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Showing posts with the label ASD

Waking the Body & Mind / #coaching #flippedlearning #realworldskills #autism #sk8

The growth of a person cannot be lopsided. Inner and outer growth has to be balanced for optimal results. Working with a mindset that everything is possible, I meet my students in a place where there are no limits. Usually, I am always at this location first and then guide in (beam in) my student. With the right approach, a great coach can move a student quickly far beyond what they ever dreamed of once mindsets are shifted. Progress in skateboarding exemplifies this.  Like most endeavors, 'success' springs forward with practice, dedication and commitment. Not just committing to skate, but committing to moving beyond a present skill level. Thus, the mindset is not, "I want to do awesome skateboarding and get really good at it." No, the mindset is, if I just keep at it, little by little, one day at a time, before long I will move across the skill continuum to become a skilled boarder. Skateboarding is engaging and demands mental acumen to be proficient or grea...

Engineering Growth: #PrivateSpecialEducator #CoachBill Drops the Rhyme / #autism #executivefunction

Part of my job as a Private Special Educator and Executive Function Skills Coach is to engineer, innovate and grow my tool and strategy base. I basically pop the hood and look at the motor all the time. I look at other motors, I try adding new parts, I take away parts, I look to streamline.  Generally, I use a notebook or a white board and a marker and start considering how to smartly grow my destablizing initiative to upend Special Education as we know it.  Like an actual enginneer, I prod, poke and test the importance, practicality, and effectiveness of the tools and strategies I use in my coaching. As of late, I have an old tool which I have dusted off thanks to a young boy who 'took me to school.' Recently, I was working in Marthas Vineyard with a band of brothers and the youngest started dropping rhymes with such execution and swag that it blew me away and captivated me. Not being able to back out of the challenge and in full view of one of his other brothers, this boy ba...