When we take a team-based approach with AAC, meet staff where they are, and view the child as a whole, that is where we can see the most change and progress for both staff and students. AAC COLLABORATION - SARA’S TAKE: As a teacher, I have always relied on my fellow educators, speech, occupational therapy, and paraprofessionals as equal team members in supporting the kids in our classroom. We all bring a different skill set and expertise to the table. Everyone has something to contribute. I trusted Leah as a professional, when she suggested higher tech AAC as communication sup- port, and was on board to give it a chance. New is hard but when I saw how AAC opened up our kids’ world, I knew I was excited for the possibilities and ready to learn a new skill. Leah showed me she was “all-in” by problem-solving with me, taking on extra tasks, and supporting my goals within her sessions. She and I had vulnerable conversations about our visions for the classroom and how we would get there. It helped us align our values and center our priorities. I wish every special educa- tion teacher would give AAC a chance to experience the magic like I have. NEURODIVERSITY-AFFIRMING JOURNEY AND CURRICULUM CREATION: During that 2020 school year, we had a student join the class who made us question our entire approach and was our true catalyst for change. At the beginning of the year, we began by implementing a rotational “work station” time. We remember dreading the beginning of the year when we felt like the entire workstation time was spent on the transition itself. Once we finally got kids regulated enough to engage in something… ding! It was time to transition again. One of our students showed intense dysregulation through self-injurious behavior, biting and scratching others. This was very evident during our work station times. We realized we were asking too much, hav- ing him transition to a new adult and new activity every 8-10 minutes. He felt safe in the wagon, LOVED bubbles and tactile sensory activities. When the timer went off, staff began coming to him and engaging in whatever activity he was interested in. We quickly realized how many concepts and communication opportunities we could embed in blowing bubbles and sen- sory bins. If we had success following his lead to be able to feel safe to connect and engage with us, why couldn’t we take this approach with all of our kids? We came to the realization it isn’t the kids’ responsibility to comply with our teaching methods, it was our responsibility to create a learning environment to meet each one of them where they are. Starting in 2021, we invested in neurodiversity affirming professional development, sought out various neurodiversity affirming accounts, and other resources from autistic voices. As
we dove deeper into our understanding of neurodiversity af- firming practices we learned about strengths based approaches as well as masking and autistic suicide. During our team meet- ings, we had open conversations about how the neurotypical approaches to therapy and teaching weren’t working with our learners. We realized that our well-intended teaching strategies were actually trying to change them to be more like their neu- rotypical peers… and it was an awful feeling. We decided to move forward as a team with our new neurodiversity-affirming principles where every staff member commits to helping the child holistically and as they were. Everyone understood the value in modeling on the child’s AAC as often as they could to teach the child a communication system. As we implemented this new approach, children began to learn. They began to show us what they knew - and turns out, they had a lot to say! As a team, we began to understand the pivotal role communi- cation played in regulation, cognition, and social connection for our students. Not only was this helpful in addressing their immediate communication, it was teaching foundational skills for learning, and most importantly, skills that would inevitably enhance their overall quality of life. Why did this go so well? At that time, we were fortunate to work with a group of women who knew we could do better for our kids. We were in agreement that the traditional teaching strategies I learned in graduate school and were common in many early childhood special education classrooms just didn’t feel right for our kids. We were willing to learn, stumble, and get outside of our comfort zone to find a better way. As the 2021-2022 school year progressed, we established our classroom philosophy to understand the purpose, values, and goals that drive our students’ learning environment. This streamlined our instruction and purpose as well as informed new adults entering the classroom about the expectations. Our philosophy was: Connection, Regulation, and Communication. First and foremost, we put connection as a foundation for all students. Trust and connection is a critical piece of our job. If a child doesn’t feel safe and connected to an adult, they are not in a space for learning. We honored every child’s manner, pace, and willingness to connect. We joined in their joy no mat- ter how silly we looked or felt, let go of what was coming next on the schedule, and didn’t mind how loud or messy we were. It was a matter of striking a delicate but intentional balance between needed predictability/structure while still joining kids where they are, presuming competence, and holding high expectations. We honored each child’s emotional state and sat with them when they were having big feelings. We wanted kids to be able to connect with us while still being their authentic, perfect selves. We prioritized connection and our kids’ emo- tional well being over anything else and it felt really good. Not only did it feel good, we discovered all of the incredible things our kids knew and had fun doing it! They trusted us to let us in
February / March, 2025 | https://www.closingthegap.com/benefits-of-membership/ 39 Closing The Gap © 2025 Closing The Gap, Inc. All rights reserved.
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