fbpx

iCan Dream Center | Chicago South Suburban Special Education

Home » Blog
Phonological Awareness: A Building Block for Literacy

Phonological Awareness: A Building Block for Literacy

Phonological awareness is a foundational skill that is defined as the ability to manipulate oral language. It involves word structure and includes blending, segmenting, judging, and recombining words. It is a necessary skill because it relates to the individual’s developing literacy skills. Early phonological awareness skills are demonstrated by using rhyming, clapping out syllables, and …

Supporting Self-Regulation in Young Children

Supporting Self-Regulation in Young Children

Start with you.  Learn to recognize and manage your own stresses. Take advantage of available support services to understand how your own feelings, experiences, and well-being influence your interactions with your child.  Add mind-body activities to your daily routines.  Simple activities, such as mindful breathing or yoga, can have big benefits. iCan Dream Center social …

Increasing Social Communication

Increasing Social Communication

Social communication is essential for everyday life to build social relationships and express unmet needs. For youth having difficulties with self-expression, it can be emotionally overwhelming, leading to frustrations, socially inappropriate behavior, and refusing or ignoring requests.   Try Social Stories  In Ghurair and Alnaqi (2020) research, they utilized a technique called Social Stories that uses …

Six Reasons to Teach Special Education

Six Reasons to Teach Special Education

Serve Others As a special education teacher, you will have the opportunity to serve students with disabilities and their families an incredibly rewarding and humbling experience.  Make a Difference One of the biggest rewards of being a teacher is the ability to make a difference every single day. As a special education teacher, you will …

New School Year, New Habits:  Small Changes Yield Big Results

New School Year, New Habits: Small Changes Yield Big Results

Even though the start of a new school year is an exciting time for many students, there are several important habits to establish at home to promote success. By following these simple tips, students will maximize their chance to succeed both in school and during non-school-related activities.   Nutrition Breakfast: Don’t let your kids skip breakfast in …

Back to School Tips for Neurodiverse Learners

Back to School Tips for Neurodiverse Learners

For parents of neurodiverse learners, the “back to school” season usually brings with it one consistent emotion: feeling overwhelmed. Any kind of abrupt change, in general, can be difficult for learners with autism, attention deficit disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, or other neurodiverse diagnoses. Tack on navigating a post-pandemic world, and we are all facing challenges that are unprecedented, …

My Child Isn’t Job Hunting. How Can They Benefit From Occupational Therapy?

My Child Isn’t Job Hunting. How Can They Benefit From Occupational Therapy?

In the early intervention world, occupational therapists serve children by providing the services they need to support educational skills like handwriting, self-care activities like putting on and taking off their backpacks, and emotional regulation skills like learning to remain calm.  Occupational therapists are truly like Swiss Army Knives in that we have a diverse range …