ADDed View from The Orion School

At Orion Experiences Increase Success

2012-01-31T00:13:00.001-05:00

There was recently an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal called What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind? In a nutshell the point was made that today’s youth reach puberty earlierand adulthood later than ever before in human history. This flipping ofdevelopment means that young adults are not prepared for life because they havenot had the practical experiences necessary to be independent that previousgenerations did. Yet they still have the same emotions and motivation teens havealways had to direct their actions away from adults and towards their peers. This flip makes for an extended adolescence into young adulthood.

Recent brain research indicates that the key to learning to make better decisions is by repeatedly making mistakes and learning to make better ones over time. Childhood once involved formal and informal chances to practice adult skills under the guidance of adults. This practice gave the necessary skills for adulthood once teen emotions and motivation for independence surfaced.

Now this haschanged – puberty is earlier (emotions and motivation for rewards) and the reallife experiences of adulthood are replaced with school and more school. Realworld goals are set aside just at the time that the experiences necessary forthe future commitment to and success of these real life goals is needed. Theend result is that teens today are smarter but not as worldly. Young adults havehigher IQs and more education but less commitment to anything. The research indicates that both booklearning and experiential learning are necessary to positively impact the ability to increase competenceand success.

The WSJ article points out two very important points about themind and the brain that I think needs to impact all educational decisions:

1) The brain is sensitive and experiences shape it. “Our socialand cultural life shapes our biology”. This is to say that the future isnot predetermined since experiences shape our biology and therefore our destiny.

2) “Development plays a crucial role inexplaining human nature”. In the nature versus nurture arena this meansthat the way a person interacts with the environment is what impacts theoutcome. It is not one or the other, but the interplay of both that needs to beconsidered.

We are not returning to an agrarian society where ourchildren will work the fields, tend to younger children, and be well preparedby the time they are teens for an adult life. Yet, we should also not extendchildhood until early adulthood by creating book smart twenty somethings whohave no real clue how the world works. Taking a passive approach to waitinguntil a child is “ready” for adulthood is not the answer. The prefrontal lobethat affects control over the world needs to be exercised by experiences.

The article explains that both experience, skill, andfreedom need to go hand in hand to help prepare for adulthood. More and moreschool experiences during and after school in the form of extra classes and homework only develop the brain in one way. Apprenticeships, community serviceopportunities, internships, and learning skills in an area of interest are just some ways to integrate the latestknowledge we have about the brain with our desire to help our teens bebetter prepared for the world they will go out into. The article suggests that insteadof enrichment camps and service tourism, the alternative to really helping our teens grow intosuccessful adults is real jobs and real responsibilities.

The implications from this research for children who aredeveloping a bit differently is the same for K-12th grade. Why are we giving students whostruggle the most to understand the real life connection to school more andmore school, homework and tutoring in an attempt to increase their knowledge? Special education schools are ideal for an alternative approach. It is a game ofdiminishing returns to give children who have anxiety, ADHD, and/or Asperger's more work in hopes of increasing their motivation in school. The latest research supports that it is the interplay ofinformation and experience that creates the biggest gains in real lifeconnections and ultimately real life passion and success.

At The Orion School we havealways understood the connection between book learning and experiential learning. Our school program was developed tointegrate multisensory learning opportunities in the classroom, real life connectionsat every turn, and meaningful curriculum extensions that shape theunderstanding of the world and give our students the best chance for futuresuccess. We nurture an education of real life opportunities for success to help build islands of competence that will translate into adult success and passion. It is nice to know that the latest research supports us!

What Me Worry? Managing Anxiety for You and Your Child

2012-01-24T01:06:00.000-05:00

If you google "coexisting anxiety in children" the first few pages all pull up anxiety as a coexisting condition with ADHD. At a school like Orion this is an obvious correlation because we serve a high percentage of bright children with anxiety. According to CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD there is up to a 30% correlation between anxiety and ADHD.

Anxiety also exists for many parents raising children who develop differently. The natural anxiety that all parents face about the future and how much they are able to impact it can feel even more overwhelming when a child is off the bell curve in some significant way.

In response to the reality that anxiety can exist in both children and parents for different reasons, The Orion School is sponsoring a free Parent Educational Evening presented by Margo Geller, MSW, LCSW titled: What Me Worry? Managing Anxiety for You and Your Child.

The evening is from 6:30-8:00 on Tuesday, January 24th at The Orion School located at 458 Ponce de Leon Ave. in midtown Atlanta. It is open to the community.

The hope is to offer ways to help an anxious child and/or also help manage parental anxiety. Usually they go hand in hand.

Orion Thanks GA Tech Volunteers...Again!

2012-01-22T20:10:00.001-05:00

Once again the young men from the Sigma Beta Rho fraternity at GA Tech organized a service day at The Orion School. They have been volunteering for three years now and we are super appreciative of their ongoing support. Today we were fortunate to have a dozen and a half students partner with Orion families and staff to improve our space.

It is only with this kind of community support that The Orion School can continue to offer the best education now and success in the future for students with neurobehavioral conditions including ADHD, Asperger's, and anxiety.

Spring 2012 Soccer Saturdays at The Orion School

2012-01-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

Join Us For Orion Soccer Saturdays!

The Orion School is sponsoring FREE drop in Soccer Saturdays to offer a low stress alternative to traditional soccer leagues. The program is ideal for any child age 5-13 with neurobehavioral conditions including ADHD, Aspergers, and anxiety who needs more support for success. The goal is to have fun and build self confidence through participation in a team sport. The mornings also give parents a chance to connect with other supportive families.

At least one adult needs to stay and siblings are welcome to join in. Healthy snacks are a welcome additions!

The coaches for Soccer Saturdays are Jason Teufel and Jacob Echevarria who are Orion educators with a lifetime of experience playing and coaching soccer and team sports. The last morning has an awards ceremony for all participants.

DATES

March 17th

April 14th, 21st, 28th

May 5th

TIME

11:00-12:15 each morning

LOCATION

The Orion School Playground

458 Ponce de Leon Ave.

Atlanta, GA 30308

Please call Teresa at 404-551-2574 with any questions

The Orion School Thanks the Georgia Aquarium!

2012-01-16T22:37:00.000-05:00

This past week the Orion school spent the day exploring the Georgia Aquarium under their Sponsored Education Admissions (SEA) program. We were able to have all our students and chaperones (at an almost 1: 2 ratio!) explore the aquarium on a Georgia Performance Standard curriculum extension outing.

The Orion School is small enough and our program is adaptive enough that we have the unique ability to give our students a gift of weekly experiential learning opportunities.

Educational experiences that are richer and more meaningful than more traditional schools offer will help our students make stronger academic connections. We are grateful to the Georgia Aquarium for another day filled with learning and wonder that could not possibly be replicated in a classroom.

Anxiety Goes Hand In Hand With ADHD and Asperger's

2012-01-15T13:51:00.001-05:00

Anxiety is the most common mental health issue in the United States and affects about 1 in 8 kids. Anxiety also commonly exists with a many other conditions including ADHD and Asperger’s. We are just one small school in Atlanta, but at the Orion School most of our students have anxiety. The kinds of anxiety that are seen at Orion include OCD, school refusal, separation anxiety, nervousness, excessive worry, test anxiety, social phobias, specific phobias such as storms, and avoidance disorders such as school avoidance.

According to The ADAA (Anxiety Disorders Association of America) research shows that untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and engage in substance abuse. Yet with treatment and support, children can learn how to successfully manage the symptoms of an anxiety disorder and live a normal childhood.

Since kids spend about 1,000 hours in each school year (!) it is important that we recognize and offer support for our students who have this challenge.

We understand why a child might be so hard on themselves in the goal of perfection, or seek constant reassurance from teachers, or not even attempt a challenge unless they know they will succeed, or have a fear of math itself, or have a tantrum or headache when faced with a phobia they have not yet spoken, or not talk to classmates during unstructured times, or repeat themselves or an activity in an effort to soothe themselves.

As a special education school our goal and scope is one of education, not therapy. We help a child with anxiety by acknowledging the mental health piece and working to reduce the stress in school that is impacting the ability to learn. Once this is done, we routinely see a surge in academic growth in addition to social and emotional confidence that can only come from this kind of supportive school.

IEP Seminar in Atlanta

2012-01-14T20:35:00.001-05:00

The Orion School is a private school so by definition we offer an intensively supportive education which of course offers an individualized education for all our students. We offer the best education possible for students who have neurobehavioral challenges, yet for most families a private school is not always an option. I understand the reality of the situation as I am routinely asked about services in public schools. This is not an area I know much about but knowledge is power. Besides finding the public schools with the best programs and moving next door, the obvious practical suggestion is to become an educated advocate or even hiring an advocate. The IEP world is a complex one.

Georgia Autism Speaks is presenting a seminar in a few weeks titled IEP 101 which looks like it might answer a lot of questions about the IEP process. Below is the information from their web site.

In conjunction with the release of the Autism Speaks IEP Tool Kit, we are hosting an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) seminar, to assist parents and guardians in the IEP Process. Whether you're new to the process of an IEP or an old pro, we hope you can join us as special needs attorney Allison B. Vrolijk, LLC, Health Care Consultant Educational Child Advocate Debbie Dobbs, and Child Advocate at Advocate and Educational Consultant Sandra Riggs breakdown the IEP Process and provide helpful tips and tricks when preparing.

Seating is limited. To RSVP call the Autism Speaks Georgia Office at 770.451.0570

Saturday, February 4th
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Atlanta Alpharetta Marriott
5750 Windward Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30005

Spring 2012 Parent Educational Support Series @ Orion

2012-01-13T19:27:00.000-05:00

The Orion School is thrilled to sponsor a free Spring 2012 Parent Educational Support Series to offer parents a supportive setting to learn and connect. The evenings will be presented by professionals and Orion School staff who have expertise helping parents of wonderfully complex children with social, emotional and behavioral differences; including ADHD, Asperger's and anxiety.

Location of all evenings is at The Orion School
458 Ponce de Leon Ave.

Atlanta, GA 30308

http://www.theorionschool.org/

Time for all evenings is 6:30-8:00

Refreshments will be provided

The evenings are free of charge, but please call 404-551-2574 to reserve a spot.

Parent Educational Support Evenings

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What Me Worry? Managing Anxiety for You and Your Child

Facilitator: Margo Geller, MSW, LCSW,
Orion School Mental Health Consultant

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Seeing Red: Behavior Intervention Strategies in the Classroom and at Home

Facilitator: Michael Largin, M.A.
Orion School Educator

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
On The Autism Spectrum: Support and Education

Facilitator: Stephanie Wodinsky, Ph.D., MBA, GAC-ABA

Orion School Educator

April 24, 2012

Natural Settings: The Movement and Thinking Connection

Facilitator: Chris Zelski, Founder/Director Outdoor Rec. Adventures
and Jason Teufel, Orion School Educator

May 22, 2012

Who’s In Charge? Understanding Executive Functioning

Facilitators: Orion School Educators

Pictures From 2011

2012-01-01T23:56:00.001-05:00

Orion Students Soar Yet Test Taking Inconsistency Is Consistent

2011-12-30T17:54:00.000-05:00

As we get ready for the second semester at Orion School I am reflecting on the gains our students make each year. Last year for example my son, who is an Orion student, moved forward an average of two and a half years academically from the previous year (based on his Stanford 10 test results). Within the test there was a scattered profile and his learning issues and strengths were evident. He went forward over four years in his total reading yet in the spelling section his phonemic blindness is obvious and he remained a few years behind. In math there was a four year difference between the problem solving section which he is over four years ahead of grade level on and the math procedures section which he is average in. His gains are typical of the bright learners at Orion who are great at understanding concepts at a very high level and also have imbedded learning challenges.

Some Orion students are able to move forward faster academically than their peers in every other school in Atlanta. Yet some students who have more challenging profiles still struggle and have pretty inconsistent testing results. Sometimes this is because they have test anxiety and will not even try to answer questions they do not think they know. Or they may be having a rough emotional day and be reluctant to take the test. They may also decide testing day to make designs on the testing answer forms for the fun of it. They may have significant learning differences and truly are not good "test takers". They may have attentional issues related to ADHD that make it a challenge just to take the test. Our student's inconsistency is often what holds them back in more traditional schools and one reason Orion does not just spend the school year “teaching to the test”.

At Orion students are able to learn on their own terms and gain strategies to reach their fullest potential. I can not stress enough to families who are not education junkies like I am that a school like Orion does everything possible to remove the barriers to learning for children who are not able to learn best in a more traditional school. We can influence a more positive life outcome because of our intensively supportive educational approach… and in the end our students are the ones who soar.

Deskless Classrooms for Student Centered Learning

2011-12-30T02:00:00.001-05:00

There has been an intriguing educational movement from kindergarten to college to remove both teacher and student desks in favor of more student centered classrooms. This phenomenon has been noted in divergent sources including newspapers, education journals, articles, blogs, and tweets.

The main goal of a deskless classroom is to create a less traditionally structured and more student centered active learning space. The idea of deskless classrooms is to have a variety of seating and learning areas including rugs, tables, experiential subject centers, and private corners for different kinds of learning opportunities.

The reasons educators give for throwing their desks out of the classroom include decreasing the boredom factor for students (and teachers) of sitting at a desk all day, promoting class teamwork and sharing of ideas, reducing the power structure to create a more collaborative classroom with the teacher as the mentor or coach, and eliminating the practical distractions of a desk filled with papers and “stuff”.

In a deskless classroom teachers are able to be more accessible and move around the room to talk to and help each student, answer questions, participate in more hands on learning opportunities, create active learning centers, include technology in the classroom work including flip videos cameras, iPods, and laptops, help facilitate project work, and integrate a multi-modal approach into academics such as dance and theater. Some researchers are even exploring desk less classrooms as a response to increasing the physical activity level during in-class instructional time so PE and recess are not the only time that students move! There is also more recent research which shows that sitting isolated at desks is not even the best way for students to learn.

This deskless movement has been noted as a way to increase academic achievement for more typical learners. For children who have identified learning differences such as ADHD or Asperger's, there is strong evidence that the best way for learning is actively moving during a learning activity, laying or sitting on the floor, standing or walking around in class, or sitting on a balance ball. A deskless classroom seems like a great fit.

What intrigues me most about this idea is that at The Orion School we are ahead of the curve and already have deskless classrooms for all our students. I wonder if any of our teachers would be interested in taking this to the next level and become a deskless teacher?

A Disability Perspective AND A Strength Based Approach Go Hand In Hand

2011-12-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

A recent article in About.com by Keath Low wondered if labeling a child with ADHD is helpful or hurtful. The question of whether a label will somehow follow a child and hinder them from success in some way is a common one. I marvel at the idea of not getting a child tested for fear of confirming a label that will clarify what is going on. It is shooting-the-messenger to think that the label creates the challenges a family faces when a child has a neurobehavioral condition like ADHD. Denial can not help a child - but knowledge will give a guide to what support that research based interventions and education might offer.

The article has a great paragraph on treating the whole child that could have been written as an advertisement for the Orion School philosophy. We use a disability perspective, meaning understanding where a child may need additional support, and also offer a strength based approach, meaning creating an environment where strengths can be nurtured.

Below is the paragraph from the article that I would love to add to Orion School's web site!

Yet regardless of the ADHD label, each child -- whether that child has ADHD or not -- is uniquely different. Each child has special qualities and unique strengths and weaknesses. Though the primary symptoms that define ADHD include impulsivity, hyperactivity and inattention, not all children with ADHD will present these symptoms in the same way or to the same degree. As a child ages and moves through different developmental stages and life changes, the ADHD may also manifest differently. A child who has ADHD may also have co-occurring learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, behavior or conduct problems, emotional issues, tics, etc. The point is it is vital to recognize and understand the needs of each individual child. Work to minimize a child's areas of weakness, while at the same time identifying and nurturing strengths.

Can Employment Be Strength Based?

2011-12-25T22:20:00.002-05:00

As bad as the economy is for everyone, employment for people with disabilities is hovering around 85%. This number includes the new faces of disabilities including bright adults who have conditions like Asperger’s and HFA. Once their education is completed, they still struggle with the demands of not only getting a job, but of holding one. In this context, it is hopeful to know there are non-profits now popping up to help people who still need support to succeed in the work force.

One non-profit organization in Chicago that is receiving media attention right now is Aspiritech. They have a mission “to provide a path for high functioning individuals on the Autism Spectrum to realize their potential through gainful employment"....by "leveraging their unique talents – attention to detail, superlative technical aptitude, ability to thrive in a highly repetitive task-driven work environment – and aligning those talents to the needs of the business community.” Specifically, they “provide competitively-priced testing services to client software development organizations."

Applicants to be software testers at Aspiritech need to be diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome or High-Functioning Autism, be able to commute to Aspiritech's office in Highland Park or client sites (Northern Chicago Area), and be willing to work for at least 4 hours a day, 5 days a week

No prior knowledge or job experience of software programming and/or testing for software testers is required. The down side to this aspirational organization is that they have many more applications than spots right now for trainees and there is a long waiting list.

A special education school like Orion has a strength based program which celebrates and nurtures the strengths of students who have conditions like Asperger’s Syndrome. I hope by the time they grow up and go out in the world there is more awareness and more real job training opportunities as companies realize that every person has a unique set of talents and gifts to give to the world. In the process companies will realize this is a great way to match demand for skilled workers with people who have traditionally been overlooked in the workforce.

I Will Take Feng Shui Over Shoulds Any Day!

2011-12-25T18:03:00.001-05:00

We once hired a new energetic Orion teacher who took one look at the classroom that was left for him and said the feng shui in the room was all wrong and immediately figured out why. He rearranged the room by putting the teacher’s desk at an angle in an alcove in the back of the room. It had been in the front of the classroom. He put the student tables at an angle in another section of the room to create a defined learning space, then created a separate cozy, yet open area that he would use for more experiential learning activities. Amazingly the room really did “feel” more peaceful and had a better energy to it.

What was most interesting about all this is that the teacher who left this particular classroom gave notice after an unsuccessful bid to radically change the core philosophy of Orion. The idea was that our older students (defined as 4-6 grade students!) needed a more traditionally structured approach to education and they should not be babied with things like high interest, student centered, multisensory learning activities, or the positive behavior system that is the cornerstone of the way students are taught at Orion. Some pretty retro ideas surfaced on how we should lay down the law and become more traditional and less specialized including:

Students should learn to sit at real desks and not do cooperative group work or learn to sit with their fellow students at a table.
Students should follow the rules and if they do not should get negative consequences instead of a steady supply of positive reinforcements and preventive measures to proactively deter off behavior .
Students should be sent home if they make errors in behavior – in the form of a mini expulsion for students with identified neurobehavioral challenges like Asperger's Syndrome of mood dysregulation!
Students should use work books and text books as the primary learning tool and not engage in constructive learning opportunities, use manipulatives, or have curriculum modifications that have been differentiated for each student.
Students should learn to sit through a lesson taught primarily using an overhead projector as the main delivery of instruction --- and they should behave through teacher centered lectures or get negative consequences.
Students should take home photocopied worksheets to learn material under the notion that more is better. If the teacher decides that not enough was taught in class any given day then students should “finish up” class work at home.
Students should learn to do homework that is neither a reinforcement for what is being taught or meaningful in nature. Photocopied worksheets or another page of a workbook or textbook make it easier on the teacher.
Students should learn what it is like to fail a test and not learn the success of taking a test to show what they have learned.
Mistakes made on details should mean that concept mastery should take a back seat to a goal of perfection....ADHD students need to just try harder.
Students should be responsible, not teachers, for ensuring that a concept is learned before a test is given.

The above list of this teacher’s “shoulds” defines exactly what is wrong in education and why even if a child is learning anything within this philosophy there is no joy to the learning being done. Think of a public school classroom where many of these “shoulds” have to exist to compensate for having 25 students or more in a class. It does not acknowledge that it is the job of the teacher to meet the students where they are and move them forward academically with flexibility, creativity, humor and hard work. Students want to succeed and at a school like Orion they may just need a bit more coaching from caring teachers to do so.

I had an epiphany when the new teacher feng shui’d the room. The exiting teacher’s desk had been in the back of the room and not in the front of the room in the middle of the learning space the previous year. The year the exiting teacher left was when the new list of “shoulds” appeared and some sort of determination to turn back the clock on educational philosophy for the students in the class must have been made. Moving the desk put the teacher front and center in the classroom and destroyed the positive energy of the room. It was a tip off to what was starting to go wrong in the classroom and why the exiting teacher would ultimately leave Orion.

Club Orion After School

2011-12-14T14:29:00.005-05:00

Club Orion offers the only after school in Atlanta with a dedicated profile serving children with social and emotional differences such as ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. The teacher to student ratio is 1:4 and the focus is on self esteem, social skills, creative expression, and self regulation. There is an every day option or a choice of days per week. The goal is to help children build self confidence and friendships in a nurturing and structured setting.

Anyone from the community can join Club Orion and we continue to grow as word spreads about the support we give to children at one of the trickiest times of the day. Activities like creative movement, kumandi drumming, yoga, sport skills and team building, gardening, and experiential art are part of the week with teachers who have a love and skill in these areas.

An Independent School Board of Trustees Is Not A Grievance Committee

2011-12-13T02:04:00.001-05:00

As Orion grows, it is often confusing for staff and parents what exactly the function of a board of trustees is. We are such an intimate learning community that boundaries are often overlooked. Yet, like every other board, an independent school board is not designed to be an open line for every grievance that a staff member or parent has. In essence the head of the school is the one who is in charge of the daily operations of the school, including staffing and curriculum and all involved need to respect this as a best practice reality.

At a small private school like Orion staff are employees who are hired, trained and let go by the head of the school. Students are really the clients, but it is parents who are the buyers of the education since private schools are a free market enterprise. Below are some notes from the NAIS about board governance to help those who are new to the private school world.

Independent School Trustees

The following Principles of Good Practice are set forth to provide a common perspective on the responsibilities of individual members of independent school boards.

A trustee actively supports and promotes the school's current mission, vision, strategic goals, and policy positions.
A trustee is knowledgeable about the school's mission and goals, including its commitment to equity and justice, and represents them appropriately and accurately within the community.
A trustee stays fully informed about current operations and issues by attending meetings regularly, coming to meetings well prepared, and participating fully in all matters.
The board sets policy and focuses on long-range and strategic issues. An individual trustee does not become involved directly in specific management, personnel, or curricular issues.
The trustee takes care to separate the interests of the school from the specific needs of a particular child or constituency.
A trustee accepts and supports board decisions. Once a decision has been made, the board speaks as one voice.
A trustee keeps all board deliberations confidential.
A trustee guards against conflict of interest, whether personal or business related.
A trustee has the responsibility to support the school and its head and to demonstrate that support within the community.
Authority is vested in the board as a whole. A trustee who learns of an issue of importance to the school has the obligation to bring it to the head of school, or to the board chair, and must refrain from responding to the situation individually.
A trustee contributes to the development program of the school, including strategic planning for development, financial support, and active involvement in annual and capital giving.
Each trustee, not just the treasurer and finance committee, has fiduciary responsibility to the school for sound financial management.

Orion Students Soar Sky High Above State Educational Requirements

2011-12-10T21:24:00.010-05:00

Every so often The Orion School gets slammed for our alternative educational approach. The worry is that we do not teach enough "academics" because our program is so full of experiential enrichment activities. Separating out "academics" from learning opportunities went out of style at least a generation ago. Currrent educational thinking includes finding ways to help students make connections in as many ways as possible.

It amuses me that "the rules" of the state we live should in any way become the standard, not a baseline for educational decisions. For due diligence, when I founded The Orion School I researched the requirements carefully to make sure we follow "the rules"....and realized how easy this was to do. Orion not only meets all minimum state educational requirements, but also offers the best education of any school in Atlanta.

• In Georgia schools there is a requirement to have the equivalent of 180 days of 4 1/2 hours of instruction per day. This is considered over the course of the year. The Orion School has 182 instructional days scheduled. Since we have 6 hour school days we can play tiddly winks all day for over two weeks and still be way ahead of the game on this requirement per year!

• The state's 4/12 Instructional time excludes lunch, snack and non organized activities such as recess. Orion has a 6 hour school day with instructional activities scheduled throughout. Take away lunch and snack and this is still another requirement that we breeze through.

• The minimum academic classes that are required as part of the school day are social studies, math, language arts, science, and reading.The amount of time per day spent on these subjects, what additional subjects can be taught, the instructional methodology , and the materials used are not given by the state. This is to say that at Orion experiential learning opportunity in class, in enrichment classes and opportunities outside the classroom can be included in the 4 1/2 hour requirement.

• For elementary school what are called "specials" are included as instructional time and include for example art, music, PE, and Technology. These type of classes are what we call at Orion "enrichment" or "curriculum extension" classes.

• For the middle school level what are called "connections" or exploratory classes are included as instructional time and include instruction beyond the academic classes. Again, these are what we call at Orion "enrichment" or "curriculum extension" classes which are designed to integrate and apply skills and concepts taught in the academic classes by reinforcing concepts, critical thinking, writing and reading skills.

• The goals of weekly Curriculum Extensions at Orion have always been carefully designed to extend and scaffold the curriculum being taught in the classroom with experiential learning opportunities.

• It is important to note that from just a common sense point of view, The Orion School far exceeds any state requirement for instructional time since this assumes public school classes of 20-30 students depending on the grade. The class size at Orion is 4 students which gives the ability for the instructional time to be maximized for each student.

• Our outcome has always been academic success for our students who have not experienced this at other schools. On national standardized testing some of our students went forward three full years in one year academically last year while some advanced one academic year and some slightly less than one year depending on their developmental profile. We can not change development no matter what we do :)

The Orion School has been thoughtfully designed to integrate the needs of the whole child into the school day. This of course includes academic growth. State standards are for public school bureaucrats --- at Orion we have the luxury of being able to not only easily surpass these minimum requirements, but to do so much more to set the academic bar sky high for our students!

Camp Orion Donated to Bid For Good Cause

2011-12-08T19:38:00.004-05:00

Amit is a local Atlanta organization that serves families who have children with special learning needs. The Orion School donated a week of Camp Orion that is currently way undervalued. They are holding an online auction that is heavy with donations from various tutors, therapists and camps. Check out all 400 items available to bid on and make sure to read all the terms and conditions before bidding. The auction ends Sunday, 12/11 at 9 PM! Log onto www.biddingforgood.com/amit and go to Tutoring and Therapies and Kids Camps and Classes on the left hand side of the page to see all that is offered. Below are just some of the services that have been donated to this auction.

Camps
· Camp Orion - 1 week camp Specializes in ADHD/Aspergers - $415 Value

Academic Evaluation
· Atlanta Psychological Services – Academic Achievement Evaluation (Child or Adult) - $525 Value
· Atlanta Psychological Services – IQ Test (Child or Adult) - $525 Value

Occupational Therapy
· Debbie Berman – Amit’s Early Intervention Program - Complete OT Evaluation for Preschooler - $250 Value
· Debbie Berman – Amit’s Early Intervention Program – One hour OT session - $100 Value
· Robbyn Laufer – Kids Can Occupational Therapy Services, Comprehensive OT Evaluation - $500 Value
· Robbyn Laufer – Kids Can Occupational Therapy Services, 1 hr OT Screening or 1hr Consultation with Family - $140 Value

Speech and Language
· Sharon Sokolik – Speech and Language Evaluation - $350 Value
· Stacey Levy and Assoc - Speech and Language Evaluation and Consultation and written report - $250 Value
· Mindy Elkan – Greater Atlanta Speech and Language Clinic – Speech-Language Evaluation - $220 Value
· Amy Sherman - Atlanta Speech Therapy and Training, two 30 minute speech therapy sessions– Value $200

Music Therapy
· Metro Music – Assessment - $100 Value
· Music Therapy Services - Gift Card good towards any service - $75

Hippo/Equine Therapy
· Dustin’s Place – (2) 1hr sessions - $80 Value
· Horse Talk – 1 Hippo Therapy Session and 1 Therapeutic Riding Session - $145 Value
· Circle C-2 IT – Check out the three different types of donations - Communication Therapy, Beat Drumming Sessions, 2hr Horse Talk Sessions

The Orion School Is An Educational Oasis For Our Students

2011-12-08T07:45:00.004-05:00

“The Orion School changed my child’s life but now that he is happy and excited about being in school I need you to add back in all the things that made his last school experience a failure for him….I just know he’s ready for it.” This is not exactly what parents say, but once their child is no longer failing daily and now loves school this is what they think. After all, how much learning is being done if a child actually loves school?

If you want a school that has lots of homework for your child to lose his face over every night you, textbooks that seem to have been written as a sleeping aid, a full day of academic seat work and worksheets, and a negative focus on every transgression your child does with a heavy emphasis on what he “should” be able to do….then The Orion School is NOT the school for you!

We are pretty much one of the only schools in Atlanta that embraces and takes a chance on students who have not had success in more typical schools. By this I mean students who have really not had success as in being asked to leave private special education schools, spending their days in either the resource room or the principal’s office at public school, or are being home tutored because there are no schools public or private that will help them. We are the school that helps reluctant learners experience success and become engaged learners. This is what we do.

The Orion School exists to be alternative in nature to reflect the needs of these students struggling with social and emotional challenges. The tip off to Orion’s uniqueness is pretty obvious. Our small classes only have 4 students in them…not the more typical 8-12 that most special education schools have. We have devoted time and resources so our students have classes in enrichment activities like hiking, yoga, social skills and team building as part of the school week. We go off site three days a week for experiential learning activities.

The question always becomes what we do to help students once their learning profile stabilizes and they become “typical” students. The answer is that they are still not typical learners and the reason they are excited and engaged in their education is because of the many, many interventions that are seamlessly woven into our school program. Take away these and you take away what makes your child want to be in school. You also increase the likelihood of negative behaviors and risk a slow decrease in the love of learning that has been nurtured as well as the accompanying self esteem.

Our students are capable of great success in life IF they are given as much support as possible in school. Just because a child can survive in a school does not mean they are thriving. A thoughtful and caring teacher can prevent a meltdown and keep a distractible students engaged in learning with the skill of redirection or the art of weaving experiential activities into their classroom. Our students are often capable learners who need to be pushed in areas of strength yet may really need their hands held in areas of weakness. A true strength based approach celebrates all strengths and differences.

ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, OCD, anxiety, mood disorders, and Tourettes are not conditions that go away and the support needed to help students who have these conditions has to look different. For this reason, The Orion School remains an alternative school that offers the educational oasis our students need….particularly when they become successful learners.

How To Teach Children with ADHD and Asperger's

2011-11-29T01:41:00.013-05:00

The longer an organization exists, the more challenging it is to maintain ongoing institutional knowledge. Below are just some of the notes I found and edited that were taken from the inception of The Orion School. They offer a historical perspective on the kind of school that I set out to create in Atlanta almost six years ago. The Orion School currently looks very much like this vision since the focus on our mission and philosophy has never wavered and it is what differentiates Orion from every other school in Atlanta.

The Orion School Summer 2006

ACADEMIC CONCERNS

For students with neurobehavioral challenges (such as ADHD and Asperger's) there needs to be an understanding that inconsistency is a given and the school program needs to be flexible yet consistent despite this. The learning environment needs to be structured to ensure success for students since neurobehavioral disabilities can not be "fixed". The academic curriculum needs to reflect this reality and be individualized to offer both accommodation and modification of education. Curriculum needs to be high interest and high concept mastery based learning. Respect needs to be given to individual learning strengths and weaknesses. Progress needs to be documented with consistent evaluation through a variety of methods including portfolio work. Program needs to include: Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Handwriting, social skills, dance, art, music, and organized physical activities. Arts are particularly important to engage students in learning.

BASIC TENANTS OF THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM
* Experiential learning with minimal worksheets or tests *strength based (not remedial) emphasis on learning concepts *high interest, multisensory, and kinesthetic curriculum which follows tenants of state performance standards * Exciting and student centered instructional modalities will be used *Handwriting Without Tears method used *cross curriculum inderdisciplinary thematic units *assisted technology used when necessary *NO homework or minimal and meaningful homework

CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

Small class size
Teachers will create a positive classroom atmosphere where all students have a role. Roles need to be given depending on strengths of each student – each student needs to have a sense of importance.
For instructional delivery an emphasis will be placed on hands-on instead of seat work, board work or lecture approaches
Classroom instruction will include a variety of stimulating, meaningful, experiential and multisensory learning activities, choices, and real life tasks.
Strategies taught throughout school day will include self monitoring, organizational skills, social skills, as well as techniques for physical regulation.
Cooperative learning techniques will be used
Instruction time will include both high and low energy learning activities.
Cognitive behavior approaches and positive behavior intervention and supports will also help students learn to manage their behavior.
The student's creative energy will be geared towards the arts such as art and music.
The classroom environment will include:
- A calm and organized classroom with expectations and rules clearly defined
- A quiet area for breaks, reading or regulating
- Self monitoring prompts and strategies in place to help students experience ownership for change and pride in accomplishing improvements
Multisensory transition cues and techniques employed
Water and bathroom breaks given when needed during school day

PHYSICAL SUPPORT

* Instructional strategies for the classroom will include kinesthetic movement, frequent position changes (floor, seatwork, outside learning), constructional projects and using manipulatives to teach concepts whenever possible. Seat work will be kept to a minimal.
* Relaxation breaks will be integrated into the day. Brief exercises will be used to help children regulate themselves. Yoga and calming techniques will be taught and incorporated. Soothing music will be used during the school day when possible.
* Sensory Diet will be part of day
* Students will participate in weekly recreational hiking involving outdoor experiential floortime activities that provide kinesthetic learning, sensory integration activities, as well as social skills and a natural outside learning setting.
* A strong physical education program each day will include therapeutic and structured physical learning opportunities including skills specific to different sports such as basketball, organized physical activities such as martial arts or rock climbing, as well as sensory activities and life skills such as swimming.

EMOTIONAL and SOCIAL SUPPORT
* Goal is to create the perfect learning environment for students with behavior challenges. Strategies that work include focusing on and finding the strengths and talents of the student instead of fixing the shortcomings and weaknesses.
* Social skills will be taught in the classroom using literature and direct instruction. Skills will be taught so children know them, can practice them, and can mange themselves better. Some topics will include: anger management, play entry, body awareness, feelings, relaxation and visualizations skills, listening skills, self esteem building, managing frustration, and friendship skills
* Cognitive Behavior Approaches PLUS Positive Behavior Intervention and Support needs to be in place for success.
* How Does Your Engine Run program will help students to self regulate by using language that increases self awareness.

No Homework at Orion?!

2011-11-25T22:17:00.005-05:00

At parent tours there is always a sigh of relief when I mention that homework is not emphasized at The Orion School. Parents join Orion because their child is a struggling learner and flagging in a more traditional school. Homework drama and failure is one of the most commonly mentioned challenges parents of children with ADHD and Asperger's share.

Homework was outlawed in many areas at the beginning of the last century because it was considered child labor. Today many children spend two to five hours daily doing homework with the assumption that this is a good thing! The research is so conflicting about the actual academic outcome of homework that it is no wonder that there has been a recent resurgence in the debate about the benefits of homework.

It is not simply a case of more is better. Special education students often end up doing school work at home in addition to homework assignments that have not been modified for their special learning needs. One of the founding philosophies of The Orion School is to have little or no homework for our students who struggle so much with motivation, self esteem, and attention. Helping families reclaim family time is an added benefit to not having a meltdown each night over homework.

The outcome is just not worth the effort when it comes to emphasizing homework. Stay tuned for what the value of homework can be to help children learn to self regulate….but in the meantime there are researchers and educators who have given way more time than I have and come to the same conclusion!

The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It by Sara Bennett
The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents Harris M. Cooper
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn
The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning by Etta Kralovec
Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs by Cathy Vatterott

Orion Students Help at a Food Pantry

2011-11-22T23:21:00.006-05:00

As part of a Thanksgiving themed community service project, Orion school students brought in over 150 canned and packaged food items to donate. The food pantry they donated to was Atlanta Action Ministries which offers services for families on the verge of homelessness and the working poor trying to make ends meet.

Action Ministries is on the same grounds as we are, so our students each walked over a bag of food to the food pantry during our most recent curriculum extension. Both Katherine Bailey, the Woman’s Community Kitchen Coordinator and Yolanda Ward, Emergency Assistance and Empowerment Program Coordinator from Action Ministries helped our students sort the food and place it on the shelves.

Through this valuable experience Orion school students were able to visit and learn what a food pantry was (most for the first time), help the community they live in and practice categorizing and sorting all in one afternoon!

The Orion School Thanks The Atlanta Women's Club!

2011-11-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

Winter 2011 - Donated Curriculum Supplies from AWC

The Orion School relies on a variety of community partners to meet our program goals each year. Our tuition is not entirely reflective of the true cost of the special education we offer each students and support we offer each family.

For a couple years now The Atlanta Women's Club has been one of our community partners and has donated much appreciated curriculum supplies to The Orion School. The Atlanta Women's Club is a century old non-profit club located in the heart of Midtown. The Club resides in historical Wimbish Mansion which can be rented for events. All income received supports the club's mission to improve the community by supporting many charitable organizations; including The Orion School!

Spring 2011 - Donated Curriculum Supplies from AWC

Winter 2010 - Donated Curriculum Supplies from AWC

Just Being Part of The Orion Community Creates Support

2011-11-19T15:44:00.004-05:00

Families raising complex and challenging children are under enormous visceral stress...
o During tours parents routinely tell me how comforting it is to know they are not alone. Some tours have an almost support group kind of vibe to them.
o Years ago during the application process a couple cried as they told me they had no life outside the 24/7 job of raising their child. Their savings had been spent on therapists yet they could not find a school that would take a chance on their child. They shared that that they had no social life other than family and more significantly their child had no social life. She was five and had never had a birthday party or a playdate.
o Another parent broke down when she came for a parent tour as she watched the respect and kindness our teachers gave to a child having a meltdown. She was routinely picking her child up at public school whenever he had a meltdown…which was often because of the child’s young age. She told us we were “doing God’s work”.
o On the phone an anxious parent mentioned that their ten year old had been in five schools so far and had bad experiences in all of them.

I am unable to forget these interactions. They are all too common during parent tours, e-mails and phone intake conversations. I use them as a reference for the daily decision I have to make since I know how life changing the support Orion’s existence can offer a family.

One way Orion’s impact on families is noticed is through the dynamics of our monthly parent support groups. These free evening offer understanding, support, and education. At first Orion parents are thrilled to come to the meetings yet over time they come less, and if they do, they tend to be there to socialize or to get information about a specific topic. They are no longer in crisis and needing the global support they once did. The tears have become less commonplace and the need for support less pressing.

There is comfort in finding the right supportive school as well as the companionship of nonjudgmental parents. There are still ongoing and deep- rooted worries about their child’s future, yet the day to day angst has dissipated. Parents can now casually drop off and pick up their kids at school and talk about the mundane: play dates, birthday parties, fundraisers, teacher gifts, soccer games….even college dreams.

One way I measure our success is by just how much a family forgets what I can not and becomes just another family at a wonderful little private school called Orion….

The Orion School Fall 2011 Newsletter

2011-11-16T23:45:00.001-05:00

Read our quarterly newsletter to learn more about how The Orion School serves a small but vital niche in the educational landscape of Atlanta. We are one of only a few schools that focus on the needs of students who have neurobehavioral challenges; including ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. We are committed to keeping a low 1:4 teacher to student ratio for our often curious and bouncy students. Add in high interest and experiential curriculum as well as a positive behavior system and our students stay engaged in their education. This approach cuts down on the disruption of education that is all to often the cause of school failure.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Orion-School-Fall-2011-Newsletter.html?soid=1102634765274&aid=FJjbi3gUQ6s

Orion Offers Cutting Edge Educational Approaches

2011-11-13T23:57:00.003-05:00

Although families often find Orion after other school options do not work for their child, Orion is ironically on the cutting edge of best practice in education. The head of the private school my daughter attends (AGS) noted recently that the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) published a trendbook noting that the education of tomorrow needs to include a focus on creativity, student collaboration, experiential learning, inderdisciplinary learning, student focused learning, and technology. My daughter is getting one of the best private school educations in Atlanta since these trends align with what is already being done at AGS.

The connection that jumped out at me in all this is that at Orion these areas have been the centerpiece of how we differ from the skill and drill remedial approach to education that most students in special education are subjected to. We have always put the effort into weaving creativity, experiential learning and student focused learning into an enriched, high interest inderdisciplinary curriculum.

By creating an adaptive school to give our complex and highly at risk students the same kind of education that students at the best private schools in this country have access to, our goal is to keep them excited about learning and self confidant as students. It is only with this approach that our students have a chance to continue to thrive and grow into lifelong learners.

Following Rules and Nurturing Ideas At Orion

2011-10-16T17:28:00.003-04:00

I love watching all and any cooking competition shows. It is fun seeing super talented people create under pressure. Yet, I am most intrigued by the chefs who just will not follow the rules even when told exactly what those rules are. They all seem to be driven by their ideas over all else. They also seem to be unaware of how hard they are making it on themselves. They rarely win though they often stay longer than their less gifted rule doting colleagues.

This week there was another perfect example of this phenomenon. In a pastry competition the contestants were instructed to reinterpret a carnival treat in a high end dessert. One guy had “candy apples” as his inspirational item and made a chocolate dessert with a little bit of apple sorbet on the side. When the judges asked him why there was such a tenuous tie to the candy apples, he said he liked to work with chocolate. The judges slapped him on the wrist for his lack of doing what was asked and made clear this was a big no no.

These singular minded chefs remind me of some special education students who often have great strengths yet have their own ideas and tend to test limits. At Orion our more verbal students with ADHD and Asperger's often try to negotiate the rules. Other students choose not to hear the rules. Teaching these students brings with it the same frustration the judges articulated…. “but we told you exactly what you needed to do and you did something else. Wouldn’t it be easier to do it our way?"

The reason why the rules are not followed is more complex than being oppositional…ego, ability, motivation, and many other factors impact whether a person follows rules. At Orion one of our jobs is to teach our students the rules that everyone has to follow. We have to nurture pro-social skills and attitude.

We also try to find the reasons why rules are being questioned and help the student find his voice when he has a different idea...instead of acting oppositional when things are not going his way. This approach requires teachers to listen carefully. In the end we want to nurture ideas, passions, and natural gifts. Life requires the same kind of persistence that is a given for many of our students. Pushing limits and knowing where the stop point is can pay off as long as it is done respectfully.

In the end the chocolate loving chef did not get knocked out of the competition…the cake he prepared was qualitatively much better than the other contestant’s desserts.

Animal School - Why Strength Based Education Is Best

2011-10-09T12:11:00.001-04:00

Orion Parent Profiled In The AJC!

2011-10-02T12:32:00.003-04:00

In the article ‘I’ll keep walking until we have a cure’ ajc.com Chris Mcleod, an Orion parent explains why he journeyed around the perimeter of Australia to raise money for the Smile Foundation which supports families who have children with rare conditions. It is crazy expensive raising children with special needs and this foundation directly supports families. Too bad they are in Australia and not the US so they could support organizations like Orion which have boots on the ground educating children with special needs.

Is Teaching Special Education The Way To Happiness?

2011-09-25T23:33:00.002-04:00

When I saw a Forbes article titled The 10 Happiest Jobs I knew that teaching Special Education would be on there somewhere. It was number 5. The article speculates many of the jobs on the list are ones that engage a person to feel worthwhile and therefore contribute to a meaningful life which is essential for happiness. It turns out it is not about how easy or well paying the job is.

Teaching challenging children demands a level of engagement that few other professions offer. Teachers who are not able to engage with special needs students are quickly drummed out of the profession. You can not walk away from a day of helping students maneuver a world that is hostile to their needs without feeling worthwhile. If this is the marker for a job that increases happiness then teaching studenst at Orion is like hitting the jackpot.

Teaching special education would probably also come up on a list of the most challenging jobs as well. The pay is not great, the hours long, and the impact you are making is not always obvious from day to day. I noticed it was not mentioned in the article that the attrition rate per year for special education teachers is somewhere around 10% and the burnout is within 5 years. At Orion finding ways to offset the immense stress of teaching is one of my top priorities.

There are multiple ways that are not directly obvious but support teachers in the long run.

One of the best ways to support the teachers is by encouraging a climate of teamwork - so collaboration between teachers is not only encouraged, but required at Orion. There can never be enough communication in a school.
Ongoing professional development is also a priority since conferences and training opportunities give a fresh perspective, confidence in skills, and a renewed energy in the classroom. Next month some teachers are going to the CHADD national conference in Orlando and some to the International Dyslexia Conference in Chicago
Additional in-service workshops that support personal growth are also given throughout the year. We have already done rock climbing and public speaking workshops and more supportive surprises are ahead. This year I have also added a monthly private meeting with our counselor to help each teacher have professional questions answered and support given about the students they work with each day.
Ensuring that our parents are partners in supporting the goals of the teaching team not adversaries goes a long way towards happy teachers. We have one of the most satisfied and giving parents of any school in Atlanta. One small, but significant way parents this year let teachers know their work is appreciated is to bring them bring weekly coffee, breakfast, snacks and treats.

I can not make the fundamental job of teaching special education any easier…it has to be a calling and passion, not a way to pay the bills. My role is also to keep standards high and demand best practice at every turn. What I can do in small ways every day is support the teachers whenever possible and keep the focus on the many reasons that teaching complex students can be one of the most rewarding and happiest jobs in the world. I know that whenever I get discouraged at work, I just take a walk through the school and see our students thriving and remember why I love my job. I can only imagine how much greater that feeling would be if I was the one responsible for teaching them.

Private Special Needs Schools Are A Lifeline Not a Bumper Sticker

2011-09-25T01:50:00.003-04:00

Private school culture is not really the one you want to follow when choosing a specialized school. I was reminded of this when we called to sign up Orion to be part of a school resource fair and were initially given a cold shoulder for not being big enough. The fair was in a tony part of Atlanta and the organizer said the other schools were from that part of town - then named schools that really weren’t but fell in the category of being the bigger private schools.

The fair organizer did not mean to be rude, she was just following the exclusionary rules of the competitive private school system that flourishes in Atlanta. She was thinking of the schools that exist within a couple miles of a certain intersection in Atlanta that seems to be the epicenter of the private school world of Atlanta. This is the world where families visit every school in town and jockey to get their child in the one that is “the best” which is most often the one that reflects who they are and who they think their child is or will become.

Yet, In the special needs school world, you may be a parent who loves the school with the architectural awards, but your child may need a class of 4 students not 12. You may love the convenience of the school that is 15 minutes from your house, but the school that offers social skills and calming strategies for your child with Asperger's Syndrome as part of the school day may be 45 minutes away. You may want your child in a traditionally structured school, but your child with severe ADHD may need a school with a much more alternative approach to survive in school.

It is almost opposite the private school world where you are the driver of what kind of school you want. For my non Orion child I was able to pick and choose from almost every private school in Atlanta…yet for my Orion child there is really only one (or maybe a couple in a pinch) schools in all of Atlanta that my child would be able to really thrive in. What bumper sticker is on my car becomes inconsequential.

The school resource fair organizer took the information about Orion and said she would call us back. After looking at our website she did --- and could not have been more welcoming. She must have realized that although The Orion School was not a typical private school; at the fair there might be a family or two that we might be a lifeline for if the private school world was not the one they would be entering in the near future.

Chris McLeod Skypes From Australia With The Orion School Kids

2011-09-14T23:08:00.002-04:00

There Are No "Special" Children At Orion Kickers Club

2011-09-11T01:05:00.003-04:00

The title of this post has nothing to do with political correctness. At today's free Orion drop in soccer program (aka Orion Kickers Club) there was a relaxed and casual atmosphere that you rarely find at the sort of therapy programs that are typically offered for "special needs" kids. There were no speeches, no formal introductions, no rules of participation, no talking at the participants, no therapists, and no selling of anything whatsoever. It was just a fun morning of recreational sports with other families.

Every year I marvel at this growing program supported by Orion parents and sponsored by The Orion School and see the immense benefit it provides not only for children, but for their families.

Parents relaxed drinking coffee, eating donuts, catching up, making connections, and passing babies on the sidelines. Or they were participating in the adult against children soccer scrimmages and at the same time cheering their children on. One mom expressed to me an overwhelming realization that this was the first time she was able to relax knowing that nothing her son did would be frowned on or even noticed by the other dozen and a half families who also had unpredictable children. Another mom marveled that she could drink coffee and chat with other parents in such a casual way without being her child's shadow. Other parents did shadow their child by ducking in and out of helping as needed and without fanfare. Another dad confided that this was the rare time he was not paying for his child to participate in an activity.

Yet this relaxation is not the norm. "My child and I are just here to watch today, that's all" one mom declared when I introduced myself. I was taken aback by her intensity, but softened when I realized she must live in the other world that parents of special needs children do. In that world you have to explain that your child is not one to participate until comfortable. It's a space where you have to advocate relentlessly to ensure success and protect them from people who do not understand. At Orion Kickers Club this worry is out of context since the goal is for acceptance and connection.

If a child touched the ball it was no big deal. If a child wandered away from the game it was no big deal. If a child wanted nothing to do with the game yet, it was no big deal. If a child loved soccer and played hard and fast the entire time, there was plenty of intense competition. The scrimmages between children and adults were at once hardcore soccer and welcoming enough to allow for children to wander in and out of the game on their own terms without getting yelled by children or parents for in any way interupting the game.

You would be hard pressed to pick out the "special" kids and the "typical" kids on the soccer field. There was brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers, and friends enjoying a true community connection and having a fun morning...and that was the goal.

Orion Talks With Cycle For Smile

2011-09-07T20:11:00.001-04:00

The Trick to Using Interactive Technology as a Tool Not a Toy

2011-09-03T23:59:00.004-04:00

We were fortunate this week to have a former Promethean Board trainer generously donate her time to offer a teacher in-service for Orion teachers. Her goal was to make this shiny technology user friendly.

The trainer pointed out to me that in her experience, unless teachers make a commitment to play around with the boards and figure out how they will personally use them in their lessons, they are rarely used. She has seen these boards sitting in libraries and classrooms across the country collecting dust and more often than not used as passive movie screens....not as the portal to a host of active learning opportunities they can become.

Orion teachers are way ahead of the interactive learning curve. First they are pretty tech. savvy to start with. Second, their lesson plans include experiential learning elements every day. They easily see technology as another tool to help make a lesson more multidimensional for our non traditional students who have conditions like ADHD or Asperger's Syndrome and need a teaching approach that is both high interest and multisensory. Fortunately at Orion we can take full advantage of any hands-on teaching approaches or tools since our classes are kept at 4 students. The smart board can ultimately be actually used not only by the teachers, but by the students in a meaningful way.

The training was a jump start to get everyone excited about using this amazing technology with our students. One of our techie parents has also offered to do ongoing trouble shooting with our teachers as they integrate the board into their classes. A teacher rotation schedule will ensure the board is used by all teachers each week in some way.

The goal is to not have this smart board become a toy left in the package on a shelf, but as another teaching tool that teachers and students are as comfortable using as they are a pencil.

Mr. Chuck Brings A Didgeridoo To Orion!

2011-09-02T01:41:00.002-04:00

The first thematic unit of study at Orion this year is Australia. The curriculum is multidisciplinary at Orion so of course Mr. Chuck who teaches Drumming brought in a didgeridoo to our drumming music class this week. A didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians over a thousand years ago - it is still used today in Australia. When we say the learning at Orion is experiential and hands on, we mean it!

Volunteers Are Integral To The Success Of A Non Profit Like Orion

2011-09-01T23:58:00.001-04:00

The Orion tuition does not cover the cost of the education we deliver. In an effort to keep our tuition as low as possible and reach across demographic boundaries, we need reach out to the community we serve to offset the special educational services we are providing. This support most often comes in small but significant donations of materials, money and/or time that individuals and organizations give to us.

Last week it arrived in the form of bright and committed young men from the Sigma Beta Rho fraternity at GA Tech who helped paint bookshelves and walls as well as clean and move two donated refrigerators into the school. I am looking forward to October 1st when they return again to work side by side with Orion families when they engage the broader GA Tech. student body in a Be The Change day of community service. Our list of projects is never ending....

How Medication Affects School Admission At Orion

2011-08-25T23:25:00.002-04:00

What is The Orion School’s policy on medication? This anxiety laden question comes up in some way at each and every parent tour. It is a question that requires another tour to answer because of the multilayered implications any answer involves.

Sometimes the question is asked by a parent who assumes that since we are an alternative school this means we have something to do with the Complementary and Alternative Medical practitioners who some parents of special needs children seek out. We don’t. The alternative we are offering is an education children with social and emotional issues thrive in. We are not throwing out the research based educational practices that work with our students in favor of the latest trend that may or may not be the answer.

Sometimes a parent wonders if all the innovative teaching approaches that are part of Orion are offered to take the place of medicine. They aren’t. Teaching our students to take yoga breathes to relax is not taking the place of medication to help with their ADHD symptoms. Having a behavior system in place and teaching social skills is not taking the place of the mood stabilizers or ongoing psychological therapy for children who struggle to regulate their emotions.

On the other end of the spectrum, some parents want to be reassured that we require medication since they believe this somehow “fixes” child. It doesn’t. Medication is just one part of what is needed for complex children. If, for example, a child has ADHD and can’t take medication, it may mean a child will struggle to pay attention in class, it doesn’t mean they will not be accepted at Orion for this reason.

Forget trying to tease out the complications of the subtleties of the outcome of taking medication. For example at Orion there may be child A who is so hyperactive that taking stimulants only takes his symptoms from severe to moderate. Child B who may not be able to take stimulants because of an underlying medical condition, might have ADHD symptoms somewhere between mild and moderate. In reality, both children are able to function in a class in about the same way.

For conditions like mood disorders it is the same situation as for ADHD. If child C throws chairs when not on medication but is NOT aggressive in this sort of way when medicated, then yes, we would require medication to be able to teach this child. We want to keep this child safe, other children safe, and the teachers safe. Sometimes medication is the only way to ensure this. This is a different situation than for child D who is moody off medication and happier on. The determination whether a parent chooses to medicate child D is not ours to make.

Don't even get me even started on the complexities of a child who needs to switch medications and has a week or so that their symptoms are not regulated. Children who take medication are not set and there are shifts as they grow.

Each child has a unique profile and we are not medical professionals. The answer to the question of whether we require medication is as varied as each parent I talk to about their child. I prefer to have this issue be a non issue and most of the time it usually is. When it becomes an issue, the situation is so individual that one point of view can not possibly be taken.

How A Supportive School Prepares Students For The Real World

2011-08-20T00:51:00.005-04:00

A question that comes up during parent tours and staff meetings at Orion is "how are we preparing our students for the "real world"? After all, our students will not be at Orion forever." It is really more of a rhetorical statement questioning the value of protecting our students by giving them an educational oasis. I struggle to answer this question without sarcasm since our students are at Orion because the so called real world has not been able to offer what they need to meet their potential. We exist to provide as many interventions as necessary to build confidence, skills, and as strong an academic foundation as possible for alternative learners. We create conditions where our students can thrive and reach their fullest potential. The program has been designed by taking into consideration every aspect of our student's developmental needs. Where each child ultimately transitions to after Orion is dependent on their individual profile...we can not determine destiny, but can affect a more positively outcome. It goes without saying that of course they will be more ready for the real world than if they were in a school where they were struggling every day.

Every week or so there are examples in the news of what a "real world" school might offer a child with social and emotional challenges....an 8 year old autistic student is put in handcuffs and locked up for having a meltdown, an 11 year old girl with learning disabilities is tasered at school, an 11 year old boy with ADHD is arrested for drawing "inappropriately violent" stick figures in class, the kindergarten teacher of a 5 year old with Asperger's Syndrome holds a class vote in which the boy is voted out of class by a 14-2 margin....and on and on. There is no end to the challenges alternative learners face. The small ones don't end up in the news, but are also devastating for the children they affect. If the real world always worked out, The Orion School would not need to exist.

Public Speaking Teacher In-Service Is Particularly Valuable

2011-08-12T01:11:00.004-04:00

Joy Goodman of Express Yourself With Joy led an engaging in-service session for Orion teachers on how to relax, support each other, and become more confidant when public speaking. Joy was a school teacher for 35 years, so she speaks the language of teachers. She understands that most teachers are perfectly comfortable speaking to a class of students, but talking to a group of parents or presenting at conferences is another story. It is the rare teacher that is comfortable public speaking in these situations. I have never heard any other school do this kind of training for their teachers…but this is such a fundamental professional skill for teachers that I will now find ways to have even more sessions on this.

I am too practical to spend Orion money and valuable teacher time on team building activities that do not have an added goal other than just the warm fuzzies. When I first interviewed Joy, I realized she could deliver both information on ways to increase a specific skill set as well as help give that emotional massage that more typical “team building and bonding” sessions do.

Below are some of the comments from the teachers showing how valuable the teachers thought this experience was and how well received Joy’s break from the reality of preplanning was.

“ Joy’s authentic emotion in sharing her own process created the open, supportive, and creative environment needed to do this work together – without hesitation. Our staff feels lighter and more joyful in addition to the speaking skill required.”

“ The way Joy interacted with us made me feel more prepared to do my job. I feel uplifted, positive, and energized. I felt very supported and felt like she truly cared about the teachers well being.”

“ I really enjoyed the presentation. I liked the partner and movement activities and the time spent practicing for our upcoming presentation.”

“ Fun and energetic. Great team engagement games. Good example of anxiety relief practices. Loved it ~ Thanks!”

“Joy was a pleasure to have leading us in such a fun, different in-service learning experience. I love the progressing from warm ups, to body expressions to partner work. She added an element of fun to an area I would otherwise dread Now I feel better equipped to manage my anxiety around public speaking – particularly our upcoming parent meeting – and to connect to an audience in a more relaxed state.”

“Joy made me feel very comfortable in her presentation. She was relatable with her stories and her manner. The games she offered were fun and helpful at the same time.”

“Much thanks Joy for helping my voice escape. Your warm ups, activities, and continuous praise have helped inflate my confidence when I am in a room full of people.”

“This class was a pleasure and extremely helpful! It not only helped us clarify our thoughts but it brought us all closer together and increased our comfort level together, which will only help us all during this school year. Joy is a positive and inspirational and I appreciate all the tips and relaxation techniques.”

Thank You To The Grace United Methodist Church For The School Supplies!

2011-08-04T00:53:00.003-04:00

I am not a Methodist, but if I were, I would make a beeline for the The Grace United Methodist Church which has the biggest heart in Atlanta. Every August I am overwhelmed with gratitude when they do a back to school supply drive for The Orion School. They support us in such a fundamental way since the pens, markers, pencils, eraser, crayons, sharpies, tape, dry erase markers, scissors, notebooks, folders, constructions paper, and other school supplies too numerous to list are essential school tools our teacher's need to educate our students.

The cost we do not have to spend on basic school supplies really helps our budget and offsets the cost of keeping a 1:4 teacher to student ratio for our complex students. This lets us direct our resources towards buying more specialized curriculum supplies which are never on sale like assistive technology. For children who have social and emotional challenges like ADHD, Asperger's and dyslexia we also need materials for social skill classes, experiential learning activities, and from programs like Orton Gillingham, Handwriting Without Tears, and Touch Math. In addition, we have to purchase basic teaching curriculum supplies for programs like Singapore Math.

Thank you so much to our partners at The Grace United Methodist Church for the overflowing bins and bins of supplies we picked up today....in these tough economic times, it is nice to have a hand from above in our corner!

Club Orion After School For Special Needs

2011-08-03T01:41:00.002-04:00

It is back to school time and as parents are scrambling to find an after school program for their child, parents with children who have special needs have an even harder time finding a supportive option. This is why The Orion School has developed the only after school in Atlanta specially designed for children with special needs - particularly children who have social and emotional challenges such as ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome.

There are plenty of one or two hour classes and therapy sessions in Atlanta for children who have social and pragmatic challenges. Yet there are no regular after schools where they can get intensive support and spend their afternooons participating in high interest activities like Creative Movement & Theater Improvisation, Kumandi Drumming & Dance, Yoga, Sport Skills and Team Building, Chess & Critical Thinking Skills , Gardening & Natural Science Activities, Music, Experiential Art, Healthy Snack Cooking, and Cooperative Games Problem solving, understanding social cues, managing frustration, expressing needs and emotions, cooperative play and making friends are just some of the areas of difficulty that can be helped in a more supportive after school like Club Orion.

The teacher to student ratio is an unheard of 1:4 so the needs of each child can be addressed. The focus is on self esteem, social skills, creative expression, and self regulation. Our goal is to help children build confidence and friendship in a nurturing and structured setting.This program has an every day option or a choice of days per week. Some parents have their child attend two afternoons a week so they can make friends with the guided support of trained teachers.

Club Orion is open to all children in the community ages 5-13. Children with a range of conditions can attend as long as they can succeed in a 1:4 ratio setting. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to help a child who need 1:1 support during the school day since they will still need the same support after school.

Club Orion is every school day, Monday through Friday from 2:30-6:00. The Fall Semester is from August 15th - December 15th and the Spring Semester is from January 3rd – May 24th

The yearly tuition cost for five days per week of attendance of $4,000 ($400 a month) is comparable to many after school programs. The tuition fee per day for the entire year is in multiples of $1100. To attend one day a week for the school year it is $1100, two days a week $2200 and three days a week $3300.

*To register for this exceptionally supportive and individualized program please contact Cristina at 404-551-2574 or ccarden@theorionschool.org

Creating a Dynamic School Requires an Innovative Structure

2011-08-02T00:41:00.006-04:00

Creating a great school takes an immense amount of work and resources. There are different models to do this. One is creating the infrastructure and filling in the educational elements. By this I mean designing and advertising your “product”, buying, renovating, or leasing a building, then hiring the key personnel for the roles that a school “should” have….teachers with the kind of qualifications that teachers needs to have, a principal who has a track record at a more established school, an admissions director, a marketing person or firm, specialists, etc. Education is the “product” with this sort of school and there is nothing wrong with it. This would create a worthwhile, though certainly not a particularly special or unique “product”.

Obviously this has not been the model that The Orion School has adhered to. We have been more of a bootstrap operation…growing purposefully on a smaller scale in a more thoughtful and careful way by addressing what we need as we grow. The emphasis is on function over form. Years ago, the first meetings to create The Orion School were about the kind of students we educate that no other school in Atlanta was dedicated to educating. They were about the ideal education for these students who needed a truly different approach. They were about ways our students could thrive and reach their fullest potential. It was about making sure the best practices in education did not conflict with creating the educational oasis for the needs of challenging students so we could affect a more positive outcome. It is an approach that is aligned with the innovation required in a tech start up or a lab school rather than in a boardroom planning meeting.

In the Orion world finding good teachers is not as much about recruiting teachers with basic qualifications, a task which is fairly simple particularly in today’s economy – but about finding the best teachers for a school that is not like other schools. The goal is not to recreate public schools, other special need schools, or even private schools but to create something that is a hybrid of what is good about all these types of schools. It is thinking hard about what works in these other schools and what does not work and needs to be discarded. I actually prefer teachers who have not spent too much time in public schools which seems to dull the kind of innovative thinking that I am seeking in teachers.

I was reminded how dynamic Orion is today during Back to School planning. There were eight teachers with diverse backgrounds working all day long debating class groups that need to take into consideration the social, academic, and emotional needs of each student in the school. The student groups also need to shift slightly depending on academic or social needs to ensure that each child has the opportunity to have the ideal academic learning as well as social and emotional growth opportunities. This is a tough and complicated process that requires everyone to put aside what is easiest for them as a teacher and work together to come up with the very best schedule possible for the students in our school this year.

It would definately be easier to just divide up the students by what grade they “should” be in based on chronological age and assign each teacher a class of students for the year. Most schools do this because it is the path of least resistence. Yet, there are many reasons this is not ideal and the extra effort to create another structure is worth the outcome. Our system yields a one of a kind end result that can not be duplicated. It takes more dedicated teachers who are capable of putting aside their own personal desire for an easier and more clichéd structure in favor of making decisions that are best for the students.

Next year there may be a slight change in the outcome for the meeting on class groups. This is not because of inconsistency or lack of focus – it is the opposite. It is because the Orion school itself is designed to reflect the needs of students….and the outcome is very different from one that is designed to reflect the needs of teachers or staff.

Free Parent Support Series For Parents With Complex Children!

2011-07-26T02:04:00.001-04:00

Finding a school and therapeutic support for a child is not enough. Parents also need support! The dates and themes for the free Orion parent support groups for the 2011/2012 school year are set. This year three evening will be dedicated to social events, three will be facilitated support groups, and three will offer parent training. The goal is to more fully support parents who are raising children with neurobehavioral challenges; including ADHD and ASD/Asperger's Syndrome.

2011/2012 Community Parent Support Series

This free support group is provided by The Orion School to offer the opportunity for parents raising children with neurobehavioral challenges to connect, share, and learn in a socially supportive setting. Light dinner and drinks will be offered.

Location of all events is at The Orion School

Tuesday, September 13

Parent Social - Back to School Sip and See

Tuesday, October 11

Parent Support - Seeking Social Skills for your child? Join the club!

Tuesday, November 8

Parent Training - School to Home: How to Make The Alert Program Work for You

Tuesday, December 6

Parent Social - Winter Wine Tasting

Tuesday, January 10

Parent Support - Behavior Intervention Strategies

Tuesday, February 7

Parent Training - Teachers Talk: ADHD and ASD/Asperger's in the Classroom

Tuesday, March 6

Parent Social - The (Not So) Trivial Pursuit Tournament

Tuesday, April 10

Parent Training - The What, Where, Why of Executive Functioning and How to Help

Tuesday, May 8

Parent Support - It Worked For Me! Come share and receive tried and true tips from parents like you!

Looking Forward To A New School Year At Orion

2011-07-24T15:51:00.002-04:00

My inbox and sent files on Outlook are empty right now! This will not happen again for another year. Every summer I clean out and reorganize my virtual files from the past school year. During the whirlwind that it the school year I do not have the luxury of time that I do now. It is a nostalgic and bittersweet task that reminds me of the cycle of each school year

There is such promise around the energetic initiatives of August, September and October.

There are also anxious parent inquiries back and forth starting the first week of school when plans at other Atlanta schools do not go as expected. This continues all fall as a student or two is added to our community.

The unfolding of the staff, student, and parent dynamics happens throughout fall. We find out who our biggest supporters are and what strengths our students have despite the thick files they came to us with. In a school designed for challenging children, we find out which children and parents are even more challenging than we anticipated. We may even lose a family.

The year picks up speed after Winter Break when the teachers are off and running and there is a feeling that we can not possibly do all that we want to. They are a solid collaborative team and have set the bar high for themselves and our students.

During the late winter prospective parent tours there is almost a party atmosphere equivalent to the first open house in real estate. Then there is the dead seriousness of the later spring tours….the real “buyers” of our education.

The anxiety over progress starts to be palpable as late spring assessments roll around. Some children have moved forward multiple years academically and some barely a year. Their development curve is not something we can change…we are able to help each child move as much forward as they are capable; not always an easy fact if the child isn't the one who has jumped two or three grades.

The crescendo of the entire school year mixed in with camp planning comes to a loud booming end in the last couple weeks of May.

Camp Orion brings with it a fairly quick tornado followed by the quiet calmness of July.

Then the cycle begins again...

The history of these consistencies is in the e-mails and files I have built on an added to each year. It is a reminder of the immense complexity that comes with operating a best practice special needs school. It is also a way to assess what worked and didn’t and helps frame the continued direction of The Orion School for the next school year cycle.

ADHD Is A Strength In Many Careers

2011-07-21T02:57:00.002-04:00

Every summer I drop my son off at various nature programs at the resort we stay at. The instructive 1-2 hour sessions include themes like animal tracking, marsh ecology, herpetology, or ocean seining. My son is now more able to regulate himself in groups and does well at these experiential learning activities. Yet, as success insurance, I always share with the nature counselors that he has ADHD and may need a bit of redirection and extra attention. This year a guide has always replied “that’s okay, I also have ADHD” and followed up with how active, interesting, or hands on the outing will be. Seriously, at every single session this summer at least one of the two or three guides for any given activity told me they also had ADHD!

I do not think it is coincidental that all these lively, smart, and engaging young adults also have ADHD. They spend their summers wrangling kids and adults while doing excursions seeking alligator nests during the day, bats and bobcats at night, and paddling kayaks to look for dolphins at sunset. The job requires a love of novelty, a tireless constitution, and a high verbal IQ. Again, not coincidentally, these are the traits that many of the Orion students have and the ones that our strength based curriculum nurtures.

It was also comforting to have so many young adults nonchalantly tell me they have ADHD. One young man made a joke about his own abilities on and off his medication. The other counselor knowingly laughed when he said this. Many of these guide have told me they are college students studying some area of science, such as marine biology, some told me they were teachers and some have year round outdoorsy seasonal jobs like working in educational programs at ski resorts in the winter.

This relationship between the nature guides and ADHD points to the need to encourage exploration of non traditional career paths for non traditional learners. There are plenty of people who can fill up cubicles. It takes a special kind of creative, outgoing, super energetic, and novelty seeking person to take on the non traditional careers that are as varied as the people who are a fit for them.

ADHD Sleep Problems Are Not Becaues Of Parenting Decisions

2011-07-17T00:49:00.000-04:00

Well intentioned friends have been giving me advice and judging me for my son’s atrocious sleep patterns since he was a baby. “You need a routine” is the clichéd advice. Wow, thanks, I never knew that. You try establishing a routine with a child who will hold his eyes open with his fingers or actually poke them to stay awake!

Very early on, I thought that if I only tried harder to establish that routine, my son would get in a good sleep pattern. It had worked with his older sister who went to sleep easily each and every night.

From toddler age on I gave my son a bath, snuggled him in bed, read many books, turned off the lights, gave him a back rub – really a pat since this soothed him, and sang the same song over and over that helped him settle (“Foxes Sleep In The Forest”.) It was all so sweet and the way it is supposed to be. His little body would stop squirming and he would drift into a relaxed place. Then POP up he would bounce like a Jack-in-the-Box wide awake. He would need to go to the bathroom, get a different stuffed animal, need a drink of water, be hot, cold, sick to his stomach, or just ask me interesting and cute questions to engage me into talking to him. We were back to square one.

When he was very little, the routine started at 7:30 at night…but as time went on it became later and later since no matter when we started, it always ended with me yelling at him to “GO TO SLEEP” a couple hours later. Then my husband would jump in and start a separate routine all over again that would end with my son asleep in our bed at about 11:00. Eventually we just cut to the chase and bathed him, kept him contained playing until 10:30 or so then read a few stories to him in our bed and he was out by 11:00.

It’s sort of like the potty training joke. Start training your child at 1 and they will be ready by 3. Start training your child at 2 and they will be ready at 3. Start training at 3 and they will be ready.

Like many parent decisions we have made over the years, I realize that my son’s challenges create a different set of rules. My well intentioned and self congratulatory friends with typically developing children are assuming we do not know how or about the importance of getting children to sleep at a reasonable time. Raising a child who is developing differently requires making a different set of rules. One that keeps your family life and your sanity intact. Spending our evenings on a treadmill of futility was ridiculous. Once we realized that, we were free to make up a routine that works for us.

Now that my son is almost a teen and more self regulated, he has learned a routine that works for him. With regularity, he takes a shower, brushes his teeth, reads quietly in bed and drifts off to sleep at around 11:00.

A Relationship Of Trust With A School

2011-07-15T01:43:00.004-04:00

Below is a section of a flyer I received from another school. It reads more like a car ad than a newsletter bullet:

We hear it often. Parents who enrolled their child or teen in a school and paid the deposit before learning about School X. Then when they come to an information session and discover how School X can help their kids excel, they suddenly have a bit of buyer’s remorse from the other school.

They know that School X would be the best choice for their child but it’s really tough to lose a deposit.

Problem solved! “If they have already put down a deposit at another school we will offer their child a Summer Decision Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to help offset any expenses to transfer to School X”, said School X’s Founder

If you would like to take advantage of the School X Summer Decision Scholarship Program contact Ms. SSS at 555-555-5555 before August 1, 2011

This particular ad bothered me because it was not representative of the collegiality that I have experienced in my interactions with all the other special needs schools in Atlanta. Marketing for parents to break their contract with another school does not seem like a best ethical practice for a number of reasons.

The admission process involves valuable parent and administrative time and resources. I even tell families not to pursue admission to Orion until they have narrowed down their choices to two schools. We give out few admission packets and encourage our parents to be as educated as possible about their options before choosing us.

Generally, great care is taken by both parents and the school to decide if a child is a good fit. Students transfer between schools depending on a number of reasons. Buyer's remorse is making a purchasing decision on a whim; like buying a cute dress in a store window and realizing it is not really your style once home. I would not characterize going through the admission process at a school and finding yet another option as buyers remorse.

Schools hire teachers and staff for the school year depending on the number of deposits and tuition agreements. These are commitments and budgets are made around them. I have routinely had families attend Camp Orion who become interested in us, but have already put down their deposits at another school. I empathize with their situation, but do not encourage this family to break their enrollment commitment and transfer to Orion....and I certainly do not give them a tuition reduction!

In most of the specialized schools in Atlanta, including The Orion School, there are a limited number of spots available. The deposit a family gives represents a spot that is not given to another family. Even with a wait list, it complicates enrollment to have a family not honor their enrollment commitment. Each enrolled student affects the make up of the groups within the school. One child may or may not be admitted depending on the make up already admitted.

Finally, a school that is seeking parents who are willing to break an agreement to transfer to them may want to rethink if this is really an encouraging way to start a relationship. It is like being the woman a man leaves his wife for....what basis is there to believe that you won't eventually also be left in a similar way?

Inclusion Should Be About Choices

2011-07-14T02:01:00.005-04:00

I recently had a parent publicly wrist slap me for defining inclusion as being included in a group in a meaningful way. She also asked how I am including my child in the general community and working toward making sure he knows how to behave and function in an inclusive environment if I keep him in a “segregated” school.

Yup, she actually slammed me for having my child in an educational oasis like The Orion School!

I see this sort of polarization around the concept of inclusion growing as advocates place the highest priority on children spending as much time as possible in a typical classroom. I get that we do not want children with special learning needs in the basements of schools being warehoused until graduation. A system needs to be in place to ensure that the rights of the most vulnerable are not trampled on. Yet, demanding that all children be in regular classrooms does not necessarily fix the situation.

Today's inclusion advocates remind me of where the feminist movement was twenty five years ago. There was intense pressure for women to have a career. Women who wanted the choice to be on the mommy track were embarrassed to admit it. The movement wasn't about choosing the best path, but demanding equal rights in the workforce. As if making a choice to be a stay at home mom meant going back to the prefeminist days when women weren't allowed in the work force in a significant way. Today post feminists have access to meaningful careers and feel confident moving in an out of roles as moms and/or career women. Demanding access is no longer needed.

The current inclusion climate is still about demanding equal rights and not yet about making choices. Much like the women who were actively discouraged to make a choice to stay at home, the current inclusion drum beat actively discourages making a choice for a child to be in a supportive self contained classroom or a special education school. As if not being mainstreamed will end with special needs children again being hidden from society in sub par self contained classrooms or institutions.

The goal needs to be to choose the best fit for each child, not to demand a right that is already available. If a child needs more support than a typical classroom can give them, there are wonderful self contained classrooms in public schools throughout Atlanta and incredibly exciting and innovative special education schools like The Orion School. How sad that parents are discouraged from exploring these options by advocates who use terms like "segregated" to describe them. I look forward to the post inclusion phase when children with special learning needs can easily move in and out of educational programs that are the best fit for them...and the focus is not on demanding access but on the specific needs of the individual.

The Orion School Exists To Educate Complex Children

2011-07-12T01:20:00.002-04:00

As The Orion School grows the reason we exist sometimes gets lost in all the wonderful programs we have. We have created a dynamic and adaptive school program with four students in a class, a talented and dedicated team of caring teachers and specialists, a hands on high interest curriculum, and more enrichment and physical activities built into the school day than any school in Atlanta. Once in a while a therapist or teacher outside the school will make a comment to the effect that we could “do so much more” if we did not have (accept) so many students who were challenging to educate. As if these students were messing up this ideal education in some way. This view makes me cringe and totally misses the point of why the programs are in place!

The reason The Orion School needs to exist is central to why we do what we do. We are an oasis for children who do not fit neatly in a "special education" category such as having "language based learning disabilities". Our students have challenges that permeate all areas of their interactions with the world. Some are bright as a shooting star, some show cognitive challenges on paper yet have great gifts that do not show up on standardized testing, some are easy breezy students at The Orion School and a big deal at other schools, some are a big deal at The Orion School and need to learn to love school again.

Our students typically have more than one condition or a more significant form of conditions such as ADHD. They all need help with social skills, handwriting, sensory processing, and executive function disorder. Yet having this constellation of struggles does not have a name and is often only the baseline of their issues. These are not students who thrive in a typical school or even a more traditional special education school.

What academic remediation do you give a child with a 135 IQ who will not do his work unless he feels secure that the teacher is on his side? This child requires higher order cognitive challenges and a patient teacher who understands him. How do you educate a child who needs to move or touch something to learn? Seat work will only highlight this need. How do you educate a child who seems to think in slow motion? What about a child with a short frustration fuse? The list of small and large needs is as long as the number of students at The Orion School.
These complex children are the future of special education and we are on the forefront actually changing the way education is delivered to them. If we only accept the easiest students, we will become like every other special needs school in Atlanta and do not need to exist.

Three Minutes With An ADHD 12 Year Old

2011-07-10T17:30:00.001-04:00

I realize that during the year I rarely mention that I am not only director of a school for children with neurobehavioral challenges, but also the mother a child with this profile. On a day to day basis, this role is somewhat incidental to the running of The Orion School. In July when I spend the month on a working vacation with my family, my son naturally becomes the topic of some of my posts. His energy and humor as well as the challenges he faces become more clear when our family is together 24/7.

A few days ago my son was talking to me as I was working on my computer. I noticed his talking was really a stream of consciousness and was actually a pretty funny insight into his thoughts process. As an experiment I looked at the clock and started writing everything he said for three minutes. I then read it back to him and he thought it was the funniest thing ever. He told me it is hard to keep things in his head once he thinks them. I could not have called that the three minutes would end with a knife demonstration and drain cleaning. This better illuminates the thin line between verbal impulsivity and action...not that I ever forget this.

Three Minutes With An ADHD 12 Year Old

"Mom, How do you think Oprah ever became so famous?" Me: "I don’t know, she worked really hard and it took her a long time."

"Mom, truthfully, when I get older I want to have enough money so I will not have to work. I’m a very smart stock person. Stocks! Then when I vacation, it’s only going to be in the winter. Who’s going to be at a vacation at the beach in the winter? Imagine how cheap it will be?"

"Mom, how about we rent a huge house on the beach with lots of rooms, then everyone can sleep in a different room every night. Wouldn’t that be great?"

"Wow, that smoothie did not help my gelatinous blob of a stomach. Look at this." (Wants to show me the gelatinous blob of a stomach)

"Mom, do you want to build sand castles?" Me: “Yes, when we go to the beach after dad get’s home from tennis."

(He starts to put on sunscreen) "Before 3:00, I put on spf 50, right? There is a 30 and 55, what do I put on?"

"I just realized something. Didn’t we leave that coloring set in one house one summer? Remember that? I think it was the house on the marsh but not close to the beach"

"Hey mom, is it okay if my back gets burned? I am not putting sunscreen on it. Mom, how long before I can put my shirt back on?" Me: “When the sunscreen dries a bit”(He goes in the kitchen and starts rummaging in a drawer)

"Mom, I know how to hand a knife to someone, want to see?" (without pause appears before me in the living room where I am working holding a knife and talking very seriously) "Mom, look if you are handing a knife to someone, you hold it like this, not holding the potentially sharp blade. You hold the sides." (Returns to kitchen and starts cleaning out drain for some reason)

"Mom, this is the worst job ever."

Rights For Evaluating Children With ADD Under 504

2011-07-10T16:51:00.000-04:00

I am not all that familiar with the bureaucracies of public school. The main reason is my energies are spent creating a private special needs school. By the time parents are looking at The Orion School, they have already tried a public or school that is not meeting their child's needs in some way. It always surprises me when parents tell me their child with ADHD is not getting any services in school...despite asking the school to evaluate their child. The following information was in an e-mail I received recently. I may be a useful reference for parents trying to get a school to evaluate their child.

What the Office of Special Education (OSEP) says about ADHD/ADD...............

United States Department of Education
Washington, DC 20202
...

Memorandum

FROM : Jeanette J. Lim, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

SUBJECT: Clarification of School Districts' Responsibilities to Evaluate Children with Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD)

Under Section 504, if parents believe their child has a disability, whether by ADD or any other impairment, and the LEA has reason to believe the child needs special education or related services, the LEA must evaluate the child to determine whether he or she is disabled as defined by Section 504. If the LEA does not believe that the child needs special education or related services, and thus refuses to evaluate the child, the LEA must notify the parents of their due process rights.

This memorandum is intended to clarify the responsibility of LEAs to evaluate children suspected of having ADD, based on parental request.

OCR Facts: Section 504 Coverage of Children with ADD

QUESTION: What is ADD? ANSWER: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a term used to describe a chronic behavioral disorder in children who are inattentive, easily distracted, and impulsive. This kind of behavior is usually matched with certain other criteria, such as hyperactivity, before a child is diagnosed as having ADD. Symptoms of ADD may be manifested differently depending on the particular subtype of the disorder and its severity. For example, with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), hyperactivity is the primary characteristic. In this fact sheet, the term ADD is being used to refer to any form of the disorder.

QUESTION: Are all children with ADD automatically protected under Section 504? ANSWER: No. Some children with ADD may have a disability within the meaning of Section 504; others may not. Children must meet the Section 504 definition of disability to be protected under the regulation. Under Section 504, a "person with disabilities" is defined as any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity (e.g., learning). Thus, depending on the severity of their condition, children with ADD may or may not fit within that definition.

QUESTION: Must children thought to have ADD be evaluated by school districts? ANSWER: Yes. If parents believe that their child has a disability, whether by ADD or any other impairment, and the school district has reason to believe that the child may need special education or related services, the school district must evaluate the child. If the school district does not believe the child needs special education or related services, and thus does not evaluate the child, the school district must notify the parents of their due process rights.

QUESTION: Must school districts have a different evaluation process for Section 504 and the IDEA? ANSWER: No. School districts may use the same process for evaluating the needs of students under Section 504 that they use for implementing IDEA.

QUESTION: Can school districts have a different evaluation process for Section 504? ANSWER: Yes. School districts may have a separate process for evaluating the needs of students under Section 504. However, they must follow the requirements for evaluation specified in the Section 504 regulation.

QUESTION: Is a child with ADD, who has a disability within the meaning of Section 504 but not under the IDEA, entitled to receive special education services? ANSWER: Yes. If a child with ADD is found to have a disability within the meaning of Section 504, he or she is entitled to receive any special education services the placement team decides are necessary.

QUESTION: Can a school district refuse to provide special education services to a child with ADD because he or she does not meet the eligibility criteria under the IDEA? ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Can a child with ADD, who is protected under Section 504, receive related aids and services in the regular educational setting? ANSWER: Yes. Should it be determined that a child with ADD has a disability within the meaning of Section 504 and needs only adjustments in the regular classroom, rather than special education, those adjustments are required by Section 504.

QUESTION: Can parents request a due process hearing if a school district refuses to evaluate their child for ADD? ANSWER: Yes. In fact, parents may request a due process hearing to challenge any actions regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of their child with a disability, whom they believe needs special education or related services.

QUESTION: Must a school district have a separate hearing procedure for Section 504 and the IDEA? ANSWER: No. School districts may use the same procedures for resolving disputes under both Section 504 and the IDEA. In fact, many local school districts and some state education agencies are conserving time and resources by using the same due process procedures. However, education agencies should ensure that hearing officers are knowledgeable about the requirements of Section 504.

QUESTION: Can school districts use separate due process procedures for Section 504? ANSWER: Yes. School districts may have a separate system of procedural safeguards in place to resolve Section 504 disputes. However, these procedures must follow the requirements of the Section 504 regulation.

QUESTION: What should parents do if the state hearing process does not include Section 504? ANSWER: Under Section 504, school districts are required to provide procedural safeguards and inform parents of these procedures. Thus, school districts are responsible for providing a Section 504 hearing even if the State process does not include it.

Source: NICHCY, National Clearinghouse
Revised: 04/18/06
Created: 01/01/00

The Orion School Through The Eyes Of A 12 Year Old

2011-07-09T17:44:00.003-04:00

Out of curiosity I asked my son a few questions about his experience at The Orion School to fact check my reality of the school with his. His answers were not always what I thought they would be, but consistent with the mission of the school to create self confident and happy learners. He is a product of a school that does not consider itself as much a special education school as a great school for children who need more support to succeed.

The Orion School Through The Eyes of A 12 Year Old

What is the best way for you to learn? When there is one to four other people in the class. When there is more it just feels crowded. When there is one to two teachers in the room. How come? It feels more secure. I also like that each class is about fifteen minutes to a half hour. If it was longer it would probably suck.

What are your teachers like? When we are in a high engine they let us get gum, go to the break room, get some water, take a break in the classroom. High engine means when you are upset or just freaking out. The teachers are very supportive. If one approach does not work they will try another one. They are patient and do not overreact about anything. My teachers are pretty much always calm. They don’t get mad at me. When I behave wrong, they remove me from the group or let me go to the break room. My teachers help me with my bad memory by reminding me.

What about the kids? The kids in my class are really nice. I can’t really describe it but they are really nice.

How do you show what you learn? I love to work with clay. I mean there are so many things you can make out of clay. You can build something to show what you know. We made tribuchet’s this year which was really fun. I love to type on the computer because it is just fun. I am learning how to type. I learn cursive and I already have print down. When you are not assigned to do print, cursive or typing it is your choice completely which one to use. I am extremely good at handwriting. I have always done handwriting.

What else did you learn besides reading and math at school? I learned to use kind words in social skills. I like this the least. I really don’t get upset that often in school. I used to get annoyed, but now I don’t as much. I get rewarded for acting well and for participating. I get tickets.

Do you have tests? Yes, they are fun. I get to test my smarticles (laughs) and intelligence. I think I am smart.

Is there homework? I love when I have homework because it is just like the day but I get more of it. I like math homework the best because it is just what I am good at.

What do you like best about school? My favorite thing is math.

What do you like least at school? My least favorite thing is probably social skills. Things that are really hard for me in school are paying attention, sometime following the rules, and sometimes being nice to people.

What is easy for you at school? Things that are easy for me in school are mainly the classes. I am smart. I am amazing at fractions. I wasn’t so good at all at them before this year.

What would you change about school? My school does not need to be improved.

All Children Need To Have A Fun Summer Break

2011-07-09T00:33:00.002-04:00

The Orion School is closed in July so we can take a collective break. Every year during this time I go to the beach and take a pause to reflect on the year and think about ways to build on successes and minimize challenges. I anticipate Orion teachers also use the month to start thinking about ways to add to our program. Everyone returns in August renewed and excited to put ideas into action.

The opportunity to take a break from work is well recognized in studies as a way for adults to ultimately increase productivity and creativity at work.

So I am at odds with the idea that special need students need to spend their summer catching up in tutorial summer school programs…academic or therapeutic. It does not fit with the goal of accepting developmental realities and helping a child grow at their own pace. Shouldn’t all child have the same opportunity to take a summer vacation?

The debate over whether all children should have summer school or a longer school year is not the same issue as the question why children with special needs disproportionately spend their summers in “programs” to fix their weaknesses. Studies show that all children experience a learning loss during the summer and neither gender, ethnicity, nor IQ appear to have a consistent influence on this loss. So although children with special learning needs may be behind their peers in many ways, they do not lose any more academic gains made than their peers do during the summer.

Yet, children with special needs are the ones most likely to spend their summers in programs to catch them up or fix them --- despite the reality that in most cases they learn differently than their peer and their progress is rarely linear. If a child has more complex learning needs, what is he catching up on? All day every day could be spend on improving deficits - but to what end and at what cost? You can’t push growth you can only support it. If a child spends the year in school without a significant break – there is no opportunity for the boredom of summer to push him towards anticipating the novelty of a new school year. He will surely burn out much like adults who do not take vacations.

So when I take my July off, my son also spends the month playing in the ocean, riding his bike, attending tween social events, going on independent adventures with his older sister, reading, building with Legos, and making plans for when the vacation is over. It is his time to regroup and relax. Once school starts he is always excited and energized and ready for another year of learning and not burned out by a consistent reminder of how difficult school is for him.

Hieroglyphics

2011-07-07T23:30:00.002-04:00

This week there was an article in the Wall Street Journal this week about the brain of dyslexics being able to learn Japanese more easily than English called Unlocking Dyslexia in Japenese. Below is one of my blogs from a few years ago about the same subject in response to a similar article in the Wall Street Journal. It still holds up in light of the current research. I wonder if The Orion School should offer Japanese or Chinese to help our dyslexic students know what it is like to experience success learning a language?

I read an article titled How the Brain Learns to Read Can Depend on the Language that confirms my view that many learning differences are just that – differences.
Recent studies have shown that children who are dyslexic in one language such as English may not be dyslexic in another language, such as Chinese. If you have a child who struggles with dyslexia this idea should give you chills.

Cross cultural studies are intriguing because we are all human; yet certain disorders (such as ADHD incidentally) vary in how they “look” in different cultures depending on what skills are needed for success. For example, dyslexia is twice as prevalent in the U.S. as in Italy where how you speak translates easily into how you read.

A child with virtually no phonemic awareness will struggle mightily to become literate in English which relies heavily on this specific skill for success. This same child could be a star student in his Chinese reading class that relies on his keen memory and visual-perception skills for mastery and not on phonemic awareness! What a fascinating way to think about brain differences.

Closer to home this concept makes me think of my phonemically challenged son who has always been taken with hieroglyphics. He’s told us countless times he really can read them. The point he's been trying to make to us is profound. It now looks like he really may be able to read more easily in other languages. He just has the unfortunate birth luck of living where English is the written language.

Jonathon Dwyer Visit Camp Orion!

2011-06-22T23:27:00.001-04:00

This afternoon Orion extended day campers and our after camp teachers were treated to a visit by Jonathon Dwyer who is a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is an Atlanta native and graduate of Georgia Tech. and happened to be in the neighborhood. What an exciting surprise!

Animals Calm Children With ADHD and Autism

2011-06-21T23:51:00.002-04:00

The hands down most popular room at Orion is Miss Elizabeth’s. Her science room has a hamster, a turtle, fish, a frog, a snake, meal worms, composting worms, and in the spring baby chicks. It is common for students to visit her room at the end of the day as a reward. If we have a prospective student who needs a bit more encouragement they often end up checking out Elizabeth’s room before integrating into the school day. Connecting to creatures is an obvious way to calm and regulate our often anxious students. It is also a way to reach emotions and teach empathy.

This spring there was an interesting article in the New York Times on the effect animals can have not only for physical disabilities, but also for social and emotional challenges. We have organically realized this connection and been taking care of it at Orion for years. Below is the online article on this promising way to help children who have such a difficult time making connections.

Easing the Way in Therapy With the Aid of an Animal By JANE E. BRODY
Published: March 14, 2011

We’ve all seen guide dogs that can direct blind people around obstacles and tell them when it is safe to cross the street. Perhaps you also know of guide dogs for the deaf, which can alert people to a ringing phone, a doorbell or a smoke alarm, or dogs that can warn people with epilepsy of an incipient seizure, giving them time to get to a safe place before they lose consciousness.

In recent decades, there have been countless such stories of animals helping to improve and even preserve the lives of children and adults with all manner of diseases and disabilities. Trained dogs are being used to help keep children with autism safe and to break the “freeze” that can afflict people with Parkinson’s disease when they try to walk. And dogs, cats, bunnies and birds are often brought to schools and institutions, as well as to hospitals and nursing homes, where they help to relax and inspire residents and distract patients from their health problems.

But the use of animals to enhance health can go well beyond individual cases and group settings. A growing number of psychotherapists are using therapy animals to facilitate treatment, especially treatment of children with emotional, social and even physical problems.

Among the pioneers is Aubrey H. Fine, psychotherapist and professor at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, whose extensive successful use of therapy animals in treating children is documented in “The Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy” (Elsevier/Academic Press, 2010).

As Dr. Fine describes one of his first and most inspiring cases, 5-year-old Diane was brought to him because she recoiled in fright from strangers, and though she spoke at home, she refused to speak to anyone else, including her kindergarten teacher.

A trained therapy dog named Puppy eventually broke the back of her selective mutism. Diane was petting Puppy, smiling and content, when Dr. Fine gave the dog a signal to walk away. Diane was crestfallen, and seeing the girl’s distress, Dr. Fine told her that all she had to do to get the dog back was to say, “Puppy, come.” Softly, the child said, “Puppy, come, please come, Puppy.” That incident became the bridge Dr. Fine needed to help the child overcome her socially disabling problem.

He tells of another troubled child who finally began to speak about being physically abused when Dr. Fine told him that the misshapen therapy animal he was playing with had been rescued from an abusive home where it had been seriously injured. In another case in which a child was told where — and where not — to touch the therapy animal, the child opened up about being inappropriately touched, sexually abused, by a family member.

“Children are more likely to reveal inner thoughts to the therapist because the animal is right next to them and helps them express themselves,” Dr. Fine said in an interview.

In early work in a social skills program for hyperactive children, Dr. Fine found that they could be more easily taught how to behave calmly if allowed to handle his pet gerbil. “I realized this approach can have a tremendous impact in teaching because it helps to change how we relate to other beings,” he said.

Although the field of animal-assisted therapy has grown a lot in the last four decades, experts readily acknowledge that it suffers from a lack of well-designed research that can establish guidelines for safety and effectiveness in various situations. For example, although using dolphins to treat autistic children has received considerable media attention, at least two studies found no evidence of benefit and considerable risk of harm to the animals and to the children, said James A. Griffin of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations insists that members limit service and therapy animals to domestic species trained for the job. And the Delta Society, which provides training programs for the animals, will not certify wild or exotic animals like snakes, ferrets, lizards and wolf-hybrids. However, the Delta Society says it “is constantly expanding the range of species included in the Pet Partners program” when there is adequate research to document the safety of their use.

To help give the field a firmer scientific footing, the Mars company, a leading producer of pet foods, initiated a research partnership with the national institute branch of which Dr. Griffin is deputy director. Among continuing studies:

¶The effects of therapeutic horseback riding on children and adolescents with autism. If safe and effective, riding is less invasive than medications used to treat common symptoms like irritability and hyperactivity.

¶A large epidemiological study to document the overall public health effects on children and adolescents of living with dogs and cats.

¶A study to determine whether therapy animals can help children with behavior disturbances attributed to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder develop better self-regulation, self-esteem and social behavior.

¶Studies using survey and genetic tools to help select the most effective cats or cat breeds to work with autistic children.

Dr. Griffin acknowledged in an interview how difficult it can be to design a scientifically valid study using animals because “it can’t be a blind study — you know if the patient has a therapy dog.” But he described one recent study in which the patient, a young boy with autism, served as his own control. When he was with the therapy dog, levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the child dropped; the levels rose when the dog was taken away, and dropped again when the dog was returned. The next step would be to coordinate biochemical changes with behavioral effects — is the child calmer and easier to handle when with a therapy animal?

Dr. Fine emphasized the challenges of working with therapy animals as well as documenting its effectiveness. He said, “You can’t just bring in any animal to a therapy setting. The animal has to be very well trained, reliable, obedient and have the right temperament. It can’t be overly anxious or easily startled. And the therapist has to know how to use it as a therapy adjunct, in combination with good psychotherapy. The animal is there to help support what I’m doing, to act as a catalyst and not a distraction. And, of course, animal-assisted interventions have to be safe for everyone involved — the patient and the animal.”

A version of this article appeared in print on March 15, 2011, on page D7 of the New York edition.

ADHD Connected to Poor Handwriting and Spelling

2011-06-20T00:44:00.002-04:00

The connection between handwriting, spelling and ADHD never fails to intrigue me....

Anyone who works with ADHD children knows they almost all struggle with handwriting as well as spelling. So much so that if a prospective Orion School student does not have this challenge, I tend to look even closer since this may mean that ADHD is not the main driver of this child's challenges.

In education there is not really a lot of literature about the fact that poor handwriting and spelling are just another part of having ADHD. The few I have read are fascinating though. One study (http://u.cs.biu.ac.il/~eni/Adi-Japha.pdf)

points out that the spelling is not as much a language based challenge as it is part of the handwriting challenge --- I guess it is a physical disability of sorts since it seems to stem from the mechanics of writing:
"spelling and writing problems in children with ADHD are associated with attentional problems, are non linguistic in nature, and, more specifically, reflect an impairment in the graphemic buffer and in kinematic motor production. The combined therapeutic interventions for children with ADHD
and dysgraphia should address these deficits and include both pharmacological therapy to enhance attention skills and educational interventions. Teaching children to use written language is one of the main goals of school curriculum and, in spite of their normal intelligence and reading skills, children with ADHD are more likely to experience difficulty in this domain. In addition to acquiring conventional writing skills, word processing software may prove to be very valuable. Innovative programs that provide letters shapes and spell check possibilities reduce the complexity of the motor demands of writing (Deuel, 2001; Hetzroni and Shrieber, 2004) may free children from the constant need to check and correct their spelling and handwriting and enable them to utilize those higher cognitive processes needed for competent written expression."

Since this connection is so clear, it confirms the need to have assistive technology in conjunction with handwriting as well as spelling for our students as they get older and need to expand their writing past the mechanics of getting words on paper.

The Face Of The Disability World Is Changing

2011-06-15T00:32:00.000-04:00

I don’t get out much anymore. Most of my work days are spent at The Orion School helping to coordinate the thousands of details large and small that need to be taken care of. When I do get out to meet with professionals who are helping people with disabilities, the connection usually has both an intellectual and emotional impact on me.

Last year I met with a director of a program for adults who need support during the day. He was very thoughtful about his work and I enjoyed speaking with him immensely. I toured his program and was struck by one of the clients in particular. She was a not too young woman who appeared to have been well taken care of throughout her life. She was well dressed, well spoken, and probably well educated. Like someone you might meet in the line at the supermarket and strike up a conversation with. The program has a work component to it and she was helping to make gift baskets of some sort. When she met me she asked the director of the program if I was the new bus driver. He laughed softly and told her I was a visitor. She asked me when my birth date was. The director encouraged me to tell her. A bit embarrassed to tell anyone my age in public like this I quietly told her. She sat for a minute looking at the ceiling then said “you were born on a Saturday”. The director reassured me that she was right…she always was. She then asked again if I knew who the new bus driver would be. I said I didn’t know and she asked yet again if I was sure I wasn’t the new bus driver. She started to tell me about the old bus driver and why he was not going to be driving. The director gently cut her short and said we needed to move on.

In private he explained that this woman was smart but needed lots of support during the day. It was not as clear why she needed this support as many of the other clients who had more obvious physical or cognitive challenges. His idea was she was probably more representative of the future of programs like his. People with not so obvious social and emotional challenges that prevented them from fully succeeding in our fast paced and demanding world.

I was overwhelmed by meeting this woman and by his comments because I could picture her as a child at a school like The Orion School a couple decades ago. She had the mechanics of language down, was probably able to read and write, seemed to be interacting in a way that made sense, but the more you talked to her the more you realized she was “stuck” on the bus driver and could not get out of that loop. Her splinter skill of knowing people’s birthdays was fascinating, but not helping her in the world.

I spend my days making as ideal an education as possible for our students who may struggle in ways big and small. In this context thinking about the distant future is not all that useful. The goal is to bulk up any and all skills possible at this point. Will any given student be an actress, artist, lawyer, CEO of his own company, or engineer? Or will any given student continue to need the kind of support during the day that this woman I met did? Each child is so unique that it really depends on a complex combination of factors how it all turns out.

So I put my head down and continue to focus on the here and now and the immediate future of a year ahead. This is all we can do. Our students are getting an exciting, enriching, and rigorous school experience that will carry them into the future with confidence. Everything else is out of our control in a fundamental way.

Btw – when I went home that night I looked up the year I was born and she was right….I was born on a Saturday.

Low Ratio With Quality Teachers = Great Special Education Program

2011-06-14T00:33:00.000-04:00

I received an ironic flyer today from a local after school program asking for volunteers. I am always searching for volunteers for The Orion School so not sure it was the best marketing on their part! Yet this flyer had other interesting points. The flyer read “Because we are an inclusionary program and sometimes serve children with ADHD, learning disabilities, mild autism, or mild behavioral issues our staff frequently needs additional help, and we rely on volunteers for assistance. We have a ratio of 1:10, but because some children require one-on-one assistance, we can always use extra hands.”

It made me cringe and worry at the same time just to read this. While I appreciate that the program is attempting to be inclusive in some way – it is misguided not to offer the kind of unique support that is needed for more complex children. Unless the volunteers are special education teachers, having them as staff for children with “ADHD, learning disabilities, mild autism, or mild behavioral issues” is much less than ideal and somewhat problematic.

If you read between the lines of this flyer the basic problem in special education is clarified… it is just too expensive to offer the kind of support needed for children with more complex special needs. It is why there are so few schools or programs for children with neurobehavioral challenges. It is why parents light up the online groups finding ways to advocate for services for their children in public school.

The kind of support that makes a best practice program also makes the program less financially successful. At The Orion School staffing takes up by far the biggest part of our budget for all our programs. This includes the school, camp, and after care. We staff with teachers, not volunteers, for our 1:4 teacher to student ratio in all programs. That ratio is the critical factor to ensure success for children with more complex profiles. Yet after reading the flyer today, I need to add that it is not only our ratio but the quality of the teachers who keep the ratio that make our program what it is.

Thank You From Orion Students to Mr. Matt

2011-06-11T23:58:00.003-04:00

Below high school level, male teachers are few and far between. Male special education teachers in the lower grades are an even rarer find. Yet the special education population is 80% boys and 20% girls! Evening out this situation is a challenge. At The Orion School our students are fortunate to have Matt teach them math, science, and sport skills. He is a calm and patient male role model for our often out of bounds students to look up to. Below are their thank you notes to him at the end of this school year.

Mr. Matt shows us how to do math problems. He doesn’t just tell us.

Mr. Matt does science projects. There are trillions of these little things in a drop of water, but I don’t remember what they’re called.

I like Mr. Matt because he lets me be goalie when we play soccer.

Mr. Matt is good at soccer. He teaches me science and math. I like playing the math BINGO game.

We play soccer with Mr. Matt. My favorite Sports Skills is volleyball. I like to hit a lot of balls.

Mr. Matt is really good with pets and math.

You do Sports Skills with Mr. Matt. You run the bases.

I like throwing the basketball with Mr. Matt!

I like Mr. Matt because I love watching the algae eater!

You have to follow the ball when you’re playing soccer or basketball.

I play math with Mr. Matt.

Mr. Matt does science with me and math. Sometimes, he’ll make it fun and we’ll plant sunflower seeds!

Mr. Matt plays volleyball with me! You get to hit the ball and get points!

I like Mr. Matt because he has a fish tank in his room.

I like Mr. Matt because he teaches me basketball.

Sometimes, I ride with Mr. Matt to field trips. I like to look at his snakes and he has a fish.

I always go to the garden with Mr. Matt when I go to his room.

I like doing soccer. I like to kick the ball in the goal!

Planning For Camp Pays Off

2011-06-10T23:13:00.002-04:00

Four summers ago when we first offered Camp Orion we had an average of 7 campers each week. This summer we are topping out at 23 campers each week. Camp growth has been mainly from word of mouth. Our campers are the best advertisement we could possibly have. Last year one of our campers told his dad that his week at camp was "the best week of his life". This week one mom told me her child woke up at 5:30 twice this week because he was so excited to get to camp.

As easy at it appears to have happy campers - this is not a given. It requires herculean organization and planning to create four unique camp weeks filled with high interest, novel activities for campers who also need structure, shorter time spent on each activity, very small groups, and trained, nurturing camp teachers. Every minute of every day is thought out for children who have social and emotional challenges like ADHD and Asperger's.

Our camp co directors Sarah and Matt are Orion teachers who lead a team of their fellow Orion school teachers to ensure a successful camp. They have been working since January planning every detail of camp. This week it was evident all that hard work paid off.

Thank You From Orion Students to Ms. Emily

2011-06-05T23:23:00.000-04:00

One trait all Orion teachers possess is a calmness in the face of drama and Emily takes this to a new level. Nothing seems to rattle her. She teaches language arts and social studies and stealthily helps her students build knowledge and skills. Her energetic students appreciate her as the comments below indicate.

In Ms. Emily’s class, we get to build Lego castles for Medieval times!

Ms. Emily is always hard working. She never backs out of a job and she’s a jokester.

I love to do sentences with Ms. Emily.

Ms. Emily drives me places. We read books and tell jokes.

In the mornings, when I come early, Ms. Emily lets me listen to special books.

I read Max with Ms. Emily.

Ms. Emily helps us build Lego castles and learn about Medieval times! It’s fun to be with her.

Ms. Emily is not in my group, but she’s fun to hang out with!

Ms. Emily lets us take photos on field trips!

Ms. Emily helps me with my work.

Ms. Emily takes me to field trips some days.

I like Ms. Emily because she let me write on her big white board when Miss Sarah was not in her homeroom.

The best thing about Ms. Emily is that she lets me experiment with different things to figure out how it works.

ADHD Mommy Talk

2011-06-04T23:22:00.007-04:00

Maybe the early summer heat has me cranky, so forgive my candor....

I belong to many online special need parent groups. I think the support they offer me is to see how life might be for my son if I did not establish The Orion School. He has spent his elementary years in a school that has met his needs. He has not had a disruption of education, his self esteem is fine, his academic progress actually advanced despite significant learning differences, and he only knows what it is like to have teachers who understand him and peers who accept him. His stress level is low and we have been blessed to see some of his symptoms decrease. If he was not at Orion maybe I would also be asking what school to go to, what tutor to hire, what social "thinking" group to join, what therapist to take him to, or what camp to sign up for.

Since parents use online groups as a resource, I am continually amazed at the misinformation out there. As an educator with a broad knowledge and experience base, I wish I could by osmosis give parents the information I have learned. I am in no way minimizing the very personal and rich experience each parent has raising a challenging child. I just have an added vantage point. I am in the trenches educating a challenging population of students...and have stories to tell :) I have heard hundreds of parent stories, met with other educators, and learned eye popping revelations about the special education world of Atlanta.

On one of the groups I am in, a parent ignited a mass of impassioned opinions and advice when she asked if anyone knew of a "great school for ADHD in Atlanta". I rarely chirp in to these discussions because I am both a parent and an educator. Ironically, in these groups this seems to make me less “objective” and not more useful. This question though went to the core of my knowledge base so I offered to speak offline to this woman. I also suggested that all the special education schools in Atlanta are good in different ways and that finding the right match for each child (and really family) is the tricky part.

Of course this point was quickly drowned out by mommy talk where all information is equal.

Every parent wrote superlatives about the school their child was in: "my child had awesome results at ___school." "My child has had a miracle year at ___ school" "___school does a great job with my child!" "My child has had a phenomenal experience with ___ school" and on and on it went. Most schools will let you talk to a current parent who can tell you how wonderful the school is so I am not sure how useful these recommendations are other than as validation for any given school choice.

One mom shared a page full of information and advice based on her personal experiences with her son. Some of it went directly against what is best practice for children who have ADHD (“My child's symptoms are much more severe when he is with other hyper kids.”, “Conventional wisdom seems to be that ADHD children need lots of structure, but my child needs more freedom.”, “I believe that many ADHD children are more successful and happy in mainstream schools - my child did fine”.) She even received “kudos” from other parents for her "extremely important comments"

I give up.

Each child has a unique profile, yet the best practice academic setting for all children with ADHD is actually similar….and would include a smaller more structured classroom with fewer students, a positive behavior plan, visual as well as verbal prompts, using graphic organizers for EFD challenges, multi sensory learning approaches, high interest classroom work, less seatwork, frequent breaks, sensory accommodations such as fidgets or gum, shorter classes, less or no homework, lots of physical activity during the school day, creative enrichment classes, a social skills curriculum, and a multitude of other ways that help change the school day to make it more learning friendly for children who have a difficult time in traditional classrooms because of ADHD. I could write for days about what a good school for a child with ADHD needs to have in it. After all, this is all I think about 24/7!

If parents want to talk across the fence about this school or that school I guess it can’t hurt as a starting point and a way to connect with other parents. I just hope this sort of mommy talk is not taking the place of having an educated and critical eye when researching options and understanding what exactly it means to find a “great school for ADHD”.

Thank You From Orion Students to Miss Elizabeth

2011-06-03T23:58:00.003-04:00

Elizabeth teaches science, social studies, expressive art and science in action classes to our younger Orion students. Experiential learning takes on a new meaning in her room because there are always living things in it...last count there was a turtle, snake, hamster, fish, meal worms, composting worms, and chicks hatched in the classroom! Elizabeth is also the custodian of the Orion garden. Everyone uses it, but it is Elizabeth that you will find watering and tending to it late on a weekend afternoon. Below shows the impact she has on her students. It is difficult to imagine from the comments below that many of the students are considered special needs students and may have social and emotional challenges such as ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome.

Ms. Elizabeth does a lot of gardening. You can ask her about planting questions.

Ms. Elizabeth does Social Studies. You use crayons.

Ms. Elizabeth lets us do experiments. The best is how we made a rainbow one day!

Ms. Elizabeth teaches us science. We learned lots of stuff, like nature and butterflies.

I don’t really play with Ms. Elizabeth, but I hug her once I see her.

I like to see the chicks!

My favorite was when we made pulleys in Ms. Elizabeth’s class!

Ms. Elizabeth lets me see the chickens!

I love doing science with Ms. Elizabeth because it is interesting and I like to explore.

I like Ms. Elizabeth because she does lots of cool science projects. All of them were kinda my favorite, but my most favorite was when she made the pulley!

I like Ms. Elizabeth because she teaches me science.

I like looking at the animals in Ms. Elizabeth’s room.

Outside, we do all these fun things with Ms. Elizabeth. I wish I still had classes with her. Hatching the chicks is a cool experiment!

I do paint with Ms. Elizabeth.

Ms. Elizabeth does outside science. On Mondays, she teaches us stuff. We do fun stuff with her!

We get to garden with Ms. Elizabeth. My favorite thing to grow in the garden is carrots!

Ms. Elizabeth has chicks and I like to look at them.

Ms. Elizabeth brought a lot of stuff for Medieval Day!

Thank You From Orion Students to Miss Sarah

2011-06-02T00:44:00.005-04:00

Sarah teaches Language Arts to K-3 Orion School students. About 50% of the students have dyslexia or another language based learning disabilities. Below are comments they made for an end of the year thank you card done by one of our parents for each teacher. The comments below show the benefits of a strength based approach to teaching students who have challenges like ADHD, Asperger's or dyslexia. Sarah uses the Orton Gillingham method, but her students only know that they are learning to love reading.

Sarah

"Miss Sarah is fun because we get to read books - sometimes a LOT! One time, we read books in every single class!"

"Miss Sarah teaches me reading and she reads our group stories."

"The second time I went to Miss Sarah’s class, I did BINGO. She’s nice."

"I think Miss Sarah has nice books to read."

"I like drawing stuff in Miss Sarah’s room and reading."

"Miss Sarah drinks coffee every morning and I think it’s funny she drinks coffee at school!"

"Miss Sarah helps us do stuff we’re having a hard time with, like reading."

"I like Miss Sarah because we find cool things with her. Like, one time, me and A. found some old timey scissors in her vent."

"In Miss Sarah’s, we do Junie B. Jones. We got to see a collection!"

"Miss Sarah is straight forward and honest working."

"Miss Sarah sings, “The driver on the bus says, ‘Move on back!’”

"I write the rainbow words in Miss Sarah’s class."

"I like to read with Miss Sarah and I like to read Yuck! Stuck In The Muck with O."

"Miss Sarah is my homeroom teacher. She is nice because she teaches me."

Thank You From Orion Students To Miss Jen

2011-05-31T23:48:00.004-04:00

At the end of every year The Orion School students make thank you cards for each teacher with the prompting of an Orion parent volunteer. Most of our students have conditions such as ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome and anxiety and are at risk for low self esteem and school failure. Reading the comments of what each child likes about our teachers gives an insight into happy our students are because of our unique program.

Jen

"In Photography, you get to take pictures of everything, like flowers and chickens!

"We get to read books with Miss Jen. We learn what’s 5+5 and we read this mosquito book and I like the python."

"Miss Jen is amazing at photography. She takes great pictures and we all have fun organizing the year book."

"You did Social Skills in Miss Jen’s room. You play piano.

"Letting me do work makes Miss Jen happy."

"I love Miss Jen because she does math. We work on clocks."

"Miss Jen is fun! We make puppets in Social Skills. I like that we can take pictures with her cameras.

"Miss Jen has a mushroom seat. That’s what I really like about her - that she brought that from home."

"Miss Jen is really good at talking to kids. In Photography, we take pictures. She has a very strong mind about taking pictures."

"Miss Jen lets us take pictures of cool stuff, like actions. I like action!

"I am picking flowers with Miss Jen."

"Miss Jen lets me take photos with her camera."

"Miss Jen is awesome because she plays soccer with me at recess!"

"I like Miss Jen because she teaches me math. I like to take pictures of Miss Jen."

"I love to do photography! I like taking pictures of flowers and stuff."

"Miss Jen is fun! She isn’t afraid to act like a kid!"

Final FAQs

2011-05-30T01:02:00.000-04:00

One of my many jobs is updating The Orion School web site. We have a very high web profile and almost all of our families found us by just googling, so it is particularly important that our site is reflective of our school now. I started updating the FAQ page a few weeks ago and finished it tonight. In a few days the following will be on the web site:

FAQs

What student might be the right fit for The Orion School?
The Orion School is the only school with a dedicated profile educating more complex children who have social and emotional challenges including ADHD. Our typical student is curious, outgoing, energetic, and often bright. He may have a diagnosis of ADHD (or the traits of impulsivity, hyperactivity, distractibility, and inattentiveness in varying degrees). We do not consider a diagnosis a label, but a resource tool to give a point of reference for the right kind of intervention. Cookie cutter approaches that purport to work for all developmental disabilities and differences can not possibly be the right ones. Our students are all unique, but many have similar general profiles.

What conditions are represented at The Orion School?
The range of conditions at The Orion School are ones that typically co-occur with an ADHD diagnosis and include Asperger’s Syndrome, learning disabilities (such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia), anxiety, OCD, tics, and Tourettes disorder. A majority of our students have executive function disorder, sensory processing disorder, and dysgraphia. On a case by case basis, we are an inclusion school for children who have other conditions, can benefit from our supportive and structured school program, and can be successful with a 1:4 teacher to student ratio. We are not the right school for a child who requires a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio for success.

Do you follow an IEP?
As a specialized school, we offer the kind of supports that are found in most IEPs. By definition all our students need the kinds of support that individualized educational plans that might suggest such as smaller more structured classes, visual prompts, direct instruction and multisensory learning approaches, shorter classes, little or no homework, and being near the teacher to minimize distractions. We offer an adaptive education that is reflective of the needs of each student.

What are the goals for your students?
Each student has a goal unique to their development. For many of our students, the goal is to learn how to become a successful student. We help our students develop a strong self esteem, strategies for living successfully with neurobehavioral conditions such as ADHD, and a life long love of learning.

What is the teacher to student ratio and how big are the classes?
The Orion School maintains a 1:4 teacher to child ratio with small classes of four students. Our students need the support of smaller class to keep distractions to minimum, not just a smaller ratio. Even a class of eight students and two teachers would require a child to filter seven other children and two teachers. Our teachers work as a collaborative team to determine the best approach to help each student at The Orion School reach their potential. The stated ratio is often even lower; particularly when our core teachers support our enrichment teachers to meet goals.

How big is The Orion School?
We are purposefully small to maintain the integrity of the school program we have in place. We also have limited enrollment growth to better serve the needs of our students and keep the flexibility, accessibility and communication that is impossible to translate into a larger school program.

Who are the teachers and what are their qualifications?
The Orion teacher's education and experience is diverse and complimentary. We have innovative and nurturing teachers who are committed to work collaboratively to find ways to engage all our students in the joy of learning.

How strong is your academic program?
We are able to offer an educational oasis for all learning styles. The Orion School is structured to offer as typical a school experience as possible for students that need an alternative to a more traditional program. Our low 1:4 ratio offers an intensively supportive academic setting for children with or without learning differences. All students get academic intervention which ensures that each student’s academic goals are met.

Do your students take the CRCT?
No! As a private school we do not need to take this state test.

What kind of reports do parents receive?
With small classes of four students our teachers are able to do evidence based intervention and monitoring of our students’ progress throughout the school year. There is an ongoing relationship with teachers, daily behavioral reports, weekly parent notes, quarterly conferences, ongoing academics assessment, once a year standardized testing (Stanford 10), and an ongoing student portfolio assembled from all the core and enrichment teachers who work with our students.

How is communication handled?
There is a weekly parent note with information about the upcoming week, curriculum details from each teacher, and a recap of the week. Parents can chat informally with the teachers at drop off and pick up but, are encouraged to schedule a time to talk for more than a few minutes. The Orion School teachers understand the need for ongoing communication and information sharing about each student.

How are discipline and behavior issues handled?
Our students often come from schools where their challenges were perceived as behavior problems and not part of their struggle to regulate their emotions and their body. We use a disability perspective, but a strength based approach to help our students understand their strengths and weaknesses. We also have a school wide positive behavior support plan in place to help our students regulate behavior. The goal is to have constant, tactile reinforcement increases student confidence and communicates teachers’ expectations by focusing on positive, desired behaviors rather than the negative consequences. Our teaching staff considers individualized behavior interventions through a thoughtful team approach and ongoing consultation with a mental health professional.

What is your social skills program?
Sustained growth in social and emotional intelligence development is addressed through a variety of real life situations throughout each school day. In addition, direct instruction social skill activities are used to teach pragmatic skills and emotional literacy. Since we are school, our social skill teacher uses a literature based approach to integrate social thinking into direct instruction lesson plans as part of language arts. Thinking maps are used to help students organize the social concepts learned.

Do you use The Alert Program?
Yes, at The Orion School The Alert Program is used as another tool to teach self-awareness and regulation. This program also provides a sense of power and control over students’ bodies and choices. Orion teachers have attended in-service training in this program and use tenants of it throughout the school week.

How does The Orion School deal with special food concerns?
The Orion School does not adhere to any food philosophies with regard to developmental differences. We try to respect parent choices as much as we are capable of doing in a school setting. As a school, we provide a variety of healthier snack choices to expand our student’s food experiences and to meet educational and social goals. We offer occasional snack treats as well. We also have snacks that meet the dietary needs of students who have food allergies or are on restricted diets. We welcome parent snack contributions that benefit all the students. If we have a child at The Orion School with a peanut allergy, we are a Peanut Free zone throughout the school year.

How does The Orion School support the parents?
As part of our effort to fully support Orion School families, monthly parenting support meetings are offered. The meetings are designed to provide parents with understanding, support, and information in a supportive group setting. This is an opportunity to work through strategies and brainstorm around hot button issues. The evenings provide a calm environment to relax and build relationships and support with other parents who are on the same path. We also have parent educational evening with presentations by teachers and other specialists. .

How do parents support The Orion School?
We strongly encourage parents to help The Orion School in any way they are able. Our parents drive to offsite excursions, serve on our board, support the goals of the teachers, help with fundraising, PR, special projects, programs such as our Soccer Saturday, and donate time and money to help The Orion School offer the best education possible to our students. Unless a parent has an educational background, we do not have parents in their child’s classrooms – although we welcome help at the school.

Can I bring my child to visit The Orion School to see if they like it?
A day long school visit is part of the admission process for The Orion School. Our students love novelty and generally do well on short school visits and interviews. Our goal is to see a child for the duration of the day so we can better assess where the child both struggles and shines in a school setting. We also want the prospective student to experience a full day at The Orion School to understand how we are different from the school they may be struggling in.

Can you give me specific ways that might help me decide if my child is a good fit for The Orion School and I should pursue admission?
Our typical student has a more complex profile that is not so easily defined by a diagnosis. Despite often being curious, outgoing creative, and often bright, she might typically have any number of the following challenges:
o Needs to be in a smaller, more structured classroom environment for school success.
o Struggles in a traditional school setting where seat work, paying attention, staying on task, and working in a group are required.
o Has difficulty making and keeping friends. Often, invitations to birthday parties and play dates do not come easily.
o Misinterprets social cues from other children and adults despite being social and verbal.
o Interpersonal skills may present as inappropriate or even rude.
o Gets overwhelmed in new, unstructured, or even exciting situations.
o Struggles with sensory issues.
o Conflict resolution skills are not well developed.
o Must win…and really does not like to lose.
o Tends to be inflexible
o Will not stay on task if not interested.
o Despite interest, does not consistently finish tasks.
o Repeats off behaviors despite redirection and intervention.
o The concept of time is limited.
o Cause and effect are not always understood.
o Struggles with Handwriting.
o Has difficulty with executive function disorder – for example has difficulty with organization.
o Is relentlessly outgoing, talkative, and persistent.
o May have low self esteem or inflated sense of self

Thank You Orion Teachers!

2011-05-28T23:58:00.004-04:00

Just some of the cards our students made for the multiple teachers who help them in so many different ways...

"swimming"

"A trebuchet"

"tennis"

"rock climbing"

"hiking"

"A pulley"

A School Of Iconoclastic Students

2011-05-27T22:43:00.000-04:00

The word a parent once used to describe his child on our application was “iconoclastic”. What a great descriptive. All our students are not necessarily trying to be unorthodox, yet this is how they interact with the world.

I love the word iconoclastic so much that I looked up synonyms and some of the words that popped up were innovative, questioning, individualistic, free thinking, radical and rebellious. Reading this list made me wonder if many of our students are not really iconoclastic hippies in spirit? They are little anti war protesters with nothing to protest but being in school. They are so young, yet already checking out. They are not believers and buck the kid convention of blindly doing what the teacher asks them to. They have their own ideas. They want to know why they should pick up their pencil or what is so important about handwriting. They can not understand why their peers do as they are told unquestioningly. Some of our students are also just not “tuned in” to what is going on and grooving to their own beat.

When they are adults this spirited skepticism and individualistic spirit could serve them well. Yet as children these kids need to learn that the main unwritten goal of school is to learn to be part of a group and follow the rules that everyone else does.

At The Orion School we ride a fine line between accepting the innate spirit and wonder our students have and teaching them directly how to follow the rules necessary to become successful members of society. We offer as exciting and hands on a curriculum as possible to engage our students in wanting to be at school....given that most would rather not have to be at school.

Yet, we are also acutely aware that these children do not have the judgement to make decisions about what parts of society they need to be part of and what parts they have the choice to check out of. There needs to be a nod to the various conditions they have such as ADHD, anxiety, learning differences, Asperger's Syndrome, or sensory processing disorder. In the end many of our students may make career choices that focus on their strengths – they might become entrepreneurs, salespeople, chefs, farmers, traders on wall street, athletes, or litigators who can argue for a living….but until then, these free spirits need to make it through many many years of following rules that they may not like, understand or believe in.

How To Show Progress in A Special Needs School

2011-05-20T21:33:00.002-04:00

As the year winds down, it is difficult to remember what the Orion students were like last August. We do standardized tests once a year and our teachers consistently monitor progress as part of their curriculum development. We see our students every day so the changes are incremental and sometimes seem to be in slow motion. We can not change development or the conditions our students have. Our teachers work like superheroes compared to other teachers, but the outcome of having students fly forward academically does not translate to children who despite being bright get “stuck” moving forward in a variety of ways. The special needs world has its own pace.

Yet once in a while it is crystal clear the kind of impact the hard work our teachers do has. This week Sarah, who teaches Language Arts to our younger students, was working on a project helping each student help put together a book of school work from the beginning of the year. The students decorated the covers.

I was looking through the books and indeed the progress throughout the year was startling for many of the students. The change was not evident from month to month, but clear when comparing August to May. Assessing progress for any child is a challenge because it is not linear, but I am glad Sarah has taken the time to put progress in perspective for our parents.

August 2010

May 2011 (same student)

Cycling Through Australia For The SMILE Foundation

2011-05-20T00:17:00.003-04:00

This week an Orion School parent, Chris McLeod, visited the school to tell our students about a very special adventure he has been training for. On June 30th he will be one of a team of six everyday Australians who will cycle around the perimeter of Australia to raise much needed funds for children who suffer from rare diseases. Leaving families and work life behind, the endeavor will cover over 12,000 miles and average a staggering 160 miles per day over 80 days.

Our students were fascinated to learn about the adventure details including the animals that are unique to Australia, the amount of time that will be spent in a the desert, the kinds of food the team will eat, and the body parts that might be sore sitting on a bike for 8 hours a day. They loved having the chance to see his specially built bike and were even able to sit on it. The questions they asked showed that they really were listening to him...."Do you have to bring your own water in the desert?", "How do you get your feet off the pedals?", "How fast does the bike go?", "What do the gears do?".

The team will blog daily so our students can follow him this summer and in school when we return in August. This connection to an event as it is happening is ideal. To have the added connection to one of our families is a dream situation. It is exactly the kind of interactive and experiential learning opportunity we are looking for when creating curriculum. This bicycle journey has never been done, so communicating with the cyclists live on the computer as they bike around Australia is truly a once in a life time experience.

To learn more about this exciting adventure for a very worthwhile cause click: http://www.cycleforsmile.com.au/C4S_Home_Page.html

Taking A Disability Perspective and A Strength Based Approach

2011-05-19T23:15:00.002-04:00

Group #1 - The boy who can correctly tell you road for road the directions to the beach 6 hours away, the girl who can paint pictures on canvas that could be hung in a gallery, the boy who can play the drums with a complex rhythm that takes years of training, the girl that is an amazing athlete and as poised as a trained actress, the boy who can build anything in Lego form that you ask him to, the boy who can hold his body up with one hand and twirl around like a break dancer, the boy with a face that could be on the cover of any magazine he is so much the embodiment of what you would imagine a boy to be, the boy who can draw with the perspective and precision of an artist, the boy with a 137 verbal IQ, the girl who can write poetry that makes you cry, the boy who could sell you the shoes you are wearing.

Group #2 - The boy who has a meltdown if he can not have the color marker he wants when doing a project, the girl who picks at the skin on her hand until it bleeds, the girl who is three years behind her peers academically despite intensive intervention, the boy with ADHD so severe he can not physically stop moving or focus for more than a minute on a task, the boy who sucks on his arm until it is blistered, the boy who is aggressive when off his medication, the girl who repeatedly yells to no one in particular that everyone hates her, the boy who confuses the days of the week with the months of the year, the boy with a short term memory that is well below average, the boy who is obsessed with the microwave, the girls who picks leaves from trees and petals off any flower.

Match any description from the first set of children with any from the second and you have the kind of children that are at The Orion School. They are complex in a magical sort of way. They are frustrating because there is always the “if only they could…” or “they should be able to...” when describing what they can and can not do. The amazingly athletic child could be national athletic star in the sport of his choosing if he could regulate his emotional responses and not have a meltdown if he made a mistake. The girl with the 137 verbal IQ could be an academic superstar if her short term memory was even near average.

It is the unevenness that defines these children. If you hang your hat on their talents, you are not acknowledging the great challenges they face. If you only focus on remediating their deficits in an effort to make them more “typical”, you are missing the brilliance that makes them shine.

At The Orion School we have carefully built an educational program around the philosophy of taking a disability perspective and a strength based approach. We are a special needs school, but I like to describe us as a really good private school for children who need more support than a typical private school can offer. Only by supporting the challenges and nurturing the strengths will our students grow in all areas of development. To focus on one or the other and not both is completely missing the point.

A Small School Is Like A Boutique Hotel

2011-05-16T23:34:00.001-04:00

A phenomenon that I routinely come across when a parent has found Orion and a professional has not referred it is for the parent to pay their professionals to visit the school. This typically happens when a child is being home tutored or seems to be in the wrong educational placement. This is a distinctly different situation than when mental health professionals and educators routinely recommend The Orion School. These professionals typically call me before the family does to check it out to recommend to the parent. The parent that finds us through a referral is usually excited to be pointed in the direction of the right fit for their child. This is particuarly true if the child struggles with social or emotional challenges like ADHd or Asperger's Syndrome.

A parent once put words to the fear that parents who find us on their own have when he said to me "I think The Orion School is perfect for my child but no one has told me about you so I think I am taking a risk". I explained that we are a small school so not everyone knows about us...much like when traveling you may not know about the popular little restaurant that only the locals know about or the great boutique hotel that is not in all guidebooks but that is always at capacity.

I do not share with parents that I have never had a tutor, OT or Floortime therapist recommend a child they were working with attend Orion. It is not for personal reasons, but by definition that they have a conflict of interest in this situation. In every other area of life this is an obvious reality. Yet, when paying thousands of dollars for professionals to help a special needs child, parents seems to abdicate their consumer instinct and become passive when making decisions. The burden of not making the right parenting decision can be overwhelming. They defer to perceived experts and not their gut, heart, or intuition.

It seems unfathomable to them that a professional working with their child would not have pure motives and might in fact have a vested interest in continuing the relationship with the family; particularly if the therapist is taking the place of a school or making up any deficit that the child's current school can not provide. When I have had designers help me decorate my house, trainers help get me in shape, therapists listen to the intimacies of my life, or nannies take care of my children, I never mistook our relationship for friendship. Unless we had another personal connection, our relationship was at the core one of a client and a service provider....even if it was a warm, friendly relationship.

This is why it is always a bit odd when a tutor visits Orion for a client to help decide if we are the right fit for a child. It would be like looking for a new lawn guy and having your current lawn guy interview him. Or having your current house cleaner interview the housekeeper who will be replacing them. Unless they are moving away and can not provide the service to you there is an obvious conflict of interest.

I am professional and polite to professional visitors, and respectful of parental angst. Yet privately I am just going through the motions of due diligence. No one wants to find their own replacement if they can still do the job and even dedicated professionals may find this a difficult task.

The Orion School FAQs

2011-05-15T23:56:00.002-04:00

A core group of the questions at parent tours are the same. In light of this, I have decided to devote some energy to making a FAQ for our web site. If prospective families read this first, the tours can then become more targeted to the needs of each family and not as general. Below is my rough draft of some of the top questions I routinely receive.

The Orion School FAQs

1) Who is the typical Orion School student? The Orion School is the only school with a dedicated profile educating more complex children who have social and emotional challenges including ADHD. The range of related conditions include Asperger’s Syndrome, OCD, tics, Tourettes, mood disorders, and a variety of learning differences. A majority of our students have executive function disorder, sensory processing disorder, and dysgraphia. On a case by case basis, we are an inclusion school for children who have other conditions, can benefit from our supportive school program, and can be successful with a 1:4 teacher to student ratio. We are not the right school for a child who requires a 1:1 or even a 1:2 ratio for school success.

2) What is the teacher to student ratio and how big are the classes? We main a teacher to student ratio of 1:4 with small classes of four students. Our students need the support of a smaller class, not just a smaller ratio. Even a class of 8 students with two teachers still requires a child to filter 7 other children and 2 teachers.

3) How big is The Orion School? We are purposefully small to maintain the integrity of the school program we have in place.

4) Who are the teachers and what are their qualifications? The Orion teacher's education and experience is diverse and complimentary. Our teachers are committed to teaching our students and work collaboratively to create an educational oasis for them.

5) How are discipline and behavior issues handled? We have a school wide positive behavior support plan in place to help all our students regulate behavior. The goal is to have a constant, tactile reinforcement to increase student confidence and communicate teacher expectation by focusing on positive, desired behaviors rather than the negative consequences. Our teaching staff considers individualized behavior interventions through a thoughtful team approach and ongoing consultation with a mental health professional.

6) What is your social skills program? Growth in social and emotional intelligence is addressed throughout each school day. In addition, direct instruction social skill activities are used to teach pragmatic skills and emotional literacy. Since we are school, our social skill teacher uses a literature based approach to integrate social thinking into direct instruction lesson plans.

7) Have you every heard of The Alert Program that the occupational therapists are teaching in therapy sessions? Yes, at The Orion School The Alert Program is used as another tool to teach self-awareness and regulation. This program also provides a sense of power and control over students’ bodies and choices. All Orion teachers have attended in-service training in this program and use tenants of it throughout the school week.

9. How does The Orion School deal with special food concerns? We provide snacks that meet the dietary needs of students who have food allergies or are on restricted diets. As a school we offer healthier snack choices with occasional treats. We provide snacks for educational and social goals.

10. Do your students take the CRCT? NO! As a private school we do not need to take this state test.

11. How do you assess students? With small classes our teachers are able to do ongoing assessments. They do benchmark assessments at the beginning of the school year as well as the end. Our students also take the Stanford 10 standardized test each spring.

13. Most importantly, how do I know if my child a good fit for The Orion School? Note that our typical student has a more complex profile that is not so easily defined by a diagnosis. Despite often being bright, curious, outgoing and creative, he/she might typically have any number of the following challenges:

Thrives in a smaller, more structured classroom environment.
Has difficulty making and/or keeping friends
Misinterprets social cues from other children and adults
Gets overwhelmed in new, unstructured, or even exciting situations
Conflict resolution skills are not well developed
Must win
Tends to be inflexible
Will not stay on task or may not even attempt task if not interested
Despite interest, does not consistently finish tasks
Interpersonal skills may present as inappropriate or even rude
Cause and effect are not always understood
Repeats off behaviors despite redirection and intervention
The concept of time is limited
Has poor handwriting
Has difficulty with executive function disorder – for example struggles with disorganization
May be relentlessly outgoing and talkative
May have low self esteem or inflated sense of self

Community Volunteers Help The Orion School In Many Ways

2011-05-14T23:56:00.005-04:00

Today was the Orion School Spring Fix It Day. We had a sorority and fraternity from Georgia State helping side by side with Orion parents as well as our dedicated teachers and staff. As a non profit we both serve the community and are dependent on the community to continue our mission. Educating more complex children is labor intensive and uber expensive. Conditions like ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and learning challenges like dyslexia require a more intensively supportive school setting. Volunteers are just one way we offset the enormous cost of providing the specialized education and ancillary programs that our students and families need for success. Today with many extra helping hands, we were able to build a sandbox, clean out a storage area, and clean and organize our camp space....project that I am not sure we could have done without their help.

We Have One Chick At Orion and One On the Way!

2011-05-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

We have a chick! Overnight he pecked out of his egg...in the morning he still looked sort of sad and still a bit wet. By the end of the day he had dried off a bit and was put in the brooder that the students had made for him out of a big box.
Tonight after our monthly Community Parent Support group I went in to check on him and he was hopping around and jumping in his water dish. I heard more chirping in the broader and it appeared that another chick was trying to peck his way out. My fingers are crossed that he makes it out overnight so he can join his friend in the brooder.

This annual tradition is a way to access the sweet empathy that Orion School students have for creatures. Since most of the Orion students struggle with social and emotional challenges such as ADHD, it may not be obvious how gently they might interact with nature. Yet, although they may physically and verbally bump and jostle each other and not "get" social cues - they have utmost respect for the fragility of eggs in an incubator and the little baby chicks that come out of those eggs.

"The butterflies wake up to see you"

2011-05-10T21:21:00.002-04:00

The Orion School students honored their mother's in a few different ways on Mother's Day. They wrote out compliments and put them in a compliment jar, made cards with pictures they took of each other (with amazing guidance from our photography-math-social skill teacher Jen), and our oldest students made poems. All these gifts offer an insight into the wonderfully unique and often poetic way they interact with the world.

You Make Amazing Tamales (Mom)

2011-05-09T23:36:00.004-04:00

For Mother's Day The Orion School students make "compliment jars" each year. These are child decorated jars filled with mom specific compliments. You are supposed to read one compliment a day; but of course when my son gave me mine I greedily read them all at once. Many of them involved food references.

The compliment that touched me the most was not the most obviously endearing "Thank you for the great life" but the more quirky "You make amazing tamales".

I actually taught myself how to make tamales when we moved to Atlanta from Texas almost six years ago. I couldn't find great tamales and they invoked happy memories of our life with young children in Texas. Reading my son's compliment brings me right back to a time long before we knew too much and I could just enjoy in amazement how much he loved to stuff spicy tamales in his little toddler mouth.

Last Call To Register For Camp Orion

2011-05-06T17:40:00.000-04:00

Camp Orion is heading towards full enrollment. In fact the last week of camp does not have any openings left. We have been reminding anyone who has expressed interest in Camp Orion to get their application in...and soon. It will be so frustrating to tell someone who calls in a couple weeks that we can not offer their child a spot.

Camp Orion 2011

This is an active day camp for children ages 5-13 who have social and emotional challenges including ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome. The focus is on social skills, self regulation and most importantly, self esteem.

Each camp week includes

o A typical day camp designed to ensure a successful camp experience. Each day offers novelty within structure for campers.

o A low ratio of 1:4 and staffed by Orion School special education teachers

o A lively thematic focus with high interest camp activities such as dance theater, crafts, art exploration, gardening, cooking, yoga, recreational games, and outings

o Skill building activities to foster growth in: problem solving, understanding social cues, managing frustration and anger, expressing needs and emotions, cooperative play, and making friends

Four 1-week thematic sessions offered:

“Sensory Sensitive Adventures” - June 6th - June 10th

Campers will have a blast exploring textures, tastes, sounds, sights, smells, and movement as well as building positive relationships through experiential opportunities.

“Building Friendships” - June 13th - June 17th

Lego My Lego day, food creations, cooperative games, unique construction projects and team building experiences will ensure a week of supportive friendship connections.

“Old School Camp Friends” - June 20th - June 24th

Camp fun the way you remember it – including camp buddies, tents, lanyards, s’mores, tie dying, silly camp songs, color war games, and mock campfire activities.

“Wacky Water Week” – June 27th - July 1st

No pool needed when there are water balloons, ice cube play, water games galore, and watery art projects…all designed to foster positive relationships.

Camp will be held at The Orion School:

458 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta, GA 30308

http://www.theorionschool.org/ 404.551.2574

Hours: 9:00am-3:00pm M-F

The fee is $395 per week

Before Care (starting at 8:00) & After Care (until 5:00) available for an additional fee

Questions? Contact: ccarden@theorionschool.org or call 404-551-2574

CAMP ORION Q & A

1. Can my child visit the camp before it starts? Of course! Once a child is registered for camp, we have the opportunity for new campers to visit, meet camp teachers, and explore space shortly before camp begins.

2. What does Camp Orion know about children with complex challenges including ADHD and Aspergers? The Orion School is one of the only Atlanta schools with a mission specifically to help students who have more complex profiles that include social and emotional challenges. Camp Orion is carefully structured to meet these needs.

3. What other types of conditions are represented at the camp? Campers may have a range of conditions that typically co-occur with complex ADHD - including SPD, anxiety, depression, OCD, tics, Tourettes disorder, mood disorders, executive function disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, and LD. On a case by case basis, we are also an inclusion camp for children who have other conditions and can benefit from our small group structure. We are not able to meet the needs of children who need a lower ratio than 1:4.

4. How many campers attend, and what is the staff-to-camper ratio? Camp Orion keeps the same low 1:4 staff to child ratio that we do for our school program. We limit camp enrollment to better serve the needs of our campers.

5. Who are the counselors? Our camp is staffed by The Orion School teachers who have experience planning appropriately for and teaching the same population of children in a group setting throughout the school year.

6. What about if my child needs medication during the camp day? A medical release is included in the application packet so camp teachers can ensure that medication is given.

7. How are discipline and behavior issues handled? We have a camp wide positive behavior support plan in place to help our impulsive and inflexible campers regulate behavior. This constant, tactile reinforcement increases student confidence and communicates teacher expectations by focusing on positive, desired behaviors rather than the negative consequences.

8. What is your social skills program? Social skills are addressed throughout each camp day. In addition, direct instruction social skill activities are also used to teach pragmatic skills and social and emotional intelligence. The Alert Program is used as another tool to teach self-awareness and regulation. This program also provides a sense of power and control over campers’ bodies and choices.

9. How does the camp deal with special food concerns? Although snack is varied and errs towards healthy choices, we have special treats throughout camp such as s’mores  The camp provides alternative snacks that meet the dietary needs of campers who have food allergies or are on restricted diets. Camp Orion is also a Peanut Free Zone.

10. Is there any academic tutoring available as part of the camp fee? The goal of the camp is a typical camp experience for campers who need a bit more support to experience camp success. There are often camp teachers available who are interested in tutoring after camp hours. Arranging and paying for this service is done directly with the teacher. Ask when you register if you would like to contact a teacher.

11. What are the goals for campers? Do parents receive any sort of reports about their child? The goal for campers is to have fun, learn strategies, and increase self esteem through successful experiences. There is a daily activity and behavioral report sent home for each camper as well as a weekly recap.

12. How is communication handled? Before camp begins, parents receive an informational packet with detailed information about the goals and activities for each week. Parents can talk informally with the teachers at drop off and pick up but, are encouraged to schedule a time to talk for more than a couple minutes. Camp teachers understand the need for ongoing communication and information sharing about each camper.

13. Most importantly, How do I know if my child a good fit for Camp Orion? We are a camp for children who may or may not have the diagnosis, but may have the following core ADHD symptoms in varying degrees: inattentiveness, distractibility, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. Note that our typical camper has a more complex profile that is not so easily defined by a diagnosis. Despite often being curious, outgoing and creative, he/she might have any number of the following related challenges:

* Is in a smaller, more structured classroom environment during the school year
* Struggles in a traditional camp or school setting

* Has difficulty making and/or keeping friends

* Misinterprets social cues from other children and adults

* Gets overwhelmed in new, unstructured, or even what are perceived as exciting and fun situations

* Conflict resolution skills are not well developed

* Must win. Does not handle losing well

* Tends to be inflexible

* Will not stay on task or may not even attempt task if not interested or afraid they might fail in some way

* Despite interest, does not consistently finish tasks

* Interpersonal skills may present as inappropriate or even rude

* Cause and effect are not always understood

* Repeats off behaviors despite redirection and intervention

* Seems younger than peers

* The concept of time is limited

* Has poor handwriting

* Has difficulty with executive function disorder – for example consistently struggles with disorganization

* Is relentlessly outgoing and talkative or does not engage with others

* May have low self esteem or inflated sense of self

About The Orion School Program
Our typical student is active and our program is designed to reflect this. The needs of the whole child are met by focusing on their academic, social, emotional and physical development. We use a strength based approach and disability perspective to help our students grow. High interest, experiential activities are integrated into a novel yet structured school day. We maintain a teacher to student ratio of 1:4. Our classes are kept at four students per class or less to ensure individualized attention and minimize distractions. Our school size is also kept small to offer a more adaptive, student centered program. Our intimate learning community offers a place where students develop mentoring relationships with teachers, real peer friendships, and academic growth.

In addition to aligning our curriculum with the Georgia Performance Standards, we have added specialized academic and enrichment programs to address the unique needs of our students. These programs are part of our tuition and include Handwriting Without Tears, a literature based social and emotional literacy curriculum, team building classes, ongoing assessments, a positive behavior support plan, tenants of How Does Your Engine Run, occupational therapy, dance theater, drumming circle, recreational hiking, art, photography, weekly field trips, swimming, and martial arts. We also provide a year long parent support series designed to offer parents information, understanding, and emotional guidance.

Mood Disorders Commonly Co-occur with ADHD

2011-05-05T23:58:00.002-04:00

As a school for children with neurobehavioral conditions, The Orion School has a fair share of children with mood disorders. Our teacher Jennifer recently attended an informative AMIT parent series presentation by Dr. Betsy Gard called Mood Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Jennifer took amazing notes and presented a staff in service on this fascinating and complex topic.

Since a majority of students at The Orion School have ADHD I zoned in a bit on the information about the relationship of ADHD to mood disorders. ADHD and depression can co-occur up to 60% of the time with ADHD and anxiety also highly correlated.

The comorbidity Bipolar Disorder and ADHD is even greater at 50-98%!(?) The rub with figuring out the comorbidity of ADHD and bipolar disorder is that the key symptom for diagnosis of bipolar in kids is mania…and mania is hard to diagnose since it looks like ADHD with the hyperactivity component. So a child can have both conditions but the mania looks less obvious in a child with ADHD than in a child without ADHD.

Separating bipolar symptoms from ADHD symptoms is also difficult. The distinctions that might indicate bipolar disorder are an elated mood, grandiosity, hypersexuality, sleeplessness, racing thoughts, suicidal thoughts or tendencies, rapid cycling of mania and depression, and psychosis. Since indicators like sleeplessness may indicate both conditions, it is a tangled task of figuring out the subtelties that a good psychiatrist needs to dissect.

When children are young, the emphasis seems to lean heavily on academics; with a nod towards the social and emotional issues. Yet to ensure a successful life outcome, there needs to be an acknowledgement that the mental health concerns of complex children are also of utmost importance. The statistics seem to back up this approach.

Facial Movement May Help With Understanding Emotions?

2011-05-03T23:45:00.004-04:00

An intriguing study shows that botox hurts the ability to empathize and understand emotions of others. Apparently for a split second your face reacts to emotional news. For example when some has an angry face, you also make the face for a second and your brain takes in that movement to help make a cognitive understanding of the emotion. The thought is that the brain uses facial responses as a feedback mechanism for emotional responses. If facial movements are restricted the less feedback the brain receives and less emotional response the person feels. If your face if botoxed up you can not move your face and therefore can not physically react to engage your brain in registering an emotional response to another person.

When I read about this fascinating research I could not help make a connection to children who have social challenges such as Asperger's Syndrome. One of the key components of the syndrome is flat facial and voice affect...or a lack of facial or vocal animation. Right now some of the more common social skill interventions involve teaching how to read emotions by self modeling, social stories, using tools like facial flash cards and even taking advantage of assistive technology programs.

Yet the flat affect is not seen as a physical limitation which this new study would indicate it might be. If facial expressions influence emotional responses I wonder if maybe a child who does not understand emotional cues needs to actually practice making faces to help connect the brain to what emotions are. Just learning to visually read faces may not be enough. The action of making angry, sad, annoyed, excited, scared, and surprised faces to learn the emotions that go with them may also be necessary. This is a physical activity. It is much like the need for children with ADHD to move to help the brain engage in cognitive activities. It sounds to me like children with Asperger's may also need to "move" their faces to help the brain engage in emotions.

I am going to share this idea with the Orion School social skills and dance theater teachers. In both classes it might be helpful to practice moving the face to act out emotions and practice mirroring the emotions of others. Adding this to learning to visual identify and verbally describe emotions in others might give our students an added advantage in their emotional growth.

Orion School Garden Program

2011-05-02T23:59:00.005-04:00

Recently we had a teacher in service on ways to make our school garden program more multidisciplinary. The presentation was done by a teacher named Jenna Mobley who has helped develop gardening programs in schools in Atlanta. Jenna generously donated her time and expertise to help us in this area. She has been fortunate enough to attend Alice Water's Edible Schoolyard Academy in San Francisco. Even though Elizabeth, our own science and gardening teacher, has done an amazing job creating and integrating gardening activities into our program, I wanted all the teachers to have more tools and feel more comfortable about jumping in and joining Elizabeth.

A successful teacher in services encourages a new way of thinking and motivates teachers to try something new. Jenna did a great job meeting this goal by helping to define all the ways the Orion garden can become an even greater resource for everyone at Orion. She reinforced our basic premise that one of the main features of our garden is that it is the student's garden. The goal is for our students to make as many connections to the rest of the world as possible through our garden.

A multidisciplinary approach integrates the garden into all areas of the curriculum; including creative expression, writing, photography, math, social studies, art, cooking, health and fitness and of course science.

Since The Orion school is for children with various social and emotional challenges such as ADHD, the garden also offers an ideal backdrop for teaching social skill lessons. Rotating plant care activities, nurturing plants, and cooperating as they tend to the garden are just a few of the ways the garden reinforces prosocial thinking for our students.

Our garden is a bit more than a year old and already an integral part of The Orion School. I can't wait to see what place the garden hold for Orion next year...