teacher needs ideas

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Well, after 4yrs of fighting for a diagnosis we finally got it. We also finally got a teacher who cares. My DD is 10 and in 4th grade. Her teacher thinks she is a wonderful, gifted child and loves having her as a part of her class. She has tried asking the school counselor (big joke! another post!) to help her help Maggie but has gotten no response.

Does anyone have any tips/ideas of what I can tell the teacher to help my daughter function better in the classroom? Is there anything anyone wishes their teacher/child's teacher knew or did that would have made a difference or made things easier?

Wow, I just had a question almost exactly the same for an exam on Inclusive Education I just did for my teaching course. Let me see. Firstly, the teacher and the school need to be made aware of the diagnosis, if they aren't already. All teachers (should) have specific training to cater to children under the umbrella of 'special needs' and 'giftedness', and should have in place programs to meet their individual needs. Also, at least in Australia, the school needs to be given the diagnosis information in order to secure possible extra funding for the school to be used to help these students who may need extra assistrance, such as a paraprofessional to assist in the classroom if need be.

However, you need discuss with the teacher about the specific nuances of Maggie's condition (such as her likes, dislikes, what she is comfortable and uncomfortable with, ways to explain things to her if she does not understand them the conventional way, what her interests are, and so on) - all so they can understand her and make the whole school experience much more rewarding and effective, and possibly 'differentiate the curriculum' (such as make assessment procedures and work requirements different to suit your childs capabilities).

Hope this helped

http://www.teacch.com/ Maybe this link can be of some help. It's about a teaching system for children with autism. Lots of tips. If you google on 'teacch' you'll find more.

You can also try this: http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=364&a=8019 . It's about children with learning disorders (and autism) and the Montessori system. There's more information on the NAS website.

Or this: http://ericec.org/digests/e582.html There's more on that website too.

Helpful planning charts etc are here: http://www.dotolearn.com/

beyond educating your child, the school has the responsibility to help with social skills in the moment. as the others have said, alot depends on what your child's specific needs are~figure out what issues are the most pressing, and address them first.i'd also suggest the teacher contact the special ed dept for more support and ideas.