06 November 2007

"FLK"

yesterday in class, we talked a little bit about the term "flk", or "funny lookin' kid".
in our discussion, i was a bit confused, and i think that i mislead a few people in how this term might be used.
last night, i discussed this book, and, in specific, this part of the book with my my mom, a speech and language pathologist who works with children birth-3.
In talking about the term FLK, it is a term that is used ear-to-ear. If it is ever written it is on a SOAP, which is a form that most special educators will use in their own filing.
A SOAP form consists of four parts of the evaluation:
    • S: Subjective: this is what the person conducting the evaluation SAW, it is subjective (based on opinion), this could include various things including "FLK" or "ASD?" (ASD indicates autism spectrum disorder - a question mark would indicate that it isn't a guarentee, but it is possible), how the child was, the general feelings, etc.... I asked my mom why "FLK" might be used, and she indicated that quite often if something is wrong on the outside, then something might be wrong on the inside. It's not a negative term, persay, its something that you can look back on so that the next time you see a child, you can remember more about them. My mom also indicated that this is something that even on SOAPs is written very small and light.
    • O: Objective: goals of measurable and observable behavior : should relate to IEP goals. This would be where you would put what you want to see.
    • A: Assessment: observable behavior that you can measure. This would be where you would put the things that the child did that was measurable. Examples could include mimicked the "ou" sound, walked, stood up, signed the ASL sign for "bubbles"
    • P: Plan: this is what your plan is to do at either the next meeting or how you are going to reach your goals.
Further, in doing evals, many districts take pictures of the kids to put in the file. This allows for the next group that works with any given student knows who they are going to be working with. SOAPs are used, like i said, for personal records. they are something to look back on and refer to when you are planning days, working on IEPs, and talking to other people who work with the child.
I hope this helps to clear this up a little bit more.
Sorry for any confusion i caused.

2 comments:

Laura said...

When we were talking about the use of this term in class I was really surprised. I understand what you're saying about how this term is pretty much only used from ear to ear; however, I still think it is kind of disturbing and kind of ironic. I think it is disturbing because I don't think that any child should be called funny looking. The reason I think it is ironic goes back to the discussion we had the other week when we were talking about disabilities. Someone brought up the fact that in regards to Autism, children should not be labeled as Autistic children. Instead, they should be referred to as a child with Autism. I am a child development major and this rings true at our preschool. We are not allowed to refer to a child as Autistic. Therefore, I think it is weird that it is ok to label a child FLK even if you are just saying it to another teacher.

Miss Stephanie said...

i understand what you are saying, but are you also indicating that if you are talking about a child who is beautiful that you would say it is a child who is beautiful, not a beautiful child.
idk.
i guess it just depends.