Our Inaugural! Guest Speaker Randy Booker
We had our first meeting in the balmy patio of Peets Coffee in Dublin. 20 of us enjoyed the mild weather and shared about our fears, hopes, and dreams in raising a Special Needs teen or middle-schooler.
Randy Booker, Superintendent of Piedmont School District, was there to talk about "Socialization and Inclusion." I regret not having recorded it, because it was full of heart, passion, and insight. Randy is not only a school administrator, he is also a parent to two Special Needs boys. He brought a unique insight, having sat in both the parent's seat and the administrator's seat.
The main point he wanted us to come away with is "The IEP is a team effort." The more we can cooperate with the administrators, the better. When it becomes adversarial, everyone loses, especially our child. Dropping off coffee and a donut every once in a while only helps. I read somewhere, "If you want to make honey, don't kick over the beehive."
And where does that combativeness come from? Our own fears, worries, and anxieties about our child. Randy helped us drill down to the root of all that: we want our kid to be happy, and we think we know what will make him or her happy.
But we don't know. Instead, your child picks up on your anxious striving, and it's making him or her anxious, too. We have to deal with our junk. Then we have to figure out what makes our kid happy. With that knowledge, we can start to modify what a "Family Dinner" looks like, what talking with your kid looks like, and what social interaction will look like. The result: relaxation and happiness.
That led Randy to focus on socialization. How do we help our child develop social skills, when all they want to do is play video games? Again, understanding what makes our child happy, and then using that to open them up to social interaction, is key.
If your child is a video gamer, jump in there and play a game with them. Even if you have no clue about what button does what, play anyway. It's a chance for you to connect with your child. Invite a classmate over and set up two video game consoles. The more you can set up opportunities for interaction, the better.
Randy set up interaction by opening up his garage, putting in carpet, and filling it with games, toys, Legos, and the like. Soon it became a play hub for the neighborhood, with Randy and/or his wife facilitating play.
However, Randy cautioned that there has to be balance. Obviously, kids can't be playing video games all their waking hours. But he did offer a way to leverage that to move our kids to other social interactions. "I'll play your video game for 20 minutes, but then I'll want 3 minutes of us talking." We could get that 3 minutes, which might just turn in something more.
Afterward, a short Q&A with Randy turned into all of us conversing and sharing with each other. I look forward to our next meeting, because I look forward to helping all of us some more.
If there's anything that I missed, please add it in the Comments below.
Randy Booker, Superintendent of Piedmont School District, was there to talk about "Socialization and Inclusion." I regret not having recorded it, because it was full of heart, passion, and insight. Randy is not only a school administrator, he is also a parent to two Special Needs boys. He brought a unique insight, having sat in both the parent's seat and the administrator's seat.
The main point he wanted us to come away with is "The IEP is a team effort." The more we can cooperate with the administrators, the better. When it becomes adversarial, everyone loses, especially our child. Dropping off coffee and a donut every once in a while only helps. I read somewhere, "If you want to make honey, don't kick over the beehive."
And where does that combativeness come from? Our own fears, worries, and anxieties about our child. Randy helped us drill down to the root of all that: we want our kid to be happy, and we think we know what will make him or her happy.
But we don't know. Instead, your child picks up on your anxious striving, and it's making him or her anxious, too. We have to deal with our junk. Then we have to figure out what makes our kid happy. With that knowledge, we can start to modify what a "Family Dinner" looks like, what talking with your kid looks like, and what social interaction will look like. The result: relaxation and happiness.
That led Randy to focus on socialization. How do we help our child develop social skills, when all they want to do is play video games? Again, understanding what makes our child happy, and then using that to open them up to social interaction, is key.
If your child is a video gamer, jump in there and play a game with them. Even if you have no clue about what button does what, play anyway. It's a chance for you to connect with your child. Invite a classmate over and set up two video game consoles. The more you can set up opportunities for interaction, the better.
Randy set up interaction by opening up his garage, putting in carpet, and filling it with games, toys, Legos, and the like. Soon it became a play hub for the neighborhood, with Randy and/or his wife facilitating play.
However, Randy cautioned that there has to be balance. Obviously, kids can't be playing video games all their waking hours. But he did offer a way to leverage that to move our kids to other social interactions. "I'll play your video game for 20 minutes, but then I'll want 3 minutes of us talking." We could get that 3 minutes, which might just turn in something more.
Afterward, a short Q&A with Randy turned into all of us conversing and sharing with each other. I look forward to our next meeting, because I look forward to helping all of us some more.
If there's anything that I missed, please add it in the Comments below.
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