School Psychologist
Welcome to Mrs. Thevenin's webpage!
Check me out on Twitter (@Aldenschpsych)& Instagram (Alden School Psych)
My name is Heather Thevenin and I am the school psychologist at Alden School. I started my career as a school psychologist in 2002, spending a year in Marshfield Public Schools before coming to Alden and Chandler Schools. I have worked at Alden since 2003, and originally shared my time between Alden and the Integrated Preschool at Chandler. While I absolutely loved spending time with preschoolers and their families, after three years, I was happy to have a chance to be full time at Alden School.
I'm often asked, "What is a school psychologist?" This isn't a simple question to answer because there are so many different things that we do.
For more information, please check out the National School Psychologist Association (NASP) website! While you are there, click on the link toward the top of the page for Families and check out some other helpful links for parents and educators. http://http://www.nasponline.org/about_sp/who-are-school-psychologists.aspx
The best way to reach me is by email, as I tend to check it on a regular basis throughout the day.
Heather Thevenin, M.Ed., C.A.G.S.
School Psychologist
School Psychology Services include:
Assessments for special education (cognitive, social, behavioral, emotional)
Social skills groups (short-term or on-going)
Counseling for students (individual & group, short- or long-term)
Consultation with teachers and parents
Behavioral supports and plans
Topics covered in lunch groups or whole group lessons may include:
Conversation skills Including:
Eye contact
Showing interest
Follow up questions/comments
Active listening
Maintaining topic
Social Thinking (Expected/unexpected behaviors)
Conflict resolution
Bullying (what it is and how to deal with it as a target or bystander)
Managing frustration/stress (all topics in school including social and academic)
Self-advocacy
Online gaming/internet safety
Helpful Links
William James Interface Referral Service
The Duxbury Public Schools and the Town of Duxbury are pleased to offer the following free service to all Duxbury residents. INTERFACE Referral Service is a mental health resource and referral Helpline available Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm. If you'd like to learn more about INTERFACE, please visit their website.
Dr. Ross Greene's Collaborative & Proactive Problem Solving Approach
This site contains an abundance of information and free videos. Resources are available for collaborative problem solving and team resources for plan development.
National Association of School Psychologists
Helpful information and links for families
This a helpful search engine to seek out a therapist on the South Shore.
Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, coined the term Social Thinking®...check out her website for great tips for promoting social skills
Evaluation Process
Your child is being evaluated, what should you expect?
Students may be referred to the special education process at some point in their education. Referrals may come from a variety of sources, but the purpose of the evaluation is to look into an area of suspected disability through testing. The testing process may take up to 45 school days to evaluate and meet as a team to discuss the results. A team is defined by the parents/guardians, the student's classroom teacher, a special educator, and other related professionals that have completed evaluations or have information to add about the child's programming, such as a reading specialist.
Disability awareness
Alden School offers a diverse learning community. We have all types of learners here! At times, students may have questions about why another student has a person with him or her, or why they may leave the class to see other adults during the school day. Other students may need support understanding a their own disability.
ADHD:
Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD) - A lot of great resources within this website. CHADD - Understanding ADHD
Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD
Let Me Be Your Camera - Understanding ADHD (2 minute video)
The first 3 minutes of this video gives people an idea of what it's like being a child with ADHD at school. The remaining portion video endorses a program I'm not familiar with, but has an interest approach to treating ADHD.
Glimpse into ADHD ADHD and Emotional Regulation - this video is a bit long, but provides a lot of information about how ADHD affects emotional regulation.ADHD & Emotional Regulation
Down Syndrome:Just Like You -Down Syndrome
Autism:Just Like You - Autism
Amazing Things Happen (not a Just like you video, but a great way to explain Autism to kids)
Diabetes:Just Like You - Diabetes
Cancer:Just Like You - Cancer
Facial Abnormalities:Just Like You - Facial Abnormalities
Just Like You is a non-profit organization that has created videos to support disability awareness, that help us all to understand these conditions better. With understanding comes the ability to be a better friend. "When you know better, you do better."
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TIP LINE
Alden School
75 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA 02332
781-934-7630
Bullying Resources
Using Literature to address Bullying
Trudy Ludwig has written many outstanding books that promote various social skills and address bullying.
http://www.trudyludwig.com/
Elizabeth Englander, PhD, founder of Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) - Resources on Bullying
https://www.englanderelizabeth.com/downloads
Guide to Bullying Prevention
A site dedicated to educating people about bullying behavior, as well as numerous resources for parents and teachers. http://www.aaastateofplay.com/guide-to-bullying-prevention/
Not My Kid
A webstie inpiring positive life choices includes a section about bullying, what it is, and statistics related to bullying behavior. Not My Kid - Bullying
Grief Resources
Concepts of Death From the Coalation to Support Grieving Students - information related to the concepts surrounding death and how to support children.
Helping Your Child Deal With Death How much kids can understand about death depends largely on their age, life experiences, and personality. But there are a few important points to remember in all cases.
When Grief/Loss Hits Close to Home
Tips for caregivers
Helping Students Cope With Grief From the MSWDegrees.org website, helpful information for teachers and families.
Addressing Grief - Tips for Teachers and Administrators Helpful information for teachers and others working with children
Joanna's Place It is the mission of Joanna’s Place to provide support for children in crisis and give them constructive ways to deal with life’s unexpected and stressful changes – to encourage resilience, strength, and sensitivity and to prevent the problems that can arise when feelings are denied or remain unresolved.
The purpose of Joanna’s Place is to provide free services to children and their families so they have access to the support they need, when they need it most. Grief Interventions for Children with ADHD
Helping Kids Deal With Bereavement This link includes various tips on how to help a child through the bereavement process.
Book list for helping children suffering from loss or trauma Alden School has some of these books here in our school psychologist and school counselor offices.
Growth Mindset
What is it? An idea that a good attitude, hard work and effort are directly linked to success. Research completed by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. and Lisa Sorich Blackwell, Ph.D. found that this positive attitude is linked to academic success. The Star Wars fan in me appreciates this video clip on this link. It is a good example of fixed vs. growth mindset in the interaction between Luke and Yoda.
http://www.stepitup2thrive.org/mindset/group-lessons/mindset-lesson-one/
Here is another reference to growth and fixed mindset.
http://teacherpaulp.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/mindset-jedi-edition-july2014challenge/?crlt.pid=camp.UtNHGHTvYR2B&crlt.pid=camp.mJ67y45jaHPw
In groups, I have read and done an activity using the book, The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires.