Back to school in Nest K
Author’s Note: All quotes below about my son’s program are are from a recent article, “The ASD Nest Program” in “Teaching Exceptional Children,” a peer-reviewed journal in the special education world.
On Sept. 9, the first day of school, Brooks became an official “Nester.”
What that means is that he successfully transitioned from last year’s Intensive K, a self-contained class of six kids on the autism spectrum, to a Nest K, an integrated class with 12 students, four of them autistic. Without taking anything away from how hard Brooks worked last year and how hard his teachers and therapists worked to get him to this next level, I would be remiss not to also acknowledge the good fairy who seems to have perched herself on my little boy’s shoulders ever since his diagnosis, and who is thankfully choosing to stick around for another year.
Although my husband and I have always been philosophically inclined towards an inclusion special ed model, we also fully understand how difficult it is to implement such a model effectively. Not only do the ASD Nest folks get it right, they make it look easy.
I believe their success is a product of two key elements. Firstly, they are overwhelmingly positive: “ASD Nest staff provide reinforcement generously throughout the day by making a point to ‘catch them being good,’ responding to students’ positive behavior or attempts to engage in more appropriate behavior.” Secondly, the tenets of the Nest curriculum provide an extraordinary education not only to the autistic kids, but also to the general population. Nest principal Dolores Troy-Quinn of PS 186 in Queens explained it this way: “The Nest program has acted like a big rock that is tossed into a pond. The excellent structures and strategies learned in this program have spread to include the entire school community.”
If my husband and I had the opportunity to design a specific program for our son this year, tailored exactly to his needs, we’d ask for precisely what he’s getting. Specifically, Nest’s approach to teaching Brooks how to navigate the social landscape with typically-developing peers: “The first critical step in the process […] is identifying peers who display some mutual interest in each other. […] The teacher then facilitates the relationship by providing multiple opportunities for the children involved to interact (e.g., seating them next to one another, putting them together for paired reading, making them line partners, assigning them jointly to classroom jobs and errands).” These are the same kind of baby step strategies that have worked so well for Brooks in the past. We believe they will rescue him from the fate of always being uncomfortable and unskilled socially, and instead offer him a future full of rich friendships that he has enough confidence to pursue and maintain.
Last week, while I watched throngs of children being dismissed from school and waited patiently for Brooks to appear, I had in my mind a picture of a younger child who would come and greet me. I was taken aback by how big and tall he looked, just like his peers. And strong. He’s gotten through the first month of the new school year and all its changes with hardly a glitch.
The “Nest” part of the program’s name derives from the idea of a nurturing home. It is clearly responsible for so much of Brooks’s progress and maturity, and I look forward to another year of basking in its warmth and comfort.
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DuckyBoy’s year is off to a great start as well. His teachers totally “get” him and he is so blessed to be somewhere that practically every adult is tickled pink by their interactions with him. (If only there was a way to bottle that high of a “How lucky you are” quotient!)
Comment by janny226 — September 30, 2009 @ 10:57 am
I think it’s important to note that the Nest experience seems to be very site specific - we’re actually very disappointed in the program so far, and although I think it’s a combination of factors, from talking with other parents in other Nest programs (in other schools), I feel like many of the problems are directly on account of the school we’re in/the principal, not the theory of the Nest program. In many ways, we feel as if we were sold a bill of goods, so to speak, about Nest: we have a first year SN teacher in the classroom, who seems totally out of her element and the communication has been problematic. Unfortunately, the system is designed to give parents as little concrete information about Nest (and the specific school!) as possible, and really precludes parents making an informed choice or evaluation of the program on their own. The attitude seems to be, “You’re lucky you’re even being offered this chance, so don’t ask or expect too much.” VERY frustrating!
Comment by lmama — September 30, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
Ben is off to a great start too. We nest parents are (for the most part) a lucky bunch.
Comment by Jennifer — September 30, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
District 2 tried to sell us the same goods on NEST. I suggest you file a FOIL request for all of your childs records, including emails between the district and the school. You will not believe what you will find! You will not believe how your child is referred to!
Comment by swigg444 — September 30, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Marni,
You and Peter have so much to be proud of in choosing what has turned out to be a great match for Brooks. I look forward to many more future stories, thanks for sharing!
Comment by Denise — September 30, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
Brooks is in a very good place, he is smart,full of life and he loves to read and tell stories.He is a very special and loved child. Thanks to his parents he is on the right track to do as he wishes. BIG UP TO HIM.
Comment by Anonymous — September 30, 2009 @ 11:34 pm
I am greatly encouraged to see that the NYC DOE is trying to address issues of a very specific population through the Nest program. As someone else noted, a great deal of the program’s success has to do with the people who must implement it in their schools. Unfortunately, many principals do not want their schools to host these programs. Teachers that are hired to work with this special population often lack sufficient training to do their jobs. Additional training for the teachers, which should be provided so that these children can benefit from their new educational environment, is not made available. Principals and teachers alike should have to take a course in sensitivity training before hosting or teaching in this program. There has to be sensitivity to both the student and parent. The attitude of the school administration must be a positive one - not just that they are hosting a ‘baby-sitting’ service for children who ‘will never learn anyway’. The Nest program takes the bull by the horns and attempts to address the issues that with resolution will help the child become a productive member of society. Let’s make sure that the people who must be the guiding force as to the program’s success at the school level have the necessary training in order to help the children reach this goal.
Tzippy323
Comment by Tzippy323 — November 16, 2009 @ 8:45 am