Non-Issue
Issue?
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
I have nothing to say this month. I have no issues. Really.
This KOG is a non-issue issue! Read no further. I beg you.
Response
to Intervention (Part 1 of 473,348)...
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
"So,
you think you can tell heaven from hell?"
Wish You Were Here. Roger Waters, Pink Floyd
As you continue to gather information related to Response to Intervention
(RtI), I hope you'll remember this is a great new law! Never before
were we educators able to tell if we were successful! But now we
will have data! At least we will have data once the entrepreneurs
are able to scamper around and quickly develop, copyright, patent, trademark,
and market a hundred new, high-priced programs, instruments, and procedures
to tell us if or if not we were successful. And of course, the state
will produce it's own data to tell us if or if not we were successful (think
of a new special education version of the API... and try not to think of
the state's ongoing record related to the development and implementation
of scientific and statistical methodology... hmmmmm).
But, hey, RtI is really not a huge change from what we've been doing for
the past ten or more years anyway, right? We've consistently implemented
effective general education pre-referral interventions and strategies offered
and provided through SATs with the intent to reduce irrelevant referrals
and inappropriate placements, right? And once a student is in special
education, we've kept a constant and diligent monitoring of their progress
-- it's not like we've shipped them out to an SDC class and not given it
any more thought for the next three years, right? Then we graduate
students out after they've worked hard and reached their goals. Right?
Usually after about one or two years of powerful, state-of-the-art, special
education interventions designed to meet the individual needs of the student.
Right?
Thank goodness, no more guessing! We'll now know for sure if we were
effective or not... up until now, we had no idea... we were kind of like
driving at midnight with no headlights. As a utilitarian, it had
never before crossed my mind to ask if what I was doing actually worked!
Metacognitively, I never would have actually thought about what I do!
Thank goodness someone up there in the ivory tower has asked that question
for me and made it into a new law and will now make a lot of money out
of it and be able to tell me if I was successful or not -- they're the
experts and my new bosses after all.
"Meet
the new boss... same as the old boss."
The Who, Don't Get Fooled Again
Maybe now I, just like what the law seemingly expects for so many general
education teachers, will let a mere number tell me whether or not I've
been successful. Or maybe not.
Response
to Intervention (Part 2 of 473,348)...
by Clay
Cook, School Psychologist
Dear fellow school
psychologists:
In the most recent edition of the Communiqué, Jack Naglieri
co-authors a piece questioning the scientific evidence behind the response
to intervention model. I would like to urge school psychologists
to think critically and seriously question the argument Naglieri attempts
to make. Consider the following major weakness in his argument.
First, Naglieri fails to acknowledge that the primary emphasis of RTI is
to measure students' responses to high quality interventions implemented
with integrity. The last time I checked there was abundant evidence
demonstrating the efficacy of high quality academic and behavioral interventions.
For instance, one could consult the research performed by Joe Torgesen
and others from the Florida Center on Reading Research to identify evidence-based
early literacy interventions. The bottom line is that the extant
research base supports the identification of evidence-based interventions
for each of the major academic domains. Second, Naglieri fails to
provide evidence supporting the use of cognitive processing measures, and
exactly how these measures can be translated into instructional strategies.
I urge everyone to stay tuned to the next Communiqué as a
response to Naglieri's piece will be provided by proponents of RTI.
At which time, we will all be better informed to begin formulating judgments
regarding the utility of RTI.
Posted October 11th,
2005 on schpsy-jobs@yahoogroups.com
Response
to Intervention (Part 3 of 473,348)...
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
As long as we keep
asking how we assess and qualify students, we'll never have to ask
if we should be assessing and qualifying students, eh?
How
Do You Spell 'S-U-C-C-E-S-S'?
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
"Seems
to me, you don't want to talk about it."
Walk Away, Joe Walsh, James Gang
So, how do you know if you've provided effective educational, mental health,
and/or psychological interventions/services for your students? How
do you measure success in education? Graduation rates? Try
to determine the graduation rates for your district... go ahead, give it
your best shot.... let us know what you find! Nationally standardized
test scores? Linear and longitudinal measures over time? These
strategies can provide meaningful information, but usually can't isolate
just one variable (i.e., the direct effects of your intervention).
How well you completed your twenty-nine IEP forms? How polite you
were? If you were on time or not for the meeting? Student grades?
Whoops, what was I thinking, psychologists don't have the power of grades...
we have to rely on best practices, the arts and sciences, and everything
else we've learned in life. Strong staff support? Yeah right.
How much money we've made? Card sorts? Strict adherence to
test administration protocol? How long we've survived the front lines
in the same district? What the RtI numbers show? The tests
we give? Whether others like us or not?
Here's the bottom line: you know if you've been successful or
not. The student knows. The teacher knows. The parent
knows. The principal knows. The probation officer knows.
The administrative assistant knows. The IEP Team knows. The
community knows. Your boss knows.* Everyone knows except
the president.
I know if I've been successful by the "teaching moment." The teaching
moment is recognized by professional educators and needs no further explanation
here. At this point in my career, the "teaching moment" is [just
about] the only thing keeping me going... it certainly isn't the rest of
the [stuff] going on in modern education. I know -- and the student
knows -- when there has been success.** That's how I spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s!
*If we're not doing our job, we get fired. No tenure for school psychologists!
We have to perform at high levels every day. We have to earn our
paychecks. No lifetime guaranteed career protected by tenure through
high-powered unions for us. We have to provide effective services
for students or we get fired. Personally, I wouldn't have it any
other way.
**It's important to note you can't have a teaching moment while you're
writing a report, filling out IEP forms, or sitting in a meeting.
Rocket
Science Class 101...
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
When a student is placed into special education and s/he [still*] won't
lift a finger and chooses to [still] never come to school and [still] is
getting straight F's, guess what? That student has not responded
positively to that special education intervention. It's time to try
something else, because the student's problems don't seem to be due primarily
to a learning disability (whatever a learning disability is). So
we have a hundred meetings and develop goals and objectives, write behavioral
intervention plans, provide counseling, and beg the student to please try
harder. Guess what? Still straight F's! Then a hundred
more meetings... what?
So, exit them, right? No, sorry. It's not that easy. Once
in special education, you're in special education for life!
"There
must be some way outta' here... there's too much confusion."
Jimi Hendrix Experience, a long time ago.
It shouldn't take an act of Congress to exit a student from special education.
Moving out of special education should be as easy as getting a student
into special education... the same concept as a simple class change, such
as moving from a science class to a math class. Why does this have
to be rocket science? Why can't we utilize our clinical judgment,
experience, and research? Oh, I forgot -- it's because suddenly 800,000
laws take effect upon placement into special education, and, since none
of us are lawyers, we're stymied, eh? Everyone's afraid to make a
move for fear of getting sued. There. I said it. Courage
in education.
"There's
a lot of crap in the schools."
Elizabeth Rave, Ed.D., University of Northern Colorado, 1986
Here's a positive recommendation for a new law (hey, if we're going to
pass 800,000 new laws, why not a good one?): IEP teams should be
able to meet in good faith and make recommendations regarding the most
appropriate and least restrictive environment for students -- whether that
means placing a student into special education -- or exiting them from
special education. Would that be great new law or what?
*It goes without
saying that all services have been provided over a long period of time
and to a marked degree.
 |
Hi,
all! This is only my second KOG contribution ever so I hope you will
be patient with me. I'm a little bit nervous, but I just wanted to
take a few minutes of your time to let you know that you can of course,
accept a new student who's been diagnosed with AD/HD by an outside agency
or professional into your special education program. Of course you
can! You already knew that, of course. You can call him OHI
and provide special education services as per the IEP Team recommendations!
The law allows for that. You already knew that, of course.
But, gee, you'd have to be crazy to do it! Sorry! I'm really
sorry. I'm sure you're not really crazy of course. You see,
AD/HD in the clinical arena is really nothing more than saying, "Okay,
we don't know what the heck the real problem is (or we don't have the courage
or expertise to go there), but this kid is having problems and his parents
have great insurance! We'll provide an intensive schedule of medications
and I'll get a great kickback from the pharmaceutical company, and of course,
we'll provide ongoing lifetime therapy... we'll make some pretty good bucks
and we'll leave the rest of the job up to the [evil] schools. And
if he doesn't get better, it's their fault because we're certainly doing
all we can from our end... in fact, we'll even see if we can somehow assume
the role of advocate... we'll be the good guys." So I guess I just
wanted to share that little story with you. I hope you're okay with
that. You know I'm new at this journalism bit and I wouldn't even
say anything except I've now been burned THREE times this year already
with this same pattern, strategy, philosophy -- or whatever it is.
Gosh, sorry. So my professional recommendation for your IEP team
and department of special education to consider is this: do your
own evaluations. For better or worse, there is a big difference
between what we do in the schools and what happens in the clinical realms...
we may not know the best magic pill to prescribe for students with AD/HD
(and that should be none of our business anyway), but we do know what's
best for our students in our school. Sorry. Sorry again.
Have a great week! See you next month. And I hope you'll do
your own evaluations! And we should burn the DSM. Good luck!
Sorry. |
| TALES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF EDUCATION
(#2)...
Staff member to another
staff member:
Staffer #1: "That's
illegal!"
Staffer #2: "Gee,
we'd better get out the Law Book and look it up."
Here's what was really
being said in this conversation:
Staffer #1: "That's
illegal!"
Staffer #2: "Of course
it's illegal. There are so many rules, laws, and regulations in education
that we're both probably violating 452 of them right now just sitting here.
You know, I'm just consulting with you, minding my own business, and trying
to serve students the best I can in good faith in my role as a professional
educator under highly adverse conditions. But I have to congratulate
you... I hadn't heard that you had recently obtained your law degree!
When's your last day as a classroom aide? I wish you good luck in
your new job as a lawyer. At least I'm assuming you've obtained your
law degree... otherwise, your statement sounds a lot like libel or slander...
the kind of accusation you'd better be able to make stand up in court.
You know, my reputation is worth $45,000,000 to me and I would sure hate
for you -- or anyone -- to be saying things (like what I'm doing is 'illegal,'
for example) about my reputation in the workplace or in the community unless
they are ready to try to prove such statements in court."
Here's some good free sound
advice: If you think something is illegal, stop what you're doing,
express you concerns in writing to the alleged offender and administration,
and ask that the problem be addressed and resolved. Be careful walking
around the school, community, grocery store, or talking with your neighbor
saying someone is "doing illegal things." Someone might hear you.
And
their reputation might be worth $45,000,000 to them. |
Things
are
heating
up
on
the
front
lines of
public
education. |
Who's Problem
is It?
Scenario:
Johnny is a freshman general education student who coincidentally receives
some RSP services. He has refused to do any work all quarter and
is receiving straight F's except for an A in PE. The principal comes
to you and says, "Johnny's having this problem... what are you going to
do?"
a) You reply,
"I'm not going to do anything... Johnny's the one with the problem -- not
me! Why are you trying to make me responsible for the actions of
others?"
b) You reply,
"I'm going to write a whole new set of goals and objectives, throw in a
behavioral intervention plan, provide counseling, and hold 100 IEP meetings
in the next year. I'll beg him to try harder. I'll offer him
five dollars if he'll do some homework."
c) You reply, "I'm
going to let the IEP process work."
d) You reply, "I'm
going to recommend he be exited from RSP... his problems quite obviously
aren't primarily due to a learning disability."
e) You reply, "I'm
going to start documenting everything."
f) You reply, "It
really doesn't matter what I do... education can only work when a student
and a professional educator work cooperatively toward an educational goal...
until Johnny lifts a little finger a puts forth an effort, it's a moot
point." In effect, you are placing the ball in his court.
g) You reply, "I'm
going to allow Johnny to make an informed choice regarding his life."
Creative?
What's that?
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
"The
things you think are precious I can't understand."
Steeley Dan, Reelin' In The Years
When was the last time you diagnosed a student with creativity? Remember
the old days, when there was such a thing as "Gifted, Talented, & Creative?"
I kind of miss those old days...
The last time I diagnosed a student with creativity was in 1989 in Rock
Springs, Wyoming. It's never happened since -- and won't ever happen
again! What was I thinking?
I guess I was trying to identify some of the student's strengths.
I was thinking we could maybe strive toward some vast untapped potential
he quite obviously held. Maybe open some doors of opportunity rather
than meekly and helplessly staring at closed doors. Maybe even provide
some positive guidance regarding future directions. I guess I was
just trying to find something that might work for him as he courageously
ventured forth toward his lifelong pursuit of his goals, dreams, and happiness
in life. I guess I saw something in him that some others didn't see.
I, unlike his teacher, saw him as unique and creative. I should have
known better. What the hell was I thinking? That's apparently
not what testing is all about, I'm told.
His teacher saw him merely as a jerk who wouldn't follow her instructions
(i.e., no pictures allowed in writing assignments). He was making
her look bad.
So, you guessed it... he was ultimately determined by a team of professionals
to be, uh, learning disabled.
Then I moved off to California...
"I'm
already gone."
The Eagles, Already Gone
He was about eleven then. That means he's about 28 or so. I
wonder how his life is going now.
I sometimes have thoughts like this about past cases. I guess I truly
want things to work out great for the students with whom I work.
I
guess I think that the decisions we make are important decisions in students'
lives.
He's probably not reading this now, but if [you] are, I'd like to say this,
way too late:
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry we took you -- a healthy, happy, energetic,
enthusiastic, creative, bright, trusting, young boy -- the backbone and
future of our country -- and disabled you. We called you bad
names and shipped you out merely because your courage and individuality
threatened your teacher's authority. I'm truly sorry. You have
been an inspiration and hero in my life -- it's truly a tragedy in my life
that I wasn't able to protect you from that occurrence. And it's
a continuing societal tragedy that [the system] continues to expect pawns
such as myself to systematically disable more and more (millions nationwide)
young children on a daily basis for the same reason[s]."
"Just
nod if you can hear me."
Roger Waters, Comfortably Numb
My best advice for my fellow school psychologists is, "Never diagnose
a student with creativity." Teachers don't want to hear that
kind of stuff. Apparently, the rest of America doesn't either.
Judging creativity by recent Hollywood cinematic releases, and perusing
the present television schedule, I would guess it's been a long time since
any American student has been diagnosed as creative. No one seemingly
even thinks of it any more. It's much easier to slap the SLD label
on the kid and go to lunch... just make sure you fill out your forms accurately.
"Are
you gathering up the tears?"
Steely Dan, Reelin' In The Years
"There's no
place left to hide."
Bruce Springsteen, Born To Run
Straight from the United
States Department of Education...
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
I know some grow weary of me going on and
on about a few topics, so here are a couple of articles straight from the
United States Department of Education. Read the passages below and
make up your own mind... then consider the following section related to
what you can do for OPN!
More on Accountability, State and Local
Paperwork, and the Individualized Education Program (IEP)
from www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/reports/one.html
by Commissioner Cherie Takemoto
A particularly revealing issue to the Commission
was the strikingly high number of parents, teachers and administrators
who described how IEPs are not actually designed or used for individualized
education; instead they are focused on legal protection and compliance
with regulatory processes. During a Commission site visit to a local
school, one administrator referred to IEPs as a litigation document rather
than an instrument outlining an effective instructional program for students
with disabilities. The original concept of IEPs as an instructional
framework for a defined period of a child's education has been lost to
the greater need to document legal and procedural compliance. Parents and
schools often debate the process of special education with little or no
attention to expected results. The Commission believes educators
should educate and families must hold schools accountable for compliance
with IDEA that generates improved results for students with disabilities.
IEPs should provide a guide for quality
instruction and related services for children with disabilities.
IEPs must preserve basic civil rights and promote achievement, but we find
this is possible while reducing current excessive and repetitious paperwork
requirements. The Commission recommends IEP requirements focus on
substantive educational and developmental outcomes and results. Failure
to meet such outcomes and results would be the basis for additional assistance
and enforcement under the law to address individual and systemic non-compliance
and achieve excellence in special education.
Among the IEP provisions that would be
replaced by measurable annual outcomes and results would be the obligation
that IEPs include “benchmarks or short-term objectives.” Their inclusion
in IEPs contributes greatly to the paperwork burden on educators and parents,
and bears no relationship to the non-linear reality of a child's development.
Members of the child's IEP team should agree as to the length of evaluative
periods and the criteria for judging results. To the extent desired,
an IEP team could include such markers. IEPs should also list services
as they relate to the achievement of measurable annual outcomes, not as
an independent feature in and of themselves as required in current federal
law.
“The Commission fully supports retaining
the basic rights for children and their families already in IDEA and section
504. Preserving these rights in the context of special education
reform is a fundamental recommendation of our work.”
The Impact of the Paperwork Burden in
the Classroom
The combination of federal, state and local
paperwork requirements creates a heavy burden on teachers, schools and
parents. The growing paperwork requirements do not contribute to
student results. The Commission finds that the U.S. Department of
Education should clearly describe what paperwork requirements are imposed
by federal law. State and local paperwork requirements should be
changed to reduce this burden.
Students, teachers and families have all
complained about requirements for paperwork and documentation driven by
the more than 814 federal monitoring requirements for state and local special
education programs to comply with IDEA. Often, reported violations
of federal, state or other requirements result in local schools and agencies
developing additional paperwork requirements rather than directly correcting
the violation.
Special education teachers feel excessive
paperwork interferes with their ability to serve children with disabilities
more effectively. The Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education
(SPeNSE) sponsored by OSEP reveals that special education teachers often
cite required forms and administrative paperwork as an area of dissatisfaction
with their working conditions. The typical special education teacher
spends five hours per week completing forms and doing administrative paperwork.
Moreover, special educators spend more time on paperwork than grading papers,
communicating with parents, sharing expertise with colleagues, supervising
paraprofessionals and attending IEP meetings combined.
SPeNSE reinforces the Commission's findings
that the federal emphasis on procedural compliance requirements trickles
down to directly impact the amount of time actually spent providing direct
services, including instruction to children with disabilities.* Process
compliance review evolved as the major focus to measure compliance with
IDEA because it is more difficult to measure outcomes. This challenge
to measure the quality of special education services must be the focus
of any federal monitoring activity, what Wolf and Hassel call an obsession
with results.
“First and foremost, every element of the
system should focus on student learning. This obsession must begin
at the federal level, with the way Congress frames the federal mandate
and the way Washington structures its funding and oversight of states.
Through those mechanisms it must create the same obsession in state educational
agencies, so that they in turn structure their funding and oversight of
school districts, charter schools and other entities with student-learning
results in mind. Prodded by those systems to focus intently on learning
outcomes, districts must structure their relationships with schools and
other providers to produce results. Ultimately, the people on the
front lines, those who work directly with children, must share this obsession.”
Therefore, the Commission recommends that
the reauthorized IDEA include provisions charging the U.S. Department of
Education to report back to Congress within 18 months of enactment on strategic
proposals to reduce the current paperwork burden. Recognizing that
paperwork is a combination of state, local and federal requirements, the
Secretary's strategic plan must examine the problem at all levels.
To fully examine this problem, we suggest further that the Secretary determine
up to 10 states** that will be allowed to submit proposals for IDEA paperwork
reduction. States would be allowed a waiver of federal paperwork requirements
for a period of time with findings reported to the Secretary prior to his
report to Congress. Such proposals promote local innovation to reduce
paperwork and will also serve as valuable resources for the Secretary to
consider in developing federal strategies to reduce the paperwork burden
under IDEA.
*"Any time not spent working
with students is wasted time."
Don Asbridge,
1997
**Is it 10, 12, 15, 16, or 18 states?
No wonder we're all so confused!
Don Asbridge,
2005
 |
The
Revolution Continues...
Stop
the insanity! One Page IEPs Now! Click
here.
Here's
the e-mail I sent to "Contact" at ed.gov.org:
"Hi, as it relates to the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, specifically
the paperwork reduction component of the bill, I hope you can help me find
the answers to the following questions: 1) has the 15-state commission
been established? 2) if so, which states have been selected?
3) if California is not one of the states, how could I, a Californian,
still be able to provide input into the process? 4) Who is the contact
person at ed.gov with whom I could speak to gather more information?
Thank you very much, Don Asbridge, Bakersfield, California."
Here
is USDE's reply:
Dear
Mr. Asbridge,
Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of Education. The States
who will participate in the pilot projects on paperwork reduction and the
multi-year IEP (authorized in IDEA 2004) have not been selected. There
will not be a "15 state commission." The statute allows up to 15 states
to participate in each of the pilot studies. States that are interested
in participating in the pilot projects will be asked to apply. A notice
of proposed priority will be published in the Federal Register asking for
public input on the selection process and criteria. The person to contact
regarding the pilot projects will be listed in the Federal Register notice,
which we hope will be published in the near future.
We appreciate you taking the time to write. Once again, thank you
for contacting the U.S. Department of Education. If we can be of further
assistance, please do not hesitate to write us again, or call (800) USA-LEARN
(800-872-5327) between the hours of 9-5:00 Eastern Time. Sincerely,
Tanya Kosinski, U.S. Department of Education
http://www.nwoserrc.k12.oh.us/NEW.htm#IDEIA
Click
on the link above, go to the page, scroll down, and click on the .pdf link
to access the Federal Register.
Here's
all I want (as always, tell me if I'm being unreasonable):
I want to be able to provide input for once in my career. That's
all. I want 15 minutes to present my case in PowerPoint format with
handouts of course (Andy Warhol promised me my 15 minutes -- I'm ready
to collect them now). That's all. And I'm not stopping 'till
I get them. I have grown weary of having to sit back and moan
and groan for the next seven years about what the government just did to
education again. If everyone in attendance listening to my presentation
thinks my views related to paperwork reduction and related issues are completely
whacko, fine -- at least I can say I tried. My ongoing communications
with USDE, CSDE, CASP, and possibly others will be published in subsequent
KOGs. In the meantime, feel free to start your own investigations
and ask your own questions. |
 
KASP
Discussion Group...
Click
here to go directly the KASP's Discussion Group Page. Go
there now. Sign up. Contribute. Debate hot issues.
Get heard! Make a pest of yourself. Speak up for what's right
for your students. Fight for your version of educational revolution
now!
The group is open to anyone (especially parents, students, teachers --everyone)
interested in improving education.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kernschoolpsych/
Response
to October's KOG: AVID Now!
by Billy
Singleton, KASP President
In your [October KOG] article it was suggested that Special Education be
more like AVID. I would recommend a further step. REPLACE Special Education
with AVID-like intervention programs. At the elementary school level replace
special education with intensive reading and math intervention. Accommodations
to classroom materials can be made with a 504 plan if a school or classroom
is callous enough to not make accommodations on their own for content learning.
During the process of eliminating special education, the psychologist will
need to prove that they can provide meaningful services to students.
Direct intervention and functional academic or behavioral assessment will
be necessary to demonstrate value outside of special education. I would
also recommend that psychologists avoid moving up through the special education
hierarchy. Instead, look for alternative support for bolstering Psychological
Services as its own entity. Psychological services, if meaningful
and desirable, should be able to support itself. Create intervention
programs, consult with principals, seek funding outside of special education.
Response also available
on the Yahoo KASP Group Page at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kernschoolpsych/
New
National University ABA Certificate Program
by Bill
Matthew, CASP Region III Representative/KASP Employment Chairperson
The National University
ABA certificate program will be starting soon. This is excellent
training for persons providing services to persons with behavioral problems,
irrespective of the diagnostic category. People who are interested
can contact Melissa Bellinger at NU (mbelling@nu.edu)
for admissions information and costs.
Be
Careful What You Ask For...
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
"Less
is More."
While many are moaning and groaning that lack of funding may prevent more
mental health services from coming into your school setting, I must be
the only one in the country complaining that there's too much of that stuff
going on already! CASP
is encouraging you to contact your representatives and congresspersons
about this issue. We at the KOG
are asking you to contact them also, but instead, to please beg them to
keep the DSM out of the schools. How many more AD/HD students do
we need? How many more bipolar students do we need? How many
more millions of dollars does the pharmaceutical industry need to make
off our students (i.e., your children)? For a further articulation
of my views, see my recent work, Time
to Drop Psychological Diagnosis in the Schools?
You may be worried that a "national depression screening day" may not occur
without more funding? Fine. Students in my school know that
if they're depressed, help is available and they know where the local mental
health center is and they know where my office is... they know services
are available. Why should I have to go out and invent more depressed
students at the start of every year? Here's how national screening
day goes: "You probably didn't know this about yourself, but you're
quite obviously depressed -- I'm going to fill out this referral form for
the local mental health center so they can put you on medications -- thank
God I was able to find this out about you based on this brief, ten-item
survey -- you probably would have gone home and killed yourself tonight
not even knowing why... thank goodness we now know it's because you're
depressed! ...Now run off and get yourself on some meds!"
How many more depressed students do we need to invent in America?
If the mental health system wants to run an organized national screening
day, good for them... just don't expect me to do it for them.
"I'm
a fool to do your dirty work... I'm not gonna' do your dirty work no more."
Steely Dan, Can't Buy A Thrill
You may be asking why I want to keep services from students. You
must be thinking I must be a horrible person trying to keep students from
obtaining services. I'm not trying to deny services for students;
if a student needs therapy and meds, then s/he should go down to the local
mental health clinic (or wherever), attend therapy, get their meds, and
do whatever else they need to do while there. I hope every student
who needs such services obtains them -- I would never deny necessary services
to anyone. And if the services are effective, then the student
will arrive at school ready to learn.
I don't know your experiences, but I've had some interesting [i.e., alarming]
interactions in the last couple of years with some clinical therapists.
Here's a brief take on just one case: a student was working with
a private therapist who wanted assessment in the schools to see if there
may be an educational disability; in addition, he recommended the WISC-IV
and BVMGT be administered. We're always happy to test., but I'm
going to determine what is necessary for a fair, accurate, and valid psychological
assessment. The IEP team assessed. I used several instruments
and methods during my assessment, but not the WISC-IV and not the BVMGT.
The meeting was held. The parent took the IEP documents and the team
reports to share with the therapist, who, well, I'll be polite -- came
unglued. There's more detail I could share about this epic, but here's
how it finally ended: I kindly told the parent that THE THERAPIST
IS NOT MY BOSS! And I [kindly] told the therapist that IF HE WANTED
THE WISC-IV AND BVMGT ADMINISTERED, THEN HE COULD ADMINISTER THE WISC-IV
AND BVMGT!!! The important outcome of all this is that the student
is fine and receiving great eductional services. Less importantly,
I'm fine. I did my job and I did what the taxpayers expect from me...
and I recognized this situation for what it was (I'm not going to do the
therapist's dirty work)... but a less experienced psych may not have recognized
this cra -- I mean, trap. Are any of you stuck doing some therapist's
dirty work?
I could actually share quite a few more tales... maybe I will share some
more in the future. Maybe you have some tales to share with us?
If so, please do.
Let's take a minute and look at a few DSM diagnosis we consistently get
in the schools -- and what they mean in real language. How
many of these diagnosis really require an intense schedule of magical
medications, a lifetime of therapy, a private residential placement, and/or
other intensive clinical interventions (paid for by the taxpayers), all
with some clinical therapist trying to tell you what you should be doing
to address "their" AD/HD student in your school? How many bosses
do you need to have? Do you really need some clinical therapist stomping
around your office instructing you to dispense meds on an hourly basis?
Is that really what you want? Is that really what students need?
Is that really what education has come down to? Vote
NO on "more" mental health services
for students.
| Code |
DSM Diagnosis |
In Real Language |
| 315.00 |
Reading Disorder |
Struggles with reading. |
| 315.31 |
Expressive Language Disorder |
Difficulties expressing
self sometimes. |
| 299.80 |
Asperger's Disorder |
Seems a little different
than others. |
| 314.xx |
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder |
Energetic; needs hands-on
tasks; male. |
| 312.8 |
Conduct Disorder |
Sometimes chooses to break
the rules. |
| 313.81 |
Oppositional Defiant Disorder |
Hates school, rules, and
other social injustices. |
| 313.9 |
Disorder of Infancy, Childhood,
or Adolescence NOS |
Uh, we don't know, but parents
have great insurance! |
| 311 |
Depressive Disorder NOS |
Sadness; a human emotion. |
| 304.40 |
Amphetamine Dependence |
Student is hooked on meth. |
| 296.xx |
Bipolar I Disorder |
Student has good days and
bad days, just like you and me. |
| 300.02 |
Generalized Anxiety Disorder |
Nervous; hasn't studied;
big test tomorrow. |
| 302.xx |
Gender Identity Disorder |
This is any of our
business in the schools? |
| 312.32 |
Kleptomania |
Student, uh, sometimes steals. |
| 309.xx |
Adjustment Disorder |
Uh, we don't know, but parents
have great insurance! |
| 307.42 |
Primary Insomnia |
Student enjoys music all
night; hates studying. |
| 312.34 |
Intermittent Explosive Disorder |
Student sometimes gets angry. |
Click on the link
below and ask (beg) your elected representatives to keep the DSM out of
the schools -- we don't need more mental health services -- we've
disabled enough students already. And we don't need a national depression
screening day in the schools either... we need One Page Now (OPN)!
http://capwiz.com/naspweb/home/
Remember,
I begged you not to read this issue!
Still
Another KOG Extra!
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
The arts, sciences, humanism, and ethics of the noble field of psychology
and the day-to-day practices, laws, and excessive paperwork procedures
and demands of special education do not always go hand-in-hand. Click
here for a brief remembrance of the day I finally stepped out of
special education...
The
KOG REVOLUTION BEGINS!
by Don
Asbridge, KOG Editor
Click
here.
Letters
to the KOG Editor...
 Revolution,
baby!
Dear KOG Editor,
"I'm
sorry to hear you're back online. When you were away for a couple
of years I was able to just test, write my report, attend the IEP meeting,
slap the label on the kid, go for my lunch hour, then on to the next case,
guilt free. Why did you have to come back?"
Signed, "Set In My Ways"
Dear SIMW,
That's
exactly why I'm back.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"You
had a lot incorrect spellings in last month's KOG. I'm giving you
an F."
Signed, "English Teacher"
Dear English Teacher,
No,
you're not giving me an F... I'm choosing to earn an F.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"What
are the ramifications of IDEIA 2004?"
Signed, "Budding Advocate"
Dear BA,
Job
security, money, power, influence, and control for a lot of people, just
like always.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"Your
revolution ain't my revolution!"
Signed, "Not Your Peer"
Dear NYP,
Why
don't you have the courage to share your revolution with us, then... or
maybe you're happy just the way things are?
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"What's
the difference between people who, you know, write books... and people
who don't?"
Signed, "CSUB Freshman English Major"
Dear CSUB Freshman
English Major,
Well,
people who write books write books... people who don't write books don't
write books.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"What's
the difference between people who read books and people who don't read
books?"
Signed, "CSUB Freshman English Major"
Dear CSUB Freshman
English Major,
People
who read books are female... people who don't read books are male.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"What
can we do to get more mental health services into the schools?"
Signed, "Pharmaceutical Rep"
Dear PR,
Do
we really need more mental health services in the schools? How many
AD/HD, bipolar, depressed, dyslexic, and Aspergers students do we need
to be on the magic pill? How much more money does your industry have to
make off innocent Americans?
Signed, KOG Editor
|
Dear
KOG Editor,
"Now
I'm really confused. What's the difference between people who do
their homework and people who don't? When I start teaching, 90% of
the student's grade will be based on homework."
Signed, "CSUB Freshman English Major"
Dear CSUB Freshman
English Major,
Well,
girls do homework and boys don't.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"What
is a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment?"
Signed, "A Dad"
Dear Dad,
I don't
know, I've never seen one.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"If
there is no difference between an RSP and SDC student (like you wrote last
month) then what's the difference between a special education student and
a general education student?"
Signed, "Concerned Parent"
Dear CP,
There
is no difference between the two.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"You
keep saying 'drop this,' and 'drop that.' When are you going to forward
a positive recommendation?"
Signed, "Skeptic"
Dear Skeptic,
I thought
those were positive recommendations!
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"Could
you provide an example of FAPE being disrupted?"
Signed, "Grad Student"
Dear Grad Student,
FAPE
is disrupted whenever a professional educator and student are not working
cooperatively toward an educational goal.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"Do
you write all this stuff just for shock value?"
Signed, "Interested Hollywood Producer"
Dear IHP,
I write
it because it's the truth as I see it; I could never think all this up
on my own.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"I
thought you were against censorship, yet now you want to burn books?"
Signed, "The Observer"
Dear Observer,
I am
against censorship... I hope you won't try to censor my right to burn my
own DSM if I so choose. And I'll only do it if the readers demand
it, of course.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
"Man,
you've got one bad attitude. Why?"
Signed, "A Co-Worker"
Dear Co-Worker,
I'll
try to get better. I guess I just keep expecting more. Gotta
run now... gotta get back to TV's 100 Most Craziest Moments.
Signed, KOG Editor
Send letters to: shrink@igalaxy.net |
|
|
November,
2005 Non-issue ISSUE #1
