Research in its most basic definition is an organized investigation to discover facts or establish a theory. With regards to children, research can range from intense studies that include generations of data to the most basic of observations that happen daily within the classroom. It is the later that I have recently had a great experience with.
My husband and I have a seven year old little boy who we will call “AJ”. AJ is a bright child with a very sensitive heart. He has always been very big for his age consistently topping or exceeding the growth charts at each doctor’s appointment. He loves anything all things physical, especially if there is a ball involved. However, he is not without his challenges. The one area he struggles with is language. When he was in preschool we went through the Child Find program and had him assessed for the possibility of a language delay. We found out that AJ seems to process language just a bit slower than others. When things move too quickly his inability to effectively process or communicate has often led to physical outbursts. He gets frustrated or angry and then acts out. Because of his size these outburst can not only be physically dangerous for those around him but emotionally as well. They tend to frighten the other children, which in turn effects his social and emotional development. Since his preschool years he has been seeing a SLP (speech language pathologist) and has made huge leaps and bounds in his ability to effectively communicate. Last year when he started 1stgrade he was placed in a classroom with a teacher who provided him with the structure and problem solving strategies that he needs but who consistently looked at his outbursts as a high spirited horse that needed to be broken. She believed that his actions were getting in the way of his academic success and if he could learn to control his temper, he would find success. They spent a lot of time focusing on his behavior and he learned how to slide by with regards to the academics.
When he started 2nd grade this year however, his test scores were still well below the national average and with the increased focus on reading at this level, he was unable to complete many of the independent tasks that were required of him. Thankfully his teacher is a great researcher. She took in all the information from his former teachers, SLP and us and then took the time to watch him. She made notes of when he would get the most frustrated, what got him revved up, what was effective in bringing him back down and how the whole process affected him both socially and emotionally. Within a few days she was able to conclude that it is when the classroom learning gets too challenging for him that he acts out in anger. It is the academics that were causing a problem with the behavior not the other way around. We were able to set up a daily dose of specialized focused instruction that covers reading and writing while still spending the majority of his day in his class with his peers. He has made great strides in spelling and sight words already and no longer looks at reading as impossible task.
Between this teachers ability to research on behalf of one child and all the research others have done on the benefits of inclusion, our family has been very positively affected by research done with and on behalf of children.
