like a rainbow, shooting about like comets in a night sky. Take a closer look What do you see? In My Mind, by Adonya Wong, explores the inner world of an autistic childthe world that no one else can see. From exciting adventures to silly games and conversations with friends, look closely and see how a child with autism sees the worldand how the world sees him.

In My Mind: Through the Eyes of Autism by Adonya Wong

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 28 pages
• Publisher: Tate Publishing (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1606966014
• ISBN-13: 978-1606966013

When I learned he had autism, I was taken aback. Like most parents, I was not prepared to hear those words. I wasn’t prepared to hear that there was “something wrong with him”. That’s how I saw autism… in those early months. I saw it as a bad thing. Plus, it didn’t help matters when I told my family, and they denied the diagnosis. To them, there was nothing awry, and he just needed to “around other kids his own age”. I’m thankful, however, for my friends. Their unwavering support has helped me so much during this journey. In addition, I changed my views about autism, and life has been happier ever since.

The best advice I can offer new families is to seek out support. You’ll quickly discover who your true friends are as well as how supportive your family is. Seek out parent groups, and if there isn’t one close by… ORGANIZE one yourself. There’s no greater feeling than being around other parents who understand your life, who want to offer useful advice, and who will not hesitate to offer a kind and supportive listening ear. Or even a shoulder for those days when you just want to cry.

SOURCE: Book Tour! In My Mind: Through the Eyes of Autism by Adonya Wong

In My Mind: Through the Eyes of Autism by Adonya Wong