Two Great Prairie AEA staff members have developed a project for emotional regulation instruction in Mediapolis Community School District.
Emily Borrison, a speech-language pathologist, and Ashley Bartenhagen, a school social worker, have worked together to develop a unique project that integrates communication and instruction in emotional regulation for a classroom of general education and special education students, including those on the autism spectrum. This project supports Mediapolis Elementary's social-emotional curriculum and initiatives.
Over the course of five weeks, Borrison and Bartenhagen have met with students twice a week to teach them how to recognize emotions in themselves and others. The Project Core vocabulary has also been integrated into the instruction to aid students who are not yet verbal in communicating with each other. The pair used music, stories, hands-on activities, and video modeling to support the instruction.
The project aims to better connect with students who have significant disabilities and provide them with opportunities to interact with their classmates, learn functional language skills, and practice communication with teachers and associates in a structured environment.