The Next Big Thing

As the school year started, I spent time thinking about the trends in special education. To be specific, I was thinking about how certain diagnoses become the de rigueur diagnosis; it seems like everyone is seeking the diagnosis during each evaluation. During 90's, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) was diagnosis that everyone was getting, and still is. Last decade, we saw an increase in students getting a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and those continue to grow. Some figures estimate that 1 out of 160 children born have Autism. Now as we move into the '10s, there is a diagnosis that has gotten some press recently and I predict it will increase in prevalence. We'll be talking about over the next decade.

Drum roll....

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This will impact schools in the coming years, especially as parents and physicians become more aware of the symptoms and implications of having the disability. The media and sports have become more aware of it. Concussions are now a major concern for the NFL and the NCAA. This will trickle down to high schools, junior high schools, and Pop Warner football in the coming years, if not sooner. Also, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to more soldiers returning with TBI and doctors are now correctly diagnosing it. Before, it was thought to be PTSD, but doctors are starting to see the subtle differences. One distinction is the cognitive impairment that results from TBI. This will be a big diagnosis, and I expect school psychologists will be dealing with it more in the coming years.

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School Psychologists in Pop Culture 2 - "Parenthood"

I happened to watch the premiere of "Parenthood", the new NBC drama airing on Tuesdays. Click here to see the premiere episode. It's an interesting show about the trials and tribulations of being a parent. But I'm not a tv critic, I'm a school psychologist. I won't spoil the plot, but there is a moment in the episode where a child gets into trouble at school and the administrators suggest that the child may need more than just discipline to address his behavior. When they make the suggestion, they refer to the "educational therapist." Then they mention an evaluation to determine what would work best. That's when it hit me: "Hey wait a minute, they're talking about a school psychologist." But I had to wonder why they used the term educational therapist. Is school psychologist still too esoteric for people to understand. Educational therapist sounds like a possible job title if this didn't recently happen. I see this as a missed opportunity for our profession. They should have been consulting a school psychologist!

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School Psychologist vs. State Assessment

It's that time of year again. The time of year when teachers get depressed, children freak out, and my principal becomes a woman obsessed with security: it's the Annual Statewide Standardized Assessment. I've been neck deep in test manuals, test protocols, and number 2 pencils. Whenever I get into Annual Statewide Standardized Assessment (ASSA*) mode, I can't help but reminisce about the SAT, GRE, and Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) Exam. The last moments in my life when I would have to take such a monumental test. Now our students take high-stakes tests from 3rd grade into high school.

I ran into one of my old professors today and I was telling her how busy I am this time of year because of ASSA. I told her that other SP's in my district are busy as well. She started to go into this diatribe about what my role should be and that I shouldn't be doing this. Well, what does she expect me to do. First of all, the entire building shuts down because of testing. From 9:00 to noon, there is a test going on in one of the grade levels. During this stressful time, my caseload is off limits. I'm not giving anyone IQ tests during this time. I'm not pulling kids for counseling. I barely see my students during the month of March because they are way too busy. So what am I supposed to do during this time. Did I mention that there is also the strong possibility that I lose my office during testing? We have so many students that need accommodations and modifications during the test that every available room is being used. Every conceivable space is being used so even if I'm not playing an administrative role in this, I would be involved as a proctor.

The level of test security to prevent cheating is pretty serious. The test booklets are kept in locked office. But it's not the security beforehand that's suspect, it the security during the test. It's considered a security breach if: you write down test questions that you happened to see on the test, talk about test questions that you saw on the test, leave a test booklet unattended, lose a test booklet, and if you take a look at test booklets before testing begins, to name a few.

I was discussing this with my intern and we talked about how school psychologists make the most sense as being the person in charge of this. We, more than anyone else, understand the importance of test security and test administration. Also, in this age of high stakes testing, many schools are being investigated for allegations of cheating. Teachers are strongly invested in how their students perform, and if they depend on how well their students perform, then one can understand the lure of cheating. The same goes for the principal. When schools get recognized for improving test scores, the principal and teachers get the accolades. No one goes around congratulating the school psychologist. Therefore, having me in charge of the test booklets before they are distributed makes sense, it's one more layer of security. I considered the thought of having K-2 teachers handle the test booklets, but it would be too tempting to crack one open and see what questions are inside. Who wouldn't want to take a peek to see if what they have been teaching is relevant to what kids will be tested on in a matter of years? Well, it goes back to the SP being in charge. And I don't mind. Besides what else would I be doing for the next 2 weeks.

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Jury Duty

I was summoned for jury duty and I had heard that most lawyers don't like having psychologists as jurors. I'm not sure how true that is, but I was wondering if anyone else has heard this? Is it true?

The process is excruciating. I had to report by 8 AM but then we didn't get started until 10 AM. There was a humorous orientation by an assistant clerk. He must have done the speech hundreds of times, so he must have to spice it up a bit so that he doesn't fall asleep. Everyone definitely listened because his voice was very entertaining. Think game show prize announcer, e.g. Jack Pardo.

I couldn't help but think about how I was going to get out of jury duty. It's sad that I am a sensible and knowledgeable person, perfect for a jury, yet I don't want to be inconvenienced. So many people feel this way. If most people hate the idea of jury duty and do what they can to get out of it, then most juries are comprised of disgruntled people that couldn't get out of it and those who have nothing better to do. This may explain some of the unbelievable acquittals that have occurred in the past, i.e. O.J., Robert Blake, etc. The assistant clerk brought up civic duty and involvement in government. He brought up the issues and protests in Iran and I felt guilty for about a minute, and then I remembered that I enjoy having the summer off.

In the end I was not selected. They found enough jurors for the trial. Summer's back on.

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School Psychologists and Pop Culture

I don't have HBO, I can't afford it. So there are many shows that have entered the pop culture Zeitgeist that I never got to experience the first time around: The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, The Wire, etc. Nonetheless, I just started watching The Sopranos on DVD. Season 1, Episode 7 titled "Down Under"featured a school psychologist. Anthony Jr. stole communion wine and showed up at school drunk. He was suspended from school and the principal decided that he should be evaluated by the school psychologist for ADD. The first thing I noticed was that this Catholic school had its own school psychologist. Impressive, but likely, I don't know. There were a lot of things in the episode that wouldn't be legal now. I'm not sure if it's a reflection of the time since it was 10 years ago (1999), a depiction of special education identification in private/parochial schools, or poetic license. First, the principal and the school psychologist strong-armed Tony and Carmela into the evaluation. I don't remember seeing them sign a consent for the evaluation. The second thing was the lack of a PPT. The only person doing the eval was the school psychologist, but I can personally attest to being the only person doing an eval, this happens when I do outside evals for my district. But this has only happened with re-evaluations. An initial would require a lot more evaluators, including school nurse, social worker (if available) and speech and language.

There was a part of the episode where they showed the evaluation. In the scene, Anthony was completing a projectives exercise. He was looking at pictures and had to describe what he thought about them. My first reaction was, "What test is that?" then I remembered that for test security they wouldn't be able to show an actual test. I thought the school psychologist's demeanor was dead-on. Even his noncommital speech about the "possibility" of having ADD was classic. I think it was interesting how the different Soprano family members kept mistaking the school psychologist for a psychiatrist. He was introduced with the title of doctor, but somehow everyone turned him into a psychiatrist. All in all, it was a decent depiction of what we do.

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Unappreciated?

Today I went to a workshop with school psychologists and social workers and someone brought up how we are unappreciated. The social worker complained about how she has done numerous social-emotional learning classroom lessons throughout the years and not once has a teacher or parent thanked her for doing so. This struck me as odd because I wouldn't expect to be thanked. It's not that I expect people not to pay attention to some of the things that I do, like classroom lessons, it's that I don't expect them to pay attention to it. (If you read the last sentence carefully, it make sense.) I've always considered this to be a thankless job. I don't need anyone to acknowledge it, and I don't expect them to. I have a feeling that if I were to wait for some acknowledgment for all that I do for kids, I would be waiting for an eternity.

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School Psychologist vs. Social Worker

I was going to post about something that happened today, but then I remembered something that happened yesterday.

It's one thing to describe what it is that I do exactly in my school, it's another to describe how it's different from what another professional does when the duties tend to overlap. At work, someone asked me what was the difference between a school psychologist and a social worker. I was kind of thrown by that question because a lot of what we do in the building tends to overlap. Everyone knows that when a kid is having a rough time in class it's either me or the social worker that shows up. There are differences: The training is different, I had to go beyond my Master's to get a specialist's degree. Social workers tend to stop at the Master's of Social Work (MSW). My internship existed solely within schools. Social work students complete their internships in schools, hospitals, counseling centers, etc. My training deals more with cognition and behavior and I have more exposure to mental disorders. Social Workers focus more on social aspects of a child's life. They are more experienced in integrating family and school. My social worker is more aware of resources that exist in communities for families than I will ever be. I'm slowly becoming acquainted with the different resources that are available but her knowledge of what is out there is pretty extensive. We both meet with children and provide counseling, her counseling tends to focus more on social skills while my counseling may fall under more cognitive and academic tasks such as changing a child's self-perception, improving their organization skills, and making them more self-aware of their actions in the classroom. Of course, the social worker could work on these skills as well, just as I could work with a child on social skills-those things tend to overlap. Finally I added that I could give IQ tests and I was the only person in the building qualified to do so. That piqued everyone's interest.

Before I knew it I was peppered with requests from the teachers standing around to test their IQs. I told them that I wouldn't do it, and there was nothing they could do to convince me otherwise. I tried to explain how obsessive people can become when it comes to IQ. One teacher was willing to pay me, but I knew that it wasn't worth it. I remember being in my program and trying to find test subjects to practice administering IQ tests. Some people could handle it because they knew that they were just helping me out. Others took it too seriously, even though my methods were flawed back then, making some parts of the test invalid. I also tried to tell them that people can become obsessed with their "weaknesses" and the last thing I want are depressed teachers because they weren't as "smart" as they thought they were. After they kept whining and asking me why I wouldn't do it, one teacher chimed in saying "Jut look at how you're acting now and he hasn't even given you a test yet." That seemed to work for now.

I am thankful for having a knowledgeable social worker, it takes some of the pressure off me from having to know all of the answers. That's a good thing, since I find myself searching for those answers every day.


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