Where Do I Start?!
If you are in charge of your church's special needs program, or if God has put students with special needs on your heart, you may be wondering, "What do I do now?!" You may be wondering if it's possible to have a successful special needs team, since there are many challenges. We are here to encourage you!
If you are developing a team, read through the following recommendations to see what your next step should be.
Some of the following steps are marked with ***. This means that a professional in the field of Special Education (a Speech-Pathologist, experienced Special Education teacher) should be involved in the decision-making in that area. If you do not have an extensive background in the area of Special Education, it is a wise idea to seek out someone from your community who can assist you. A specialized consulting agency may also be involved in helping you navigate through steps that require professional knowledge.
Click here to see a video walk-through of the following information!
1. Gather a team of like-minded volunteers.
Ask yourself, "What is our mission?"
During this process, it's a great idea to advocate for your team even though you may not have a "team" yet. Talk with your pastor, if possible, and ask if s/he is willing to talk about God's commands to speak for those with no voices. Urge him/her to share stories of families who can't attend church due to their child's needs or families who leave their child at home while they attend services. It's our job, as Christ's body, to teach ALL people to love and follow Jesus!
***2. Make sure volunteers are well-trained to handle all manner of challenging behaviors and a wide range of diagnoses (though we can't prepare ahead of time for everything!)
Ask yourself, "How will we be prepared?"
This step will prevent many pitfalls in the future! Find a Special Education Professional who has experience with challenging behavior and specific strategies that can prevent it, and ask her/him to train your team. You may also choose to hire a consulting agency such as Chirp that can train your team or provide training materials to you. Make sure to check out Chirp's video training options, which are available on our YouTube channel!
3. Choose a delivery model.
Ask yourself, "How will we deliver appropriate services?"
Will you integrate students with special needs into classrooms alongside typically-developing peers? Will you have a specialized classroom for students with special needs? Will you have a mix of both? How will you decide?
4. Develop systems.
Ask yourself, "How will our team run?"
You will need efficient, well-thought-out systems for the following situations:
* parent communication
* volunteer communication
* recruiting new volunteers
* training new volunteers
* providing volunteers with ongoing training
* placing new students
* placing new volunteers
*** 5. Choose a curriculum or modify an existing curriculum.
Ask yourself, "WHAT will we teach and HOW will we teach it?"
Providing child care to students with disabilities while their parents are in service is important and valuable, but we should strive to offer these students and their families more! People of all ability levels deserve to know that God loves them, Jesus was punished for their sins, and they can make Jesus their Leader!
Any curriculum being considered should fill the following requirements:
* MUST have appealing illustrations
* MUST use concrete language and short phrases
* Should teach spiritual truths (CONCEPTS, not historical events)
* Should be relevant to students’ lives
* Should be extremely repetitive so students (and adults) learn and remember
* Should be organized (each lesson should logically build on the previous ones)
* Should have a family element (teaching families how to communicate God’s Truth to their kids with communication and cognitive disorders)
Since we have developed a curriculum that meets these requirements, of course we recommend the Chirp Curriculum!
*** 6. Decide how you will meet the needs of your students.
Consider:
*sensory needs (how will you meet students' needs to jump, spin, get deep pressure, etc?)
* communication needs (how will minimally verbal or nonverbal students communicate their wants and needs?)
* behavior regulation (how will you help students manage themselves and remain calm?)
* restrictive diets (will you provide snacks for students on restrictive diets such as the gluten-free, casein-free diet?)
* difficulty attending to task (will you allow students to wander? provide fidget toys?)
* motor deficits (how will you accommodate students who require hands-on support?)
7. Create a classroom schedule.
Ask yourself, "Which activities are most important?"
What will happen when? How will you balance the students' short attention spans with your desire to teach them about God? Keep in mind that some curricula (such as the Chirp Curriculum) have built-in schedules.
8. Identify students who are already part of your church family.
Ask yourself, "Who's already here?"
Do you families who leave their child(ren) at home because they can't succeed in a typical classroom? Do you have children in typical classrooms who are distracting or disruptive? Start your program with these students.
9. Schedule volunteers with students.
Who will support whom? How will you rotate volunteers? What will happen if a volunteer is unable to attend on a particular week? What if a student is unable to attend? What if a volunteer does not relate well to the assigned student? What will you do if you have too many interested students and not enough volunteers?
10. SOFT LAUNCH
When you are ready, quietly have your first class. This is called a "soft launch" (i.e. unadvertised opening). This allows you to have a trial run of your systems and procedures to see how everything goes. After your soft launch, you will know what worked and what could be improved.
11. Evaluate and improve!
After each weekend, assess the experience. Ask yourself how things went and what you'd like to improve; then plan how your team will get there!
At any point along this developmental ladder, Chirp Consulting is available to support you and your team. If you are stuck on any step, or if you need experienced professionals to help you think through your options or give advice, please don't hesitate to contact us!
If you are developing a team, read through the following recommendations to see what your next step should be.
Some of the following steps are marked with ***. This means that a professional in the field of Special Education (a Speech-Pathologist, experienced Special Education teacher) should be involved in the decision-making in that area. If you do not have an extensive background in the area of Special Education, it is a wise idea to seek out someone from your community who can assist you. A specialized consulting agency may also be involved in helping you navigate through steps that require professional knowledge.
Click here to see a video walk-through of the following information!
1. Gather a team of like-minded volunteers.
Ask yourself, "What is our mission?"
During this process, it's a great idea to advocate for your team even though you may not have a "team" yet. Talk with your pastor, if possible, and ask if s/he is willing to talk about God's commands to speak for those with no voices. Urge him/her to share stories of families who can't attend church due to their child's needs or families who leave their child at home while they attend services. It's our job, as Christ's body, to teach ALL people to love and follow Jesus!
***2. Make sure volunteers are well-trained to handle all manner of challenging behaviors and a wide range of diagnoses (though we can't prepare ahead of time for everything!)
Ask yourself, "How will we be prepared?"
This step will prevent many pitfalls in the future! Find a Special Education Professional who has experience with challenging behavior and specific strategies that can prevent it, and ask her/him to train your team. You may also choose to hire a consulting agency such as Chirp that can train your team or provide training materials to you. Make sure to check out Chirp's video training options, which are available on our YouTube channel!
3. Choose a delivery model.
Ask yourself, "How will we deliver appropriate services?"
Will you integrate students with special needs into classrooms alongside typically-developing peers? Will you have a specialized classroom for students with special needs? Will you have a mix of both? How will you decide?
4. Develop systems.
Ask yourself, "How will our team run?"
You will need efficient, well-thought-out systems for the following situations:
* parent communication
* volunteer communication
* recruiting new volunteers
* training new volunteers
* providing volunteers with ongoing training
* placing new students
* placing new volunteers
*** 5. Choose a curriculum or modify an existing curriculum.
Ask yourself, "WHAT will we teach and HOW will we teach it?"
Providing child care to students with disabilities while their parents are in service is important and valuable, but we should strive to offer these students and their families more! People of all ability levels deserve to know that God loves them, Jesus was punished for their sins, and they can make Jesus their Leader!
Any curriculum being considered should fill the following requirements:
* MUST have appealing illustrations
* MUST use concrete language and short phrases
* Should teach spiritual truths (CONCEPTS, not historical events)
* Should be relevant to students’ lives
* Should be extremely repetitive so students (and adults) learn and remember
* Should be organized (each lesson should logically build on the previous ones)
* Should have a family element (teaching families how to communicate God’s Truth to their kids with communication and cognitive disorders)
Since we have developed a curriculum that meets these requirements, of course we recommend the Chirp Curriculum!
*** 6. Decide how you will meet the needs of your students.
Consider:
*sensory needs (how will you meet students' needs to jump, spin, get deep pressure, etc?)
* communication needs (how will minimally verbal or nonverbal students communicate their wants and needs?)
* behavior regulation (how will you help students manage themselves and remain calm?)
* restrictive diets (will you provide snacks for students on restrictive diets such as the gluten-free, casein-free diet?)
* difficulty attending to task (will you allow students to wander? provide fidget toys?)
* motor deficits (how will you accommodate students who require hands-on support?)
7. Create a classroom schedule.
Ask yourself, "Which activities are most important?"
What will happen when? How will you balance the students' short attention spans with your desire to teach them about God? Keep in mind that some curricula (such as the Chirp Curriculum) have built-in schedules.
8. Identify students who are already part of your church family.
Ask yourself, "Who's already here?"
Do you families who leave their child(ren) at home because they can't succeed in a typical classroom? Do you have children in typical classrooms who are distracting or disruptive? Start your program with these students.
9. Schedule volunteers with students.
Who will support whom? How will you rotate volunteers? What will happen if a volunteer is unable to attend on a particular week? What if a student is unable to attend? What if a volunteer does not relate well to the assigned student? What will you do if you have too many interested students and not enough volunteers?
10. SOFT LAUNCH
When you are ready, quietly have your first class. This is called a "soft launch" (i.e. unadvertised opening). This allows you to have a trial run of your systems and procedures to see how everything goes. After your soft launch, you will know what worked and what could be improved.
11. Evaluate and improve!
After each weekend, assess the experience. Ask yourself how things went and what you'd like to improve; then plan how your team will get there!
At any point along this developmental ladder, Chirp Consulting is available to support you and your team. If you are stuck on any step, or if you need experienced professionals to help you think through your options or give advice, please don't hesitate to contact us!
