Happy May! What an amazing 22-23 school year! Our students have demonstrated an incredible amount of dedication, hard work and have celebrated many accomplishments this year. I continue to be thankful for our staff that has worked tirelessly to serve the needs of each individual student. Seeing happy and engaged students as they learn, is truly the best! Thank you for your support of our staff and for sharing your students with us each and every day! As we close out the school year, I encourage you to celebrate and share the success of your child. Our students, families and staff are what makes LISD the best place to be!
Have a wonderful summer!
Executive Director of Special Programs and Services
TEA Stakeholder Survey
Upcoming Family Education Events
- Tuesday, May 9th - The PAC General Meeting (LEO Opportunity Center)
- Thursday, May 11th - Parent Support Group (Zoom)
- Friday, May 19th - Sensory Friendly Family Movie Night (Leander High School)
Check out the Parent Meeting Archive for all past family presentations.
Tips for a Low Stress Summer
Step 1: Develop a routine for what the weeks and days may look like. Expected routines will help to relieve stress and possible anxiety about changes.
- Consider visual schedules and to-do list to help your child develop independence with routines
- Build in unstructured time for play and creativity. Remember to have fun!
- Utilize summer sensory stations around the house
- Add in some light learning to help combat Summer Slide
Step 2: Make a plan for media use and screen time. Consider your values and lifestyle to make a family plan for screen time
Step 3: Plan in advance for how to address unexpected behavior. Processing the situation with your child will help to reflect on what happened, how they feel about it, and help them develop some alternative steps to take.
- Example Behavior Reflection Questions:
- What happened?
- What choice did you make?
- How did that go for you?
- What are two things you could do next time?
- How can I help you?
- Utilize How Big is My Problem pintables
- Review the Behavior at Home parent presentation to learn about consistent responses, holding the demand, natural and logical consequences, and controlled choices
Summer Camps
Are you still trying to figure out ways to engage your students over the summer? Check out the 2023 Recreation & Camp Guide for Students with Special Needs. This guide is alphabetized and covers all of our surrounding areas. There are daily programs, specialty programs, and overnight camps listed inside. If you have any questions, please contact the program directly. We have copies of the guide in English and Spanish.
Thinkery is now hosting a camp site at Camacho Elementary! Click here to learn more.
Mathematical Thinking
Reading Nook
In order to help combat the “Summer Slide,” Leander ISD encourages all students and parents to continue reading all year long. This summer our students will continue to have access to books through SORA digital library, little free libraries, free feeding sites and your local public libraries. Bookelicious is a great tool for getting your student invested in reading for fun.
This month's Supporting Young Reader's Newsletters focus on compound words, creating new words by deleting ending sounds, fiction vs. non fiction, and improving reading comprehension through discussions about the story.
Elements of Self-Determination
Our Transition and Autism Grant teams have partnered to create the 9 Elements of Self-Determination posters. You can print these posters and hang them around the house as reminders of the skills needed to live a self-determined life! This month's skill is Self-Efficacy. Self-Efficacy is belief in one’s own ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish specific tasks. This skill utilizes the tools learned in all of the previous self-determination skills. Self-Efficacy is also about learning to fail forward and knowing your strengths and weaknesses. To learn ways to encourage self-efficacy view the flyer of the month.
Transition Planning
One of our commonly asked questions is 'How can I prepare my child for a smooth transition to a new school or program?'
Here are a few tools to help the transition process:
- Check the campus website for campus tours, welcome events, open houses, campus visits, etc. Reach out to the campus administration to arrange a tour by a staff member who the student will be working with at their new school.
- Person-Centered Planning Transition Tools are student-centered processes to support higher independence and self-determination that are helpful at any age.
- Supporting Early Childhood Transitions is an invaluable resource to support families as they work to build independence and self-determination skills in our early childhood grade students.
- The transition to adulthood is complex. Planning for further education, employment, adult living skills, transportation, community integration, and social skills are all areas to focus on with any student, graduating or staying for 18+ Transition Services.
- Independent Living Checklist – created by College Living Experience to support the smooth transition to adulthood with the skills needed to manage adult life as independently as possible
- Post-Secondary Education options that are disability-specific are always an option. Take a look at the Think College website and information specific to the Austin/Cedar Park/Leander area.
Our Special Programs team has created the Commonly Asked Questions. The Commonly Asked Questions explore all of these questions and more! Answers may change depending on the age of your child. It's never too early to check it out. We also have an interactive version that can be found in the Special Programs Handbook.
