Minutes from June SEPTA Meeting

From our Secretary, Karen Sosnoski:

Arlington Special Ed PTA June Meeting

Syphax Education Center, 2110 Washington Blvd,  Arlington, VA

Date: June 9th 2016

Time: 7-9:00 PM

Board Member Participants:

Katherine Harris – President (Outgoing)

Caroline Levy – VP Membership (Outgoing)

Caroline Butler – Treasurer (Outgoing)

George Buzby – Assistant Treasurer (Outgoing)

Karen Sosnoski – Secretary

Maria Votsch – VP Communications

Nick Walkosak – Past President

7:00 PM—Introduction—Katherine Harris, President

• Caroline Levy will videotape the meeting for parents who couldn’t make it.
• This is the last meeting SEPTA meeting of the year. “We had an active recruiting committee, headed by Chris Waddell. Great slate of candidates for next year’s SEPTA.”

7:-08 PM—2016-2017 Officer Elections:

1. President—Caroline Levy.  All in favor.
2. Treasurer—Joe Everling. All in favor
3. Secretary—Karen Sosnoski. All in favor
4. VP Programs—Lisa Gulyn. (Faculty Member, Marymount) All in favor
5. VP Fundraising—Linda Campanelli. All in favor
6. VP Parent Resources—Janna Dressel. All in favor
7. VP Membership—Adam Johnson. (MA in SPED and a parent of typical children in APS.)  All in favor
8. VP Communications—Maria Votsch. All in favor

• Caroline Levy moved to applaud and thank Katherine.  Everyone did!

7:11 Caroline Levy—VP Membership (Outgoing), incoming President:

• Requesting membership renewals July 1. (Some automatic renewals through PayPal.)
• Caroline Levy wants to create a float for SEPTA for the parade August 20th.
• Next year, she has a lot of ideas about programming. Inclusion training, Unstuck and On Target, an APS staff member would like to present movies with a variety of speakers; we’ll continue our Reflections program; Spanish introduction to SPED; Santa back in December. Has been in contact with the Magic Paintbrush in NY, messy artistic fun for people with disabilities and their caretakers to overcome sensory issues. Hopes the leader of this will come to our program and Therapeutic Rec. Linda C. would like to add a Rock n; Roll 5K and 1K to our fundraising events.
• Introduced Adam Johnson.
• Caroline looks forward to suggestions about topics.
• If you would like to host a SEPTA meeting at your school, let Caroline know.
• One SEPTA meeting partnered with PRC, Parent Resource Center.

7:16 Kathleen Donovan—Parent Resource Center

• VA Dept. of Ed annual survey now live. Get the word out.
• Both online and mail in.

7:30 PM—Mandy Lloyd, Certified Conscious Discipline Instructor: Workshop for parents and caretakers called “Summer Survival Strategies.”

• Has been working with APS since 2007. Lot of work with VPI and PreK.
• Will be presenting 29th and 30th for Festival of the Mind (for teachers.)
• Summer Survival Strategies, her topic tonight.
• She moved from the classroom and became a Director.
• Who is here tonight?  Solicited age groups of parents’ kids by way of introduction to Conscious Discipline:
• Conscious Discipline applies to all stages and ages.
• When it comes to parenting, it is your circus and your monkeys.
• CD takes into account our skills as parents.
• Our goal is permanent behavior change.
• Looking at how whole family can change.
• Brain-based, on what we know about development.
• 7 Powers for Conscious Adults; create safety for children & others. Children need to feel valued and respected (as do adults).
• Conflict is an opportunity to learn.
• No perfect parents or children, just perfect moments.
• Safety, skill of composure, visual routines.
• Connection.
• Choices encourage children to cooperate.
• Let’s wire our brains for learning.:
• Breathe & Wish Well.
• Think about behavior kids do that’s nails on the chalkboard. Where do you feel the stress?  Then shift your thought to how much you love them. Send that love back to your children (or coworker or spouse.)
• Commitment: Are you willing?
• Ask questions or share from your experience.
• Listen with an open heart and mind.
• Respect your time and pay attention.
• 1-2-3 Let’s Do It.
• Conscious Discipline is a Parent Model.
• How do you handle stress.
• For many of us it’s a stimulus response, immediate reaction from an emotional state.
• Some externalize, some internalize emotional state.
• Coercive trap—you model the exact behavior you want to eliminate and/or reinforce behaviors that you don’t like.
• Strengthening the PAUSE between the stimulus and response is at the core of Conscious Discipline.
• Seven Powers, Seven Skills: B STAR
• Breathe deeply
• Smile—not about being happy but about quieting your alarm system
• Take a deep breath. Oxygen is brain food, lowers your heart rate.
• And
• Relax—turn off fight or flight response. Your presence is safe and calm for others.
• Optimal state for learning—low stress.
• Power of Perception: Think—Feel—Act. How I feel dictates how I feel which dictates how I act.
• Something’s about to push your button. How do you think? Crisis or challenge? See the beauty amidst the challenge. I’m safe. Keep breathing. I can handle this. 
• We will either catch their crazy or create calm. Our behavior regulates their behavior.
• First step of discipline making sure we’re rested, well fed, etc.
• Stand and stretch!
• We regulate ourselves, then give children visual strategies’ use peripheral vision for children with autism.
• Chaos is an urgent call for structure.
• Structure first, discipline second.
• M.A.P. for success. Model. Add Visuals. Practice. It doesn’t matter how old they are, it’s never a one or done. 2,000 times in context for new thing to be learned.
• Children need calendars too. Pictures are good.
• The older your child is, the more buy-in you want to have.
• What does “clean” mean to you? One mom gives pictures of what clean means.
• For older children, coming up with agreements: Is your homework done? Is there anything around the house you can do to be helpful? Have you asked some and dad for permission? When the answers to 1,2,3 are yes, you can be on your tablet or phone.
• Social skills
• Pictures are helpful.
• Write down expectations and consequences.
• Pictures—“Five more minutes to play.”
• Online resources—schedule overviews. (Will be in handout Katherine will give us.) And a website that lists fifteen different types of timers. So it’s not our voice telling us it’s time to move on.
• Think about one area/routine in your home that would benefit from structure.
• Talk about a plan for adding structure: (pictures, book, checklist, calendar.)
• Connection
• Cooperation follows connection.
• As you build connections with others build neural connections in the brain
• Our need for connection never changes! All ages…all stages.
• Connection builds cooperation and wires the brain for impulse control and willingness.
• Without connection and willingness, discipline is a chronic power struggle.
• Eye contact, touch, presence, playfulness. (Or peripheral vision or less of a touch depending on child’s triggers. Build up.)
• Oxytocin, Dopamine, and endorphins, good chemicals released from connection—Joy Juice cocktail.
• Connections form in the brain. 2,000 repetitions of connections teach new behavior.  Neuro-plasticity. The more you yell when you stress, the easier it will be for you to do it.
• Back to Basics—belonging, attend to basic needs, see the best, I love you unconditionally, calm connections, slow down, smile and have fun. www.theparentingcoach.net
• Choices encourage compliance
• Age appropriate choices—clothing, food (for young kids). Activities—you may build with blocks or draw. Compliance—you can pick up the markers or the scraps of paper.
• When to use two positive choices: Executive state equals open-ended questions. Emotional state equals two positive choices. Survival state equals assertive commands.
• Reflect on what we’ve learned…
• Skill of composure. Visual routines.
• Connection leads to cooperation.
• Offer choices when and how you can. Strengthens executive skills of decision making.
• The goal is not to eliminate conflict, but give you skills to handle conflict.
• It’s impossible to make changes without making mistakes.
• Oops, try again.
• Free resources www.consciousdiscipline.com

Caroline Levy—Final Reminder

• This entire presentation will be up on the website for members in a few days.