Healthy Relationships Curriculum

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What is social distancing? How can your students practice it and stay safe during COVID?

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Social distancing, a phrase that most of us have heard and said nearly a million times over by now. But, how does it prevent the spread of COVID-19? How can schools enforce and encourage social distancing practices? And, how can teachers educate their students on how to do it?

The CDC defines social distancing as “remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (6 feet or more) from others whenever possible.” Given this definition, having schools return to an in-person instructional format has been a difficult task with many districts across the country deciding to shift to a virtual or hybrid model.

Social distancing can be a difficult concept for some students to understand, especially for those who may have varying needs. Social distancing is something that all students should know about and practice—whether that’s in school or out at a store.

Helping students better understand how and why to socially distance is vital as learning models continually change, and our country continues to grapple with the pandemic. Coming up with an effective method to educate students on this practice is tough. That’s why we’ve adapted our Healthy Relationships Curriculum to serve and meet the needs of the environment we’re now living in.

Included as part of our curriculum are detailed video lesson plans which visually show students why personal space is important and what physical boundaries are. As an educator, we know that you are looking for creative ways to teach your students. What we are all going through right now is difficult, and having the best tools and resources at your disposal with help both you and your students

Transition to Remote Learning: Challenges Ahead

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Video calls, digital assignments, online tests and quizzes, and not being in-person with your students—this fall looks vastly different than what we have grown accustomed to. For some students, the virtual classroom may be preferable, but for many others it is a struggle to remain engaged and focused on school.

Not only have students had to adjust to the virtual learning environment, but educators have had to completely transform their lesson plans to conform to online mediums. This change has stolen a lot of time from teachers as they scramble to convert lessons meant to be taught in-person to a virtual format. Because many students are teaching from home, it seems like the workday never ends. There is no longer a separation of space and time, and many are hoping for a return to a more normal work-life balance.

As you know, the group feeling the greatest impact of virtual learning are students with varying needs. Teaching students critical life and social skills is one of the tenets of special education. As many educators have noted, it can also be a struggle to achieve requirements under IDEA and fulfill IEP transition goals without face-to-face instruction.

We understand the challenges, frustrations, and dilemmas you are facing. Our team is comprised of individuals who know these issues inside and out, including a former special education teacher and therapist have specialized in working with adolescents on the autism spectrum.

As a part of the program, you will receive over 85 educational videos, 39 ready-to-use lessons, outcome measurement tools, and an online portal that connects you with us. Our online portal is also designed for you to connect directly with your students and their family.

That’s why our Healthy Relationships Curriculum is made specifically for special education teachers and educators who work with students that have varying needs. We want you to know that we’re here for you. We also provide a training with educators, so they will feel confident in teaching the Healthy Curriculum. When you purchase the Healthy Relationships Curriculum, you not only receive a program that can be used virtually or in a traditional classroom setting, you have our support and can contact us with any questions or concerns at any time.

Teach Your Students How to Successfully Video Chat

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The coronavirus pandemic has forced many educators to learn new skills—like working on Zoom or Skype—in order to teach class. With an increasingly online and interconnected world we’re now living in, it’s critically important for your students with varying needs to learn how to communicate effectively through video chatting.

While video chatting is not necessarily a new concept to many, usage has skyrocketed in schools. Experts are estimating that nearly 6 in 10 Americans currently use video chat platforms, and many did not use these platforms for work prior to the pandemic.

As an educator, you more than anyone else, know that the traditional classroom setting is looking vastly different this fall than in previous years. With more schools utilizing virtual platforms to educate their students, we cannot think of a better time than now to ensure they are prepared.

Video chatting may or may not be new for your students with varying needs. Regardless of what they know already, one of our lesson plans will walk them through step-by-step how-to video chat appropriately and communicate effectively. In our lesson outlining video chatting, we explore the safety, how-to’s, and other common practices to make a successful video chat whether it be on your phone, tablet, or computer.

Our Healthy Relationships Curriculum works to overcome barriers that exist and prepare students with critical life and social skills. Video chat is not only important for school, but your students can use it to remain in touch with friends and family, as they practice social distancing to protect themselves and others from the spread of COVID-19.

Their next steps

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Since December is the traditional time for High School Seniors to begin the college application process, this month’s HealthyRelationship Blog will focus on considerations for parents and educators related to post-secondary education for students with autism and intellectual disabilities.

The Healthy Relationships Curriculum was designed to provide instruction in the areas of hygiene, sexuality, and appropriate relationships with a goal of preparing individuals for independent living. The ability to successfully transition from high school to college is an important step for individuals hoping to move on to employment and self-sufficiency.

Research conducted by the AJ Drexel Autism Institute indicates that approximately 30 percent of students with autism will attend college, but fewer than 20 percent will graduate. The low rate of graduation is attributed to many factors that affect individuals with autism and developmental delays: limited communication skills, social deficits, anxiety, and impaired executive functioning. Many times students are advanced in their ability to comprehend and master academic challenges while struggling with the social and life-skills that are required for college success.

What can parents and educators do to improve the likelihood of post-secondary achievement for these students?

*Start early. Introducing content related to hygiene, social skills, and appropriate peer interaction provides a foundation for an individual to live independently.

*Encourage high school students to work if at all possible. The demands of employment or a regular volunteer commitment will help to prepare them for the rigorous schedule and social demands of college.

*Consider community college .Many community colleges offer student support departments that offer counseling, tutoring, and even transportation to make the college experience attainable.

*Research college options that provide comprehensive support. Thinkcollege.net offers a national listing by state of university and college programs that offer specialized programming for young adults with special education needs.

College success is attainable for individuals with autism and other developmental delays when parents and educators carefully and considerately plan for this achievement. The Healthy Relationships Curriculum is an important resource to consider in the planning process. For more information about the best ways to utilize the HRC Curriculum in a student’s transition plan, contact Rob Anderson at rob.anderson@wfspa.org .

New Features and Enhancements Coming Soon to Our Curriculum

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We are excited to share new features that being added to the Healthy Relationships Curriculum for Fall 2018 that will be provided to current and pending licensees at no additional charge!

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Progressing from Awareness to Acceptance – Incorporating Social Goals into the IEP

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This month, our blog is focusing on how to include strategies into a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that relate to healthy relationships with oneself and others.

April is recognized worldwide as Autism Awareness Month. There is a current movement within the autism community to not only continue to heighten autism awareness but to more importantly foster understanding and acceptance of individuals who identify as having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Within this post, our team would like to stress the importance of including social problem-solving goals within a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP), regardless of their diagnosis.

We will reiterate language from our previous post for emphasis, as we believe so strongly in this description. The IEP is truly the cornerstone of a student’s special education program and should reflect the strengths, needs and progress of an individual as they move through their school experience. An IEP should address academics, vocational planning, community engagement, domestic function, and recreation. Within the domestic domain, the IEP should examine skills needed for daily living.

Social skills connect an individual to their environment and the greater community. An important step in a student’s development is their ability to interact with both educators and peers, and to maintain appropriate relationships with family, friends, and the members of the community outside of school hours.

Parents, teachers, other team members such as speech therapists, and the student themselves as a self-advocate as much as possible, should work together to evaluate what social problem-solving skills a student currently possesses.

The IEP team should consider their ability to:

  • recognize and greet others
  • initiate a request or demonstrate need
  • respond to others’ questions and inference perspectives
  • differentiate between strangers and friends or acquaintances
  • engage in a back and forth conversation with others
  • take turns or share group efforts in a school, work or community setting
  • recognize personal space, voice modulation, and non-verbal communication techniques such as pointing and gesturing
  • understand the difference between platonic friendships and romantic relationships

Once a student’s social strengths and areas of need are thoroughly assessed, their IEP goals can be created with a goal of increasing consistent practice of these skills that will ultimately promote success.

A helpful resource for teachers to use to instruct social skills is the Healthy Relationships Curriculum. The Healthy Relationships Curriculum uses learning modules and video modeling with role-plays to teach and remediate these skills and also offer examples of both appropriate and inappropriate interactions.

This method of instruction was recently endorsed by Dr. Tammy Hughes, Chair of the Department of Education at Duquesne University as “the best method available nationwide to teach adolescents and young adults about themselves, their sexuality, and their social relationships.” A student’s social development helps them to progress towards post-secondary education, independent living, meaningful employment and possibly long-term partnerships. It is critically important for the IEP team to include social skills as part of the IEP goals and to have a comprehensive plan for how to instruct them.

As shared previously, our blog posts are written by members of our team who have first-hand experience – often family members – with autism and/or comorbidity comprised with experience working within school systems and healthcare agencies that support individuals with ID, ASD, developmental disabilities and emotional disturbance. It is our belief that individuals who are encouraged to understand the importance of developing their social problem-solving skills and given appropriate instruction will likely be more successful in being accepted by their peers and the community in which they live.

Are you thinking of bringing the Healthy Relationships Curriculum to your classroom, group or practice? Click on the Contact Us page to request a sample packet, ask a question, or to schedule a presentation for your team.

HRC and IEPs – How to Incorporate Self-Care Goals and Strategies

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This month, our blog will focus on how to include strategies into a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that relate to healthy relationships with oneself and others.

Our posts are written by members of the HRC team who have first-hand experience (often family members) with the different disabilities, as well as professional experiences working within school systems and providers that support individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID), ASD, developmental disabilities and behavioral health challenges.

As the new school year is upon us, you are probably thinking about writing efficient IEP goals for your students. How you will teach them the skills needed to progress towards mastery of these goals? The IEP is the cornerstone of a student’s special education program and should reflect their strengths, needs, and progress as they move through school. An IEP should address academics, vocational planning, community engagement, domestic function, recreation, and transition goals to help prepare them for life into adulthood. The IEP should examine skills and have goals for daily living so the students can be productive in all areas of their lives. In this post, we would like to touch on self-care.

Hygiene, including proper self-care, is critically important in preparing an individual to achieve independence within the community. Without consistently bathing or showering, dressing appropriately for an environment, maintaining good grooming, and using the bathroom independently, it is unlikely that an individual will be successful at school, at work, or within their interpersonal relationships. Establishing proper hygiene skills as early as possible prepares a student for participation in the community and may help to prevent being bullied by others.

Teachers, parents, and students (depending on their abilities) should work together as a team to proactively assess the hygiene skills that are currently in place. Once the team has determined what skills are currently in place, the team can focus on what hygiene and self-care skills need to be addressed to help the student achieve optimal success. Hygiene and self-care goals in an IEP can include, but not limited to, such tasks as:

• Hand-washing
• Using tissues after sneezing
• Teeth brushing and flossing
• Selecting appropriate clothing for school or work
• Communicating the need to use the bathroom
• Using the bathroom safely (for example, ensuring that boys using the urinal are not dropping their pants to the floor making them vulnerable to sexual harassment and bullying)

Teachers can utilize a combination of demonstration, visual aids, repetition, direct instruction, and social stories to educate students about hygiene. Involving caregivers at home to reinforce appropriate hygiene is also key to helping a student progress on their IEP goals and promote generalization across environments.

The Healthy Relationships Curriculum is a valuable, comprehensive tool to help school districts and organizations educate individuals about good hygiene. The program utilizes evidence-based practices while continually assessing the mastery of skills in this critical area of self-care. If you have questions about including hygiene and self-care goals into an IEP, or to learn more about our curriculum, contact a member of our team today!

Upcoming posts will address the importance of sex education during critical periods of adolescence, as well as social skill needs, to enhance relationships.

Preventing Crime and Victimization By Teaching Healthy Relationships

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This blog entry was submitted by a member of the Healthy Relationships Curriculum team who has raised a child with autism and serves as a community advocate for change:

The Parkland High School shooting has brought increasing attention to the subject of crime as it relates to individuals with ASD. As a parent of a teen with autism, I have tried to learn as much as possible about legal issues and criminal behavior as it relates to autism as well as other developmental delays and co-morbidity. I have also spent a great deal of my time as an advocate researching, developing and conducting autism training sessions in the juvenile justice system for law enforcement, probation officers, and judges.

We need to consider the following:

* Current research suggests that there is limited and conflicting evidence regarding the volume and frequency of crimes committed by individuals with autism. There are over 3.5 million people living in the U.S. with an ASD diagnosis. It is estimated that less than one percent of these individuals have ever been arrested or charged with a crime.

* Individuals with ASD charged with a crime often have other mental health issues such as ADHD, bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia that experts suggest play a greater significance in criminal behavior than autism (known as “co-morbidity”).

* Individuals with autism are much more likely to be victims of a crime than to be the offenders. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department reports that individuals with developmental delays are seven times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

* The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders reports that psychologists say a lack of appropriate sex education leaves people with autism more vulnerable to sexual victimization.

* Researchers at York University go on to suggest that explicit instruction on appropriate sexual behavior is more crucial for people with autism “due to difficulties recognizing red flags, and interpreting the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others.”

Our curriculum provides detailed and direct instruction in the areas of self-care, sexuality, and relationship development. The curriculum was specifically designed by Dr. Larry Sutton and the staff of Wesley High School to help educate and inform adolescents and young adults about the importance of healthy relationships in their homes, at school, and in the community. Subjects such as privacy, personal space, appropriate use of social media, and how to develop safe friendships and romantic relationships are covered in the Healthy Relationships Curriculum. Covering these and other related topics will undoubtedly decrease problematic behavior, strengthen an individual’s understanding of their rights and responsibilities, and ultimately lead young adults to safer participation in the community.  We invite you to continue this dialogue with us, and learn how the Healthy Relationships Curriculum can contribute to prevention within the population you serve through proactive strategies.

Who Benefits From HRC?

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Welcome to February! Well, we have made it through another month of winter. Punxsutawney Phil, the infamous Pennsylvania groundhog who predicts whether or not we will bypass winter and jump straight to spring, had sadly informed us that the cold and snow is here to stay for a while. On this chilly day, we’d like to take some time to address another common question about the Healthy Relationships Curriculum as promised in our last blog. Who benefits from the Healthy Relationships Curriculum?

As we shared previously, our curriculum’s 37 lessons are easily adaptable by the instructor. They have been written in such a way that will support children, adolescents and young adults whose varying diagnosis or ability presents challenges in their capability or sometimes their desire to practice good hygiene, understand physical and/or emotional changes in their bodies, and to initiate or develop safe, meaningful and healthy relationships.

Originally designed as a curriculum that provided benefit to young children and adolescents with a form of autism or other pervasive developmental disorder, over the years our curriculum has been used to teach healthy habits to elementary school students and relationship development to young adults in post-secondary or vocational settings. Those include and are not limited to young adults who face:

  • A Behavioral or a Mental Health Disorder
  • Emotional Disturbance
  • Global Developmental Delay
  • Intellectual Disabilities
  • Juvenile Deliquency
  • Social Pragmatic Disorder

Whatever an individual’s age or challenge may be, data collected and outcomes measured by our team show improvement within all three general areas upon completion of the coursework. Some of those outcomes include, and are by no means limited to:

  • Practicing healthy hygiene habits (daily showers, proper tooth brushing, bedroom organization)
  • Understanding the difference between a friend, an acquaintance and a bully
  • How to use social media safely and appropriately
  • Engaging in small talk and when to use private talk
  • Respecting personal space and social boundaries
  • Perceiving appropriate physical affection for different relationships

An old proverb says “there is no harm in asking” – and we wholeheartedly agree! If you aren’t sure if the Healthy Relationships Curriculum is right for your classroom, group or practice, we are here to answer those questions for you. Click on the Contact Us page to request a sample packet, ask a question, or to schedule a presentation for your team. When you schedule a presentation with us before 4/30/18, your team will qualify for our “Healthy New Year” offer and can earn a curriculum binder for FREE with any purchase of the starter pack and license. The time to ask questions is now!

When is the “Right Time” to Introduce HRC?

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Who benefits from the Healthy Relationships Curriculum? When should a school or organization begin to introduce content from the curriculum to youth? These are two common questions that our team are asked frequently, and we are addressing one of them in today’s blog post to help the community better understand the “when” of implementation.

Is there a “right answer?” Is there a “concrete answer?” In our experience, there is no magic number and there is no “right time!” This curriculum – with 37 comprehensive and lessons across three units – uses adaptable visual lessons accompanied by 35 video demonstrations, opportunities for role-playing, takeaway materials to facilitate conversations and generalization in the home, and tools that measure outcomes and progress.

Suggested content by age group is as follows:

Elementary School – Hygiene, Privacy, Types of Relationships, Simple Communication Styles

Middle School – Elementary School Topics + Puberty, Social Media, Small Talk, Personal Boundaries, Consequences to Breaking Social Norms, and Building Significant Friendships

High School – Elementary and Middle School Topics + Job Readiness and Life After High School, Developing Personal Relationships and Dating, Understanding Their Bodies, Complex Communication Styles, Navigating the World Around Them

Though we believe that there is no magic number or right time, what we do believe is that there is value is introducing the curriculum at an early age to build upon skills each year as children grow. As individuals who have autism or a developmental disability reach transition age, there is a dire need for them to be armed with information to initiate and sustain healthy relationships to become strong self-advocates. Adolescents and young adults with such diagnoses thrive on repetition to learn and retain knowledge, and therefore would benefit from having the opportunity to build on their skills each year. However, given how adaptable these lessons are, we want to also stress and remind you that we believe it is never too late to introduce the curriculum. It is never, ever too late to learn, nor is it ever too late to promote autonomy and achieve ultimate success.

In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment. If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.”

Ready to “do something” for the population you serve? Contact Us and request a sample packet, or schedule a presentation for your team. See if the Healthy Relationships Curriculum is right for you!