School Shadow (Part 2)

 In our experience, we find that with placing a school shadow, there may be some initial hesitation and resistance which stems from some of the concerns listed below: 

 

1) “Will a school shadow isolate my child?”

2) “What will the other children think?”

3) “What will the other parents think?”

4) “We do not want our child to become dependent on someone and not learn from the classroom teacher.”

5) The teacher may feel uncomfortable with another adult in the classroom.

 

To answer the above questions, one key factor is how we introduce the shadow to the classroom. We encourage the classroom teacher to introduce the shadow as a ‘classroom helper’ or ‘teacher assistant’ or ‘friendship coach’. While the shadow’s main responsibility is the child he or she is working with, the shadow can be more subtle by sitting with other children as well as talking to the other children. Depending on the child’s need, the shadow may gradually fade back from sitting beside the child to sitting behind and then gradually further.

 

We need to remember though that children with autism may unconsciously isolate themselves by their behaviours. For example if a child is hitting others or lying down in class or throwing items about, the other children will naturally move away from that child. With the presence of a shadow, we hope that these situations can be targeted in the home programme and generalised at school to ensure that the child is more successful at school.

 

In some schools, the school teacher may address the whole class to explain about autism and how they can help their friend. There are some books below that some teachers may use to explain to the classroom. Again, this depends on the discretion that the family prefers as well as the school policy.

  
Google Images



The shadow’s role will be to guide the child to follow the classroom teacher’s instructions. In the following two pictures (taken from Google images) we see the classroom helper seated slightly behind and the children focused on the main teacher – that is how we would recommend a shadow to be placed in the classroom.

 Google Image

 

 Google Image

 

 In addition, we need to adhere by the school policies and their expectations. We need to respect the classroom teacher as the main person in charge and our role to assist our child to integrate as much as possible. As a team, we check with the teachers what their classroom rules are and follow them.

 

Typically we will have a school meeting prior to the first day of school and during this meeting, the child’s Supervisor, classroom teachers, parents and shadows are present. It is during this meeting that we discuss the role of the shadow, how to introduce the shadow, the confidentiality of the child’s condition and any other concerns that the family or school may have.

 

In addition, once school has started and the shadow is in place, it is important that a trained clinician (in our case, an EAP Supervisor) visits the school once a month in order to give professional recommendations to help your child. Also remember to have sufficient visuals, reinforcement (contextually appropriate), and data sheets so there is consistency in the approach and in the fading out of the shadow.

 

Written by:

Jochebed Isaacs,

Director, EAP Malaysia