How to Write a Communication Book Entry

Health professionals get special training on writing chart entries and reports, but educators and support staff aren't always taught how to write in a communication book. Are you a teacher or integration aide faced with this task, and unsure how to go about it? Are you the parent of a special needs student, and not currently getting the information from school you would like to have? If so, this article is for you!

General guidelines for communicating: Be consistent
Please write to us each day, so we know how things are going at school. If you are away from school, please leave instructions for replacements to write too. The first time anyone writes in the book, it's helpful if they introduce themselves. Please print out your name (signatures can be tough to decipher!) and tell us how you would like our child to address you. This allows us to use that name when we talk about you with him at home.

General guidelines for communicating: Be concrete
"Johnny had a good day," is quick to write and it sounds like a reassuring message to give parents. But please tell us why you think that. Parents of special needs students appreciate examples of what went well - and what didn't go so well too! Our child isn't always able to tell us about his school day, so we rely on you to tell us for him.

General guidelines for communicating: Be timely
If there has been a problem or incident, or if you are expecting a change, please tell us as soon as possible. This is especially important if there is a change in our child's behaviour (even a good one!) or in the staff he sees during the school day. If you are expecting to be absent, it would be nice to know ahead of time so we can reassure our child you will be back soon. If you will be taking a longer leave, please let us know as soon as you can. Special needs students often need extra help dealing with change, and this can take time in the case of a major change.

General guidelines for communicating: Ask parents what we think
Please ask for our ideas, help and feedback. We like to give our input about what and how you teach our special needs child. We would like the school to use the same vocabulary we do in referring to things like body parts, rooms of a house, family members, etc. This reduces confusion, especially for a child with intellectual delays or communication difficulties. We may also have solutions to some of the problems you encounter. If not, at least we can put our heads together and brainstorm some possibilities. This isn't always cause to have a face to face meeting, but do feel free to mention the little details in your daily communication.

What to write in a communication book: School routines
Please tell us when our special needs student has gym, art, music, library or other special classes. It also helps to let us know if special items (e.g. gym uniform, painting smock) are required, and when library books or assignments are due. And please, if there was an event like a fire drill or assembly that changed our child's routine in some way, let us know how that went. Changes in routine can be especially difficult for kids on the autism spectrum.

What to write in a communication book: Work completed
It's nice to know what kind of skills our special needs student is working on each day, and to have feedback on how it's going. If there is homework or there are things we can do at home to help, please let us know!

What to write in a communication book: Socialization
We like to know if our special needs child has made a new friend, if he is trying out a new social skill, or maybe just getting more involved with his peers at recess. If he is having trouble with his peers in any way, please tell us about that too.

What to write in a communication book: Interests and abilities
Our special needs student may show different likes and dislikes at school than he does at home. He may develop special interests at school because you have tools or equipment we do not. Please let us know occasionally about the things our child likes and is good at. We may want to provide an outlet for those interests at home too. It also helps if you tell us about self-help skills. Sometimes our child does things at school that we haven't seen him do at home. We want to challenge him and help him grow. If he can zip his jacket or tie his shoe laces at school, he can certainly do it at home too. Please let us know what he can do, so we can avoid doing those things for him. Thanks!