Child with special needs in my classroom, however parent refuses to realise her child has special needs?

Question

First off, the school I work at is a private English preschool in Japan, so many of the rules that would apply to the US or public insitutions would not pertain here. Our school does not have a main principal or any special institution to deal with problem behavior. I am just wondering if anyone would have a clue as to what problems this boy may have.

I have a 4 year old boy in my class of 11 children who from day one has needed lots of care and attention. His parents claim it is because he is "spoiled" at home and not used to a social environment, however I am convinced he has other problems. Some of the problems he has include;

Has a hard time speaking his own native language (Japanese/Korean) and only repeats after other children or the teacher most of the time.

Not able to follow a routine smoothly after 4 months of being in class.

Cannot chew or swallow his food properly and needs constant supervision while eating. Will make himself throw up if put under pressure.

Answer 1

His parents claims may be partially true, if he has no real structure or routine at home then he may struggle with coping with one at preschool, the same goes for the consequences.

Not being able to speak in his native language may be because he's struggling with learning two languages at the same time - you said his native language is Japanese/Korean. This is probably getting aggravated by his having to learn english at preschool aswell - this would follow that he just makes grunting noises as he has no language skills in the language the class is taught and may be confused as to whether you speak either of the languages he speaks (especially if you don't look Asian)

This could also be the reason for his behaviour as he seems to have limited communication skills so has to resort to behaviour like taking toys.

The throwing up is probably a coping mecahanism he has learnt as you probably call his parents to come and get him when he does it thus getting him away from the environment he is stressed being in.

The part about him not being able to chew or swallow is a bit odd. The only other children I have seen with these problems are children who have had a physical disability which has affected this ability or children who have some sort of food phobia or problem which is usually due to their development in that area having hit a plateau or being delayed because it is a reaction against the parents.

It seems that he is delayed in quite a few areas and probably isn't really being helped by the extra pressure the preschool is putting on him. Not understanding other children's emotions may be a warning sign for Autism or Angleman's syndrome.

Try giving these fact sheets to the parents and see if they can see any of these elements in their son. Or you could go through them at preschool.

You could also suggest to the parents that if they are able to get their child assessed to see if he has special needs that you may be able to get a person who works solely with him which would ensure that his needs are met and that the other children's needs are met as the original staff:child ratio will then be restored.

Answer 2

See if there's any kind of test he can take to prove that he has a learning disability.

Answer 3

Hello, I was a special education teacher for 31 years.  I am now a behavior consultant for people with disabilities.  He definitely does have some autistic behaviors.  ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder, as it is now referred to) is just that - a spectrum from very mild to severe, from severe intellectual disability to high intellegence or giftedness.  A person can have some autistic behaviors without getting a diagnosis of Autism.  I encourage you to write down all the atypical behaviors this child displays and take this to a doctor.  Ask the doctor for the CARS assessment (Childhood Autism Rating Scale).  Fill it out and give it to the parent, encouraging her to consider having the child evaluated.  Tell her that early intervention with trained staff and specialized methods designed for the child's special needs can make all the difference for success in life.  In the mean time, deal with the behaviors without a diagnosis.  Give special attention to stimulating his language.  If he is echolalic (repeating words or sounds either immediately or delayed), use the echolalia to teach him appropriate language.  Ask a question and immediately answer it yourself (in a slightly louder voice)  to get him to echo just the answer.  Use a visual schedule to teach him the class routines.  Teach him self-calming techniques. Re-examine  his food - does it need to be mashed, cut in thin strips, smaller pieces, pureed, etc.?  Allow a "safe place" for him to go to when he has had enough of a group activity and welcome him back when he is able to return.  Provide sensory activities and toys. Get him a weighted vest and a Sit and Move cushion.  Reward him for looking in your direction when you call his name.  (For some people with Autism, looking a person in the eyes is actually "painful", so if you teach him "look at me", teach him to look at your chin, forhead, or shoulder.   Acknowledge his special interest (train stations) and use it as a reward for doing what you have asked him to do ("We will talk about train stations when we finish the drawing")  Use templates to assist him in writing and drawing.  Allow him to use thick, markers.  Try having him trace lines or objects to work on his fine-motor skills.  He may be avoiding pencil and paper tasks because they are too difficult for him.  Break down the tasks:  First count only one object.  After he can answer the question "How many?" with one item, increase it to two.  Have him pick up the item and put it in a container as he counts it.  Use real objects rather than pictures.  Provide adaptive (squeeze) scissors,  having him cut ACROSS a thin strip on a WIDE (2") line to start.  Prepare more of his tasks so that he can have a finished product that looks like the other childrens'.  For example, let's say he is supposed to draw a tree, tear paper to make leaves, glue the leaves on, then cut out apples and glue them on.  For him, provide a tree template made of thick cardboard so when he scribbles within the template with a brown marker he will stay inside the template.  When the template is removed, he will have something resembling a tree.  Give him STRIPS of green paper to tear.  You put the glue on the paper so all he has to do is place the green pieces of paper on the big paper.  If that is too hard, make some green dots on the paper and have him place a piece of green paper on top of the green dots, which you have already covered with glue.  Lastly, provide him with a small number of red dot stickers (no more than 3), symbolizing the red apples, and have him place those on the tree.  Have him match real objects ( shoes, for example).  Take him to the bathroom frequently (every half hour) and praise him or reward him for urinating in the toilet.  Use a picture or photo to show him urinating in the toilet paired with a picture of the reward.  Should you wish to contact me via email: [e-mail]

Answer 4

I appreciate you have a child with special needs and I will not discuss this part as others have given you some great advice. Just one thing, could you not think of one positive quality to say about this young boy. As the mother of a child who could not communicate till she was 11, she often described her school life like being in an animal farm and feeling like a corpse. Her teacher use to point to her head and say ' what a pity so pretty but nothing between the ears' I think you are possibly wrong, his mother knows, its admitting it and saying those words that are the hardest.Imagine for a moment the torment this child experiences as he is developing and does not know how to communicate, participate or ask for his basic human needs.

Answer 5

He sounds very "young" for his age, if you get what I mean. Also it seems he has found ways of manipulating people (throwing up). This can be due to being a natural "late bloomer", being spoilt or because he has learning difficulties.

4 is a funny age; halfway between being a toddler and a child. I would say write a formal letter to the parents with your reccomendations and concerns. That is all you can really do.

You could also find out about a more suitable school for him and put the name of it in the letter.

Answer 6

This student sounds like he has autism.  This may help you determine if he has autism:  http://www.valleysnafu.com/SAMPLE%20DSM....  I suggest you insert the behaviors that correlate with each area on this document, print one out and give it to Mom.  She knows something is different but it is sometimes very painful to admit your child may have a disability.  Tell her you want to help and that you really care for the child.  Tell her positive things about her child and that you are concerned that as he gets older, the situation may get a lot worse.  Most parents will come around but there are those that never will.  

As for the classroom, you may wish to do a Functional Analysis of his behavior.  This may help:  http://www.shapingbehavior.com/images/Fu...  Read up on Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), Verbal Behavior, and Discrete Trial Training.  Also read about incidental teaching and Natural Environment Teaching (NET).  Also check out PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System).  He needs a visual schedule ASAP.  He needs speech therapy as well, but if you are in this on your own, you may need to teach him how to use PECS to communicate.  Also check out Social Stories (Carol Gray's Social Stories are excellent).  Social Stories can be used for the whole class.  You can write a social story on hygiene too.  

The throwing up under pressure is an escape behavior when put under a demand situation.  To shape this behavior, he must be made to follow through with the task immediately after cleaning up the mess.  

My non-profit will be offering a PECS book service shortly.  There is a computer program called Boardmaker that is kind of pricey.  We will be offering to print customized PECS books.  If you are interested, please contact us through our web site.

Lastly, thank you for taking such care and concern over this little boy.  He is very lucky to have you for a teacher!

Answer 7

Hi,

The child clearly shows the sign of 'autism'. May be the teacher herself can google the term 'autistic/autism' and can make her aware of their needs and behavior.

The child needs to develop 'on-seat behavior' , since he keeps roaming in the class. This can me done by  very carefully observation by the teacher and note down child's likes and dislikes. Then she can work with the child, on 'one-on-one' basis, with may be his favorite toy/object. For example , if she notices him pulling / snatching any particular toy , she can , next day, give him the same toy and start a 2 minute conversation with him- name of the toy, its color, and she can play with the toy to add meaning to the toy.

Another way is to make fixed schedule/ routine and picture cards related with the activities and introduce them one by one to the child. For example, if the first thing in the morning , the class does 5 minute exercise/ prays, the teacher can show the picture and tell the child as to what they will be doing in next few minutes.Gradually she can increase the number of pictures.

The habit of repeating sentences is called 'echolalia', which means repeating-echo.

To make the plan success, she can tell parents to follow the same techniques at home as well.

Answer 8

It sounds like much more than ADD or ADHD to me, but of course no one can really know without a workup by a developmental pediatrician.  There are so many features present, I wonder if there's something chromosomal involved.  My first thought was Angelman's Syndrome- the always happy thing is what got me thinking that, because most of us wouldn't say ADD kids are always happy.  Their frustration may not last long, but they definitely have angry times and tantrums at 4.  

No matter the cause, the treatment will need to be pretty intense (which you already know since he appears to neeId 1 to 1 supervision at all times).  It also sounds like parents need intervention as well, since they believe they are at fault, but don't want to do anything about it.  Maybe pick one or two of the behaviors you'd really like to change and set up a behavior plan.  At his age, his parents have to by into it and support what you're trying to do, otherwise it won't work.  Maybe start by asking them what are their goals for the child, and then explain how your goal is the same, and that you think a plan would help.

And as an aside, please know that every school goes through this!  I've had parents curse me out, pray for me, or just ignore me when I try to approach them.  I had a 6 year old kindergartner this year who entered school in pullups.  He could read at a 2nd grade level, but couldn't count to 2 on his fingers.  Socialization was nil, and he spent most of his time under his teachers desk.  Parents thought he'd just grow out of it when I talked to them throughout the year about getting a developmental workup to find out what's going on.  We could test for special ed, but that's just a patch, and a poor one at that.  I think this kid needs much more school-based services, he needs comprehensive services yesterday, and his parents needed parenting classes.  And there's a little brother at home who sounds like he's exactly the same!!!

Answer 9

It's a whole different set of rules in Japan.  Sounds like classic ADD.  Is there any way to get testing done from your perspective?  Even if you could clinically prove one of the symptoms- like a"non verbal reasoning" differential, how would you proceed>?

Good luck.  Maybe have the other parents also inflict their opinion to the school to help this special child.

Answer 10

autsim sounds liek a definate possibility-if ther are no laws that classify refusal to get medical treatment (possible autism) than there may not be much you can do-

can you expel him

is there anything the government education authority can do-

try a less threatening approach-say you are very concerned about his eating difficulties---for his safety he needs to learn to eat better.  This is something a speech therapist can help with.  And if teh parents go for it-hope the speech therapist can get them to understand that there is somethign more seriously wrong.

Answer 11

the child appears to have attebtion deficit and hyperactivity disorder.Counselling the mother on what actually is hyperactivity, its causes and how it affects daily living should be talked to her in plain language.She may be scared of being pointed finger at.

The fault is not hers.Why not get the child tested for IQ,cognition,dexterity and most of all socialization.

The child will certailny benefit from a one to one contact, which is closer in smaller groups of children in a clas.

Parents awareness is a must.

The child needs to be accepted as it is before working on him.A 4 year old is more fond of play and being a boy a little adventurous play will excite him.

REPETING language is something to tackle.Has he had enough exposure to normal interaction of language?

[Needs] may be fulfilled with spoken words and not sign language.

Speak more to the child in clear diction & with lots of overt expression on the face.

Also he needs peer group. Play , sharing with others[specially tiffin] will help him establish contact with others.