LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The pathway to success for serving special needs students starts on the school bus. The groundwork to skillfully achieve this success was circulated during two sessions as part of the 2016 TSD Conference.
Speaker Patrick Mulick, who presented “Reinforcing Behavioral Expectations on the Bus” on Saturday, and believes the school bus to be the “ultimate portable classroom,” spoke on the reality that drivers who build a strong rapport with students aboard their buses would establish a better relationship with them.
Heather Handschin According to Mulick, who has been a life-long supporter of students and student transportation, drivers should recognize individual students as a whole person, as in getting to know them, valuing their interests and forming specific expectations for behavior during the trips to and from school.
“Drivers need to get in front of bad behavior before it happens,” said Mulick. “Often times, kids who are engaged don’t misbehave.”
By presenting simple rules to children, especially students with special needs, this will empower them for life, and through praise of good behavior, a tenet of the 5:1 lifestyle, which teaches to impart five compliments for every one negative comment, students will follow drivers, and not see them as punishers.
“Children have a hard time taking directions from people they don’t like,” said Mulick.
In the seminar “Pathways to Achieving Success as a Special Needs Transporter,” speakers P.J. Lewis and Heather Handschin continued with the success theme and stressed the importance of open communication, passion, empathy, inclusivity and some “old fashioned good luck,” said Handschlin.
P.J. LewisWhen these are successfully implemented into a transportation department, all this they all benefit the students with special needs who ride the school buses. Lewis emphasized how essential open communication is in imparting the most pertinent information to best serve students under the care of transportation department.
Lewis also underlined the need to have well-maintained vehicles and a quality staff, especially a “team that will be there everyday.”
