This is an abbreviated version of the story of Procrustes the Stretched and Theseus from here (emphasis mine). Theseus went on his way again. After a few miles, it got dark. Theseus saw a large house up ahead of him. He decided to ask the owner for a bed for the night, so he walked … More One Size Does Not Fit All in Special Education: Lessons from Procrustes
Why Haven’t They Done That Yet? I have been in many classrooms where the behavior specialists come in and suggest methods to overcome a persistent challenging behavior in class. I always had to work to keep my mouth shut when I hear these professionals suggest planned ignore, praise around, and behavior charts as a panacea … More Moving Beyond Planned Ignore and Proximity Prase: Strategies to Address Challenging Behaviors
An Educational Aside In my working with teachers and school psychologists, I have noticed there is a trend toward attributing a wide array of maladaptive and challenging behaviors to autism. Poor social skills are called “autistic traits.” Whenever there is a profound sensory need autism is assumed, even though sensory processing issues are present in … More Most of What We Call Autism-Behaviors Really Are Not Unique to Autism
An Education Aside So I have been thinking a lot about behavior and why I am able to effect significant change in a classroom when people purportedly more qualified than myself fail. I have come to the conclusion that my success is entirely the approach I take. This method was learned from my mother and … More Kids Think: Behaviorism Will Fail Until It Accepts This Fact
A Teaching Aside Early on in the year I got a wild hair idea that I wanted to try to write grants to get money to buy a classroom set of yoga balls. I actually thought of this not because of the needs to students, but rather based on my own experiences in school. I … More Fun with yoga balls in the classroom
Why Haven't They Done That Yet? 