The time we are upon has given us the most effective way to PREVENT the dreaded CORONAVIRUS.
Wait for it...
At the press conference given on Saturday with Mayor Bill De Blasio, with support from Oxiris Barbot, MD, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, we got some innovating tips on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our city..our state...or you know, the world.
"New Yorkers should continue to exercise basic precautions while going about their lives: wash your hands, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing."
The gist of the message may blow your mind, make your eyes roll back, and make funny memes about how you are a trailblazer...
To get back to my point...of course I assume that people wash their hands. I make sure those around me, both children and adults, cough or sneeze into their elbows. We've all seen posters, and probably laughed at them: "Haha what FOOL doesn't know how to wash their hands?" we chuckle as we walk by the posters.
Now I want to get to my issue. The issues that all of my fellow die-hard teachers and educators in my school are thinking about on a day to day basis with this virus floating around our area.
I work at an elementary school in the city. We have a large population of special education students in the school. Our student's disabilities range from learning disabilities, speech and language, processing disorder, adhd, autism and emotionally disturbed, along with some physical and health issues. It's an elementary school, preK-5. Is it the largest school? Nah. Are there a zillion kids? Nope. Is it still a festering hive of yuk? Yes, yes it is!
Today I was able to work in 3 different classes, and it hit me. Our special needs kids have a lot of issues, be it sensory, executive functioning, oppositional, or processing, and here is where the ever so simple task of handwashing become a bit more formidable.
Join me in the first class of the day.
It's a K class, self-contained (meaning 1 teacher 1 para and no more than 12 students with various disabilities). One child has been licking his hand and rubbing said hand on classmates. Same child then puts his hands down his butt to rub, and takes it out...AND LICKS IT AGAIN! The para and I are urging him to GET UP AND WASH YOUR HANDS!!! And he just...chilled. This is a child with Autism, and has recently begun demonstrating some defiant behaviors- you ask for something, he refuses to do it. Tell him to stop, it might never end. It took physical prompting to even get him to the sink. The para tried to make it fun by singing Happy Birthday while he washed, but he put soap on 2 seperate hands, and then, while not rubbing them together, sang Happy Birthday. A little hand over hand action, and it was as good as it was going to get.
A few desks down is another little fella with Autism. I noticed that he was blowing his nose a hekka lot, and then, ahchoooo! Snot shoots out across his desk, with a big un under his nose. It took a few to get the para to help him clean THAT up, but when told to wash his hands- that's a hard no from him. He has sensory avoidance problems, and getting him to wash them hands up in a sink where the water is too hot or too cold to his sensitive hands, and the soap has a gross texture...I believe we ended up giving him antibacterial wipes.
Next, we travel into lunch.
I have an awesome Lunch Bunch group of 8 autistic 1st graders. Today, it was nice enough to go outside and play. You know, climb all over the dangerous and death defying jungle gym. Oh, and did I mention GERM RIDDEN? When we get back from recess and into the lunch room, these young friends of mine get right in line and get their food...and start eating it...with their grimey hands. This was literally the first time I ever made this connection. There is not enough room in the bathrooms for them to go in and wash there hands...nor is there enough time. When we have regular Lunch Bunch, we go to a special land (room) we call Lego City, and I have started giving them wipes before and after they eat-not to brag, but before this outbreak even started 😉 But today...I don't even know what to say about this.
Finally, out to the playground we go for round 2, another self-contained classroom-3rd grade this time-with a para. It was fun for them to be able to play for an extra 40 minutes, and this group really needs that extra running around. Then I spot one of the youngsters pick something up. Garbage. I say "Throw that away, sir." and then he is sneakily putting it into his pocket.
No big deal until 20 minutes later, same kid finds a lollipop stick. No lolli left, just the sucked upon stick. He had the hardest time letting that go! Up until the very end, he was poking around with that ucky thing! One of the boys told him he was going to get the coronavirus...so I didn't say the word, he did!
The boys went inside (it was all boys), and went to their desks. No handwashing, no antibacterial wipes, nada.
So I would like to summarize 2 things.
1. As Commissioner Dr. Barbot and Mayor De Blasio stated, the children in our schools are LEAST AT RISK to get deathly ill from this virus that's wreaking havoc in NYC. But for some reason...I have a sneaking suspicion that they have a pretty, pretty high risk of carrying that shizz and spreading it all over the damn place! So let's think about our schools...the population of our students...the deep sanitizing 2x/week...kids who are NOT washing their hands- at least not correctly- for one reason or another...and rethink that schools MIGHT, just might, be a pretty high risk factor to be exposed to this virus (and really any other sicknesses floating around).
2. What this day's observation has shown me is that kids just might NOT be taught how to wash their hands, when to wash their hands, and when something rotting on the playground should NOT be put in your mouth! When I worked as a PreK teacher, as well as when I was in a co-teaching class of integrated students with autism and general ed., we broke down the steps to EVERYTHING WE DID, not just washing hands or using antibacterial soap or sneezing and coughing into your sleeve, but also things that we take for granted that youngsters are born knowing how to do...like walk on a line. Hang up their coats in a designated area. Teach, repeat, model over and over again everything like it's the first day in the world. It saddens me to know that such intrinsic parts of learning- real life learning, learning how to be part of a society- is down the tubes. All the early childhood classes are focused on STAYING ON THE CURRICULUM!!! Which is devastating these children in a whole different way.
I hope that we take this away after the CoronaWatch2020 fades away. Handwashing occurs every day. It's something we don't think about. Its like breathing. This is the surefire way to keep protected from the virus. However, washing your hands is something that is not intrinsic to the little ones at our school, and needs to be modeled step by step, put into a routine, supported with visuals (and perhaps a song or 2) for those who have needs different from others.
Let's turn this into something positive
Here are some visuals that can be used to teach our students how to properly wash their hands!
Wait for it...
At the press conference given on Saturday with Mayor Bill De Blasio, with support from Oxiris Barbot, MD, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, we got some innovating tips on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our city..our state...or you know, the world.
"New Yorkers should continue to exercise basic precautions while going about their lives: wash your hands, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing."
The gist of the message may blow your mind, make your eyes roll back, and make funny memes about how you are a trailblazer...
 |
| hahahahahah, you wacky fellas, you! |
To get back to my point...of course I assume that people wash their hands. I make sure those around me, both children and adults, cough or sneeze into their elbows. We've all seen posters, and probably laughed at them: "Haha what FOOL doesn't know how to wash their hands?" we chuckle as we walk by the posters.
I work at an elementary school in the city. We have a large population of special education students in the school. Our student's disabilities range from learning disabilities, speech and language, processing disorder, adhd, autism and emotionally disturbed, along with some physical and health issues. It's an elementary school, preK-5. Is it the largest school? Nah. Are there a zillion kids? Nope. Is it still a festering hive of yuk? Yes, yes it is!
Today I was able to work in 3 different classes, and it hit me. Our special needs kids have a lot of issues, be it sensory, executive functioning, oppositional, or processing, and here is where the ever so simple task of handwashing become a bit more formidable.
Join me in the first class of the day.
It's a K class, self-contained (meaning 1 teacher 1 para and no more than 12 students with various disabilities). One child has been licking his hand and rubbing said hand on classmates. Same child then puts his hands down his butt to rub, and takes it out...AND LICKS IT AGAIN! The para and I are urging him to GET UP AND WASH YOUR HANDS!!! And he just...chilled. This is a child with Autism, and has recently begun demonstrating some defiant behaviors- you ask for something, he refuses to do it. Tell him to stop, it might never end. It took physical prompting to even get him to the sink. The para tried to make it fun by singing Happy Birthday while he washed, but he put soap on 2 seperate hands, and then, while not rubbing them together, sang Happy Birthday. A little hand over hand action, and it was as good as it was going to get.
A few desks down is another little fella with Autism. I noticed that he was blowing his nose a hekka lot, and then, ahchoooo! Snot shoots out across his desk, with a big un under his nose. It took a few to get the para to help him clean THAT up, but when told to wash his hands- that's a hard no from him. He has sensory avoidance problems, and getting him to wash them hands up in a sink where the water is too hot or too cold to his sensitive hands, and the soap has a gross texture...I believe we ended up giving him antibacterial wipes.
Next, we travel into lunch.
I have an awesome Lunch Bunch group of 8 autistic 1st graders. Today, it was nice enough to go outside and play. You know, climb all over the dangerous and death defying jungle gym. Oh, and did I mention GERM RIDDEN? When we get back from recess and into the lunch room, these young friends of mine get right in line and get their food...and start eating it...with their grimey hands. This was literally the first time I ever made this connection. There is not enough room in the bathrooms for them to go in and wash there hands...nor is there enough time. When we have regular Lunch Bunch, we go to a special land (room) we call Lego City, and I have started giving them wipes before and after they eat-not to brag, but before this outbreak even started 😉 But today...I don't even know what to say about this.
Finally, out to the playground we go for round 2, another self-contained classroom-3rd grade this time-with a para. It was fun for them to be able to play for an extra 40 minutes, and this group really needs that extra running around. Then I spot one of the youngsters pick something up. Garbage. I say "Throw that away, sir." and then he is sneakily putting it into his pocket.
The boys went inside (it was all boys), and went to their desks. No handwashing, no antibacterial wipes, nada.
So I would like to summarize 2 things.
1. As Commissioner Dr. Barbot and Mayor De Blasio stated, the children in our schools are LEAST AT RISK to get deathly ill from this virus that's wreaking havoc in NYC. But for some reason...I have a sneaking suspicion that they have a pretty, pretty high risk of carrying that shizz and spreading it all over the damn place! So let's think about our schools...the population of our students...the deep sanitizing 2x/week...kids who are NOT washing their hands- at least not correctly- for one reason or another...and rethink that schools MIGHT, just might, be a pretty high risk factor to be exposed to this virus (and really any other sicknesses floating around).
2. What this day's observation has shown me is that kids just might NOT be taught how to wash their hands, when to wash their hands, and when something rotting on the playground should NOT be put in your mouth! When I worked as a PreK teacher, as well as when I was in a co-teaching class of integrated students with autism and general ed., we broke down the steps to EVERYTHING WE DID, not just washing hands or using antibacterial soap or sneezing and coughing into your sleeve, but also things that we take for granted that youngsters are born knowing how to do...like walk on a line. Hang up their coats in a designated area. Teach, repeat, model over and over again everything like it's the first day in the world. It saddens me to know that such intrinsic parts of learning- real life learning, learning how to be part of a society- is down the tubes. All the early childhood classes are focused on STAYING ON THE CURRICULUM!!! Which is devastating these children in a whole different way.
I hope that we take this away after the CoronaWatch2020 fades away. Handwashing occurs every day. It's something we don't think about. Its like breathing. This is the surefire way to keep protected from the virus. However, washing your hands is something that is not intrinsic to the little ones at our school, and needs to be modeled step by step, put into a routine, supported with visuals (and perhaps a song or 2) for those who have needs different from others.
Let's turn this into something positive
Here are some visuals that can be used to teach our students how to properly wash their hands!
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