Do You Trust Your Instinct?

It is critical to understand how special education has evolved over the last few decades.  As adults, you may recall that the most severe students would either attend a “special school” or were placed in a “special class.”  This strategy would prevent parents from pursuing help or assistance for their children.  In reality, this shouldn’t be a barrier for our students.  Ultimately, we need to adjust our lens to focus on making students successful.

I find it unacceptable when I hear stories of families being told their child is “not failing” so there is no need for Special Education services.  Why should failure dictate need?  Another scenario that pains me, is when parents have been requesting an evaluation for years and get the runaround from the school.  It’s these students who come to hate school and ultimately do fail because we failed to adjust our lens.  Examples like these are the reason I went into educational consulting, to advocate for students and parents who continuously have barriers to success placed in front of them.  

An example of what can happen when parents have the confidence to push the envelope can be found in the story of a struggling fourth-grader who was classified as having a Speech and Language disability.  The student did have articulation concerns, but there was more to her story.  She was found to have major gaps or splinter skills where her math skills were amazing but her reading and spelling were an enormous barrier.  Her parents didn’t take things at face value, advocating hard and sourcing assistance from outside the school.  At this point, she was diagnosed with dyslexia and as a result, the committee reviewed and adjusted her services.  School became a completely different experience for her.  Watching her confidence soar made the journey worthwhile!

Trust your instinct when things do not feel right or acceptable!

#standreadytosupport