The STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) attract many students with autism, ADD, affective disorders and related invisible disabilities who are highly intelligent and analytical, but who, upon entering higher education, may find that they struggle with independent living and a different way of learning. This is a preparation guide for students and their families that explains everything they need to know about the university experience including classroom behavior, study skills, self-reliance, accessing support services, and when parents should and shouldn't get involved. Offering practical advice and strategies, this is a useful handbook that students can refer to again and again throughout their college years guiding them on their paths to becoming the inventors, scientists, engineers, and computer entrepreneurs of the future.

Reframing behaviors for competence, confidence, and successful outcomes With dysregulation and neurodevelopmental diagnoses on the rise, classrooms are more diverse than ever. Despite efforts to support each student's needs and sensitivities, educators are often left frustrated and unsupported when strategies for managing all kinds of behaviors, from anxiety to acting out, prove ineffective, short-lived, or even detrimental to the students' and teachers' happiness and progress. Through a reflective lens, this book equips teachers and support staff to help all students thrive by identifying and fostering each teacher's and child's individual differences and unique strengths. Written in an accessible, conversational style, this book will help educators: - Build confidence in identifying and addressing behaviors in order to support student growth and brain development - Learn about an interdisciplinary approach that combines education, occupational therapy, and psychology to better understand and navigate brain-based regulation, relationships, and behaviors in the classroom - Use relevant research, illustrations, and strategies for reflective and experiential moments - Discover strategies to facilitate co-regulation, establish positive classroom relationships, address sensory needs, communicate with parents, and practice self-care This reflective, insightful book provides workable strategies to help all students, as well as those who care for them, feel more competent, confident, and successful.

The author offers eight guiding principles that can be used to advance an inclusive pedagogy. These principles permit teachers to both acknowledge and draw from the conditions within which they work, even as they uphold their commitments to equitable schooling for students from historically marginalized groups, particularly students with disabilities.

Introducing sandtray play and storying into mainstream and special education classrooms can have an extremely enriching impact on the learning experience. When used effectively, it creates the climate for social, emotional and behavioural growth, incites creativity, and provides a high-interest context for the development of academic skills. Build a world in your sandtray; tell its story; record it; listen to your partner's story - these are the invitations to students in a sandtray play/narrative workshop. The approach gives children a therapeutic means to process inner thoughts and feelings through kinaesthetic play and provides an ideal platform for the development of essential speaking, listening and writing skills as children are taught to share and record the imaginative stories developed in their sandworlds. With detailed case studies, this accessible and classroom-friendly book explains the psychological and educational theory behind the approach and answers all the nuts-and-bolts questions of sandtray/narrative workshop setup, offering a wealth of practical methods that can be applied to a wide spectrum of the student population. This book is an invaluable handbook for teachers and school counselors looking to use play and storying as a way to develop core competencies in children with special educational needs and in the mainstream, and will also be of interest to play therapists, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.

Straightforward, practical, and user friendly, this unique guide addresses an essential component of decision making in schools. The authors show how systematic screenings of behavior -- used in conjunction with academic data -- can enhance teachers' ability to teach and support all students within a response-to-intervention framework. Chapters review reliable, valid screening measures for all grade levels, discuss theirs strengths and weaknesses, and explain how to administer, score, and interpret them. Practitioners get helpful guidance for evaluating their school's needs and resources and making sound choices about which tools to adopt.