While most of us were unceremoniously dumped into the world of remote virtual teaching recently, Tracey Ellis, CEO and founder of International Diagnostic Solutions (IDS) is a veteran. IDS is a company providing online special needs services and therapy to families and schools around the world through a telehealth model. Tracey started IDS over a decade ago as the first online special education team to support families abroad.

On today’s podcast, Tracey and I discuss how IDS can support students with speech, behavioral, academic, and OT needs.  They also support  families as they move to international schools that may not have multidisciplinary services to support their children with learning challenges. IDS helps give hope to families who want to have their children attend the same international school and not be separated due to a lack of services. Finally, IDS helps support teachers as well. Be sure to check out the IDS website for more information.

Tracey Ellis is the CEO and founder of International Diagnostic Solutions, a company providing online special needs services and therapy to families and schools around the world through a telehealth model. Tracey started IDS over a decade ago as the first online special education team to support families abroad.

As an occupational therapist by training and with a background in public health and special education, Tracey recognized early on that using online delivery of support and resources could mean that children could have access to experts, treatment, and assessment no matter where they lived. As a champion for inclusion, Tracey has worked hard in these 10 years to provide schools with the resources and training to make sure that all children participate and all children succeed.

During this week’s Happy Hour, Phil Bowman, a Learning Support Teacher from International School Bangkok, board member of SENIA Thailand, and creator of the MARIO Framework discusses how he uses the Design Thinking process in his learning support classroom. Learn how one teacher uses this model to improve his teaching and his students’ learning. You don’t want to miss this one.

For those of us new to the Design Thinking model, Phil recommends this starter kit: Design Thinking for Educators.

Philip Bowman is an experienced high school learning support teacher at International School Bangkok and helped set-up up the Thailand branch of SENIA nine years ago. He is committed to helping other teachers create personalized learning support classes that are measured, ambitious, research-based, and structured around one-to-one learning. To assist in making this mission a reality, Philip has founded the MARIO Framework as a professional development resource for teachers and schools.

Join Matt, Erin, and me as we discuss Executive Functioning Skill challenges our students may be facing during this time of virtual teaching and learning. Executive Functioning Skills are the brain-based skills required for humans to execute or perform tasks (P. Dawson, R. Guare). These skills include, planning, organization, time management, emotional control and many others. Is it any wonder some of our students are having a hard time? We discuss these skills and challenges in some detail and suggest strategies we are using to help support our students. But it seems the discussion has just begun. Please take a listen and send us your ideas and strategies for support.

In this time of COVID-19, let’s spend today talking about something positive. STEPS with Theera is a vocational training center in downton Bangkok for adults with special needs. STEPS founder and CEO Max Simpson takes time to speak with us today about the center from its inception to now, several years later. Not only is this an incredible organization, it’s also a fantastic cafe’. So, if coffee is your thing, grab one for today’s happy hour and enjoy.

Max Simpson is the Founder and CEO of Steps with Theera. Max is a sibling and parent of autistic individuals. They have a Masters in Special Needs and Inclusion and 12 years experience working in this field. With a passion for sustainable social businesses as a platform for employment equality, Max hopes STEPS can be a model for companies on their own pathway to inclusion. Max and their partner Uang are past winners of SENIA’s honorary advocacy award and have truly shown us  all how an inclusive world can look.

Inspired from last week’s podcast with Jessica Minahan regarding understanding behaviors, I was hoping to somehow learn more about student behaviors at home during this time of virtual schooling. I mean, here we all are, thrown into the role of teacher in our homes, and we’re dealing with intense feelings in ourselves and in our children. Our kids are experiencing trauma and grief of having their own schedule and routines drastically changing. So how are they acting? Well, some are really struggling, and in-turn, many of our parents are struggling too.

While pondering all this, I happened to run across a video posted on FB from an Elementary School principal at Concordia International school in Hanoi explaining just this. Kristin Kappelman, our guest on today’s podcast put together a message for parents; a message that explains the way their children might be acting and why, and also gives strategies for how to best support them. The video is fantastic. I was so moved by her message, that I wanted you all to see it and hear it as well.

Kristin Kappelmann has been working in international schools in East and Southeast Asia since 2000 in various roles: teacher, curriculum coordinator, Elementary assistant principal, and Elementary Principal. She's currently the ES Principal at Concordia International School Hanoi in Vietnam.

As you know, SENIA was started by a group of international school teachers in China in 2002. The goal was to create a support network for teachers and other professionals working with children with special educational needs in Asia. Our round table discussions are a perfect way to continue that networking piece and to learn from each other.

Today I speak with Vanessa Weber and Kate Balsamo, both from International School Kuala Lumpur. All three of us work with students with moderate to severe needs and thought it would be helpful for us and hopefully others, to discuss what we’re doing in our virtual lessons and what we’ve learned about all of this along the way. And trust me, we’ve learned a lot!

I’m uber excited about today’s guest Jessica Minahan. Jessica is a special educator, Behavior Analyst, and author from Boston, Massachusetts. As educators, parents, and professionals, we seem to always wonder why kids do what they do; behavior-wise.  Jessica breaks this down for us. We discuss certain behaviors and how anxiety, underdeveloped executive functioning skills, and everyday school factors can contribute to some of their challenging behaviors.

Jessica also provides us with some strategies to try immediately and explains why some strategies that we all frequently use don’t actually work. I walked away from our conversation with some concrete things to try and a desire to pick up her book The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students to learn even more.

We’ve all been thrown into our new teaching reality...we’ve gone virtual. It’s new, it’s tough, it’s exciting. While some of us are just starting our journeys, others have been doing it since all this started.

Today on our podcast, Katie Stears, a primary years teacher in Hong Kong, and Karl Mejia, a high school learning support teacher in Beijing, and I chat about how we are working with our students; the challenges, the positives, and everything in between.

Join us for our first roundtable discussion on our SENIA Happy Hour Podcast.

Diagnosed with “Atypical Development and strong autistic tendencies” and recommended for institutionalization, Dr. Shore is now an Adelphi University professor of Special Education and internationally renowned for education, publications, and consulting. A board member of Autism Speaks, president emeritus of the Asperger/Autism Network, and former board member of the Autism Society, Dr. Shore serves on the boards of numerous related organizations.

Welcome to Autism Awareness Month. On today’s podcast, we speak with Dr. Stephen Shore, an adult with autism.

Our discussion today revolves around the 4 A’s of Autism: Awareness, Acceptance, Appreciation & Action, as well as how we can best support our learners and their families during the COVID pandemic.

Diagnosed with “Atypical Development and strong autistic tendencies” and recommended for institutionalization, Dr. Shore is now an Adelphi University professor of Special Education and internationally renowned for education, publications, and consulting. A board member of Autism Speaks, president emeritus of the Asperger/Autism Network, and former board member of the Autism Society, Dr. Shore serves on the boards of numerous related organizations.

As a Para-Educator and Fitness Coordinator at a school for children with autism, Dave Geslak (Coach Dave) experienced first-hand the challenges of teaching exercise. By understanding that students with autism learn differently, he developed a system that has become a breakthrough in effectively teaching exercise. Twelve universities have incorporated his program into their Adapted Physical Education and Special Education Programs. Coach Dave regularly speaks at autism conferences around the world.

On today’s podcast, Coach Dave shares about the effectiveness of exercise for people with autism. He also tells us how we can become certified as an autism exercise specialist next October in Kuala Lumpur.

If you are interested in this certification, please go here. OR visit our SENIA website.

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As a Para-Educator and Fitness Coordinator at a school for children with autism, Coach Dave experienced first-hand the challenges of teaching exercise. By understanding that students with autism learn differently, he developed a system that has become a breakthrough in effectively teaching exercise. Twelve universities have incorporated his program into their Adapted Physical Education and Special Education Programs. Coach Dave regularly speaks at autism conferences around the world.

Coach Dave graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Health Promotion. He is a Certified Exercise Physiologist from the American College of Sports Medicine and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a former student assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of Iowa Football Program.