Consider This...
Things to Consider in November 2021 from RTSC
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In this Month:
- Cover Article
- November Articles
- Useful Tips and Resources
- Upcoming Federation Events
Click titles for links
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News and information about education, research, and support for SESPs; adoptive, foster, and kinship caregivers; and child welfare and education professionals helping children with trauma and other special needs get the most from their education. |
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A Time to Give Thanks and a Time to Mourn
By Mary-Beth Landy
Senior Trainer, and Support Specialist
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This is the time of year that we all approach with a little trepidation and a little joy. It’s the beginning of the holidays for many in the world. Do you know that there are over 60 world-wide holidays spanning November and December of this year? So I don’t think of November as just Thanksgiving, or just a time to give thanks for all that we have. I think of Diwali (the Indian Festival of Light over Darkness, Knowledge over Ignorance), Dia de los Muertos (the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’) where families gather in joyous remembrance of their ancestors and friends who have departed, as well as Hanukkah (the Festival of Lights in the Jewish tradition). These are joyous times of celebration and laughter. But I also think of Armistice Day, otherwise known as Veteran’s Day, a day of remembrance of those who gave their lives in war.
I believe most of us think of November for Thanksgiving, a time of gratitude and celebration with family and friends, for all that we have been blessed with. But for many people, especially the Indigenous Peoples of the United States, it is a time of remembrance and mourning for all that is lost for and of their people. As Chief Ladybug of the Massachusetts Ponkpoag Praying Indians says “We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. And the way we change the future is to educate people and start understanding…”
I, for one, and grateful for all of those who work tirelessly for the most vulnerable of students in this state, the children of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). This past week was RTSC’s 10th annual Making a Difference Conference on November 10th and 16th. And what a fabulous conference it was! Starting with a great panel of Special Education Surrogate Parents (SESPs) on Wednesday night, leading us to a inspirational keynote by Rodney Walker regarding his personal journey through the child welfare system to attending three of the outstanding universities in the country, as told in his book titled “A New Day One.” As Rodney said “let’s not the focus of what is broken, but create something new!”
The main day of the conference on the 16th was packed with 16 amazing workshop sessions that made it hard to choose which session to attend. Then we had the opportunity to hear from our second keynote, none other then Dr. Nancy Rappaport, Child Psychiatrist, Author and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rappaport spoke about supporting students with depression, with a level of understanding and compassion both for the child but also for the adults supporting that child. She calls us to “sit in the darkness and bear witness to their pain and that will allow them, to get to the other side and find joy.” She talked about the PACE strategy from Dr. Dan Hughes. Playful/Pause, Accepting, Curious, and Empathetic. “What I want to say, each one of you can do is you can enhance in our children who are at risk relationship security and what that means is staying open and engaged.” She referred to us as raincoats, a idea taken from The Raincoat the poem by Ada Limon.
So, I am thankful for all of the raincoats that you are, in serving our kids, and still I mourn the loss that they have had and many continue to experience with each new day.
Be well, be safe, and Happy Holidays to each of you!
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Each day recently has brought on new difficulties for students and teachers alike. One family struggles with their child’s third homeroom teacher this year, quitting after only a week. The high school is having multiple “shelter in place” events happening each day due to students fighting. And in the middle school, boys are no longer allowed to go into the restroom without an adult supervising them because of a TikTok video suggesting the stealing of school property! You may wonder what’s going on this year in many schools? One of the many challenges that has been caused by the pandemic is trauma of isolation and social disconnect. Lori Desautels, a seventh grade teacher, refers to it as “broken belongings.” Read what their team is doing to work on creating predictability, safety, and relational conditions to rebuild trust and connection with and amongst their students. |
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I frequently get asked about having adopted siblings from the foster care system. I usually answer by recalling the time when they were tweens and had a major blowout fight over a sweater that someone “borrowed” without asking and stretched it out. I was ecstatic! I was so happy over the fact that they were arguing over something that typical siblings fight over, clothes. To this day, and they are in their early 20’s, they will have their sibling disagreements, but before I even hear about it, they have batched the thread that binds them. It is really amazing. They have a ‘oneness’ between them, that no one comes between. They have been each other’s supporter and caretaker most of their childhood. “Siblings help provide support, consistency, and comfort to each other during difficult times,” says South Dakota’s DSS Secretary Laurie Gill. “The bonds between siblings in foster care are even more important so keeping them together is key whenever possible.”
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Roughly 175,000 children in the U.S. have lost a parent or grandparent caregiver to COVID-19 as of Oct. 7th according to a new study by the CDC. “It essentially shatters kids’ assumptions about the world when their parents—these figures who are supposed to provide a sense of security and safety and meet basic needs—die,” says Tashel Bordere, a professor of human development and family science at the University of Missouri. As we know, these are the factors that help a child build resilience which they need to grow and overcome adversities. Many of these children will now also face housing and food instability due to financial hardships. Some will even enter the foster care system. So where do we go from here?
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The body-mind connection - we have all heard about it. It makes sense that if you are struggling with health conditions that it may lead to depression. But do we really understand how the mind effects the body? Dr. David Segal has been studying the effects of mental health on the body and how it impacts the “two-way street” of connection. “The body tends to react to mental stress as if it was physical stress,” Dr. Segal says. As he puts it, “Depression diminishes a person’s capacity to analyze and respond rationally to stress...they end up on a vicious cycle with limited capacity to get out of a negative mental state.”
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Stephanie Monaghan-Blout, Psy.D. a Senior Clinician and Trauma Specialist of NESCA, speaks about the challenges that children face surrounding social skills, and it’s all about human development. She walks us through the stages of social development and then looks at the assessment of skills acquisition, performance, and fluency for children.
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Dr. Jessica Pryce is a former social worker, who I recently heard speak at a conference. She speaks about making the bias-free assessments when it comes to the issue of removing a child from their family verses providing them services.
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In 2015, 86% of therapists were white, and 90% of therapists identified as heterosexual, according to a survey of 5,325 psychologists conducted by the American Psychological Association. All of this adds up to a reality in which white cisgender straight people are more likely to seek, receive, and stick with mental health care. So what are some resources for non-white, non-cisgender, or LGBTQ+? Here are some ideas.
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TIPS: Transition Information for Parents and Students with IEPs (Ages 14-22) Brochures
A series produced by the LINK Center- a project of FCSN and DESE
For the past few months, we have been highlighting brochures from our TIPS Series! The third brochure in the series is "Decision Making and the Age of Majority" Click on the image on the right to view the full brochure or click HERE to see all of the brochures in this series!
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Virtual Focus Groups
A collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Federation for Children with Special Needs
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Trauma Training:
This training will offer a systematic approach to looking at Developmental Childhood Trauma as it impacts our students in the child welfare system. This interactive training will study trauma’s effects on the academic and social/emotional learning of a student and the impact on their IEP.
Discipline and Suspension:
This training describes different types of disciplinary offenses, the school responsibilities for discipline, range of consequences for rule violations, the difference between suspensions, expulsions, and emergency removals, different categories of suspensions, procedures for out of school suspensions and expulsions, and legal protections for students on IEPs.
Transition Planning:
TBA
This presentation provides an understanding of the transition planning process, including why transition planning is important, services that could be included, who is eligible, student and parent/SESP roles in transition planning, and the role of student’s vision. We will discuss how to prepare for a transition planning meeting, using the transition planning form, the age of majority, the anticipated graduation date, and the options when the Team does not agree, including procedural due process rights.
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Free Upcoming Online Orientations
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Are you interested in becoming a Special Education Surrogate Parent (SESP)?
Visit the links below to learn more!
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