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iCan Dream Center | Chicago South Suburban Special Education

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3 Underserved and Overlooked Student Populations

3 Underserved and Overlooked Student Populations

3 Underserved and Overlooked Student Populations in Public Schools  When it comes to equity in education, we often think of ethnic and racial minorities, students with disabilities, or students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. However, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to equity. There are many student populations that can use extra resources. This blog post explores some …

A Cookbook by Neurodiverse Young Adults for Everyone!

A Cookbook by Neurodiverse Young Adults for Everyone!

By Dr. Ford The stories in the cookbook are packed with ways that the neurodiverse students benefit! However, in summary our culinary arts program provides critical life skill instruction, an outlet for creativity and an opportunity for students to gather in community. We decided to collaborate with a celebrity chef quite simply to elevate the …

Calming Strategies for All Ages

Calming Strategies for All Ages

When your child/student, is feeling emotional or upset, what can we do to help? Be the regulator – the adult stays CALM. Calming voice, soothing, eye contact, be a comfort, relaxed body posture, NO yelling Don’t use too many words. Give the student wait time Model deep breathing (in through the nose, out through the …

Anybody Can Work and We All Should

Anybody Can Work and We All Should

This is true for people with and without disabilities. You need to make money if you want to live an independent life. Money isn’t the only reason people want to work. We like to work to meet new people, stay busy, and feel good about ourselves. Finding a job or picking a career can be …

Positive Time Out

Positive Time Out

Many parents and teachers say, “Go to your room (or to the corner) and think about what you did.” Many parents are used to the approach to addressing behavior because that was the way they were parented. Most adults do not realize that children are constantly making decisions about themselves, about their world, and based …

All About Functional Skills

All About Functional Skills

Functional skills are skills a student needs to live independently. An important goal of special education is for our students to gain as much independence and autonomy as possible, whether their disability is emotional, intellectual, physical, or a combination of two or more (multiple) disabilities. Skills are defined as functional if the outcome supports the student’s …

Intentional Pausing: A Powerful Tool

Intentional Pausing: A Powerful Tool

There are many reasons why pausing during a conversation can be useful. For example: · We pause to highlight grammatical structures such as to mark the end of a sentence or to shift to a new idea. · We pause for social reasons, such as to build anticipation, to clarify that we have expectations, to …