Posts Tagged ‘parent advocate’
Five Things Every Parent of Kids with Special Needs Should Hear
Are you walking into a new world of special needs parenting for the first time? Are you a few years in and finding things hard to manage right now? Or are you the parent who has walked this path and is now looking ahead at what services are there for your child’s future? Here are some gems of advice that I have received from others who have walked this path alongside me, before me, and some of my own. Advocacy Can Come in Many Forms If you are the loud…
Read MoreDo You See Us?
Do you see us? We are the parents who have always parented in an altered universe, and now we are being asked to live in yet another altered universe with no end in sight. Do you see us? We are the parents whose children highly depend on structure and routine to feel secure and safe and less anxious. We are the ones who need a multitude of people to support our child’s ability to learn, to play, to speak, to toilet, to eat, to walk, and to participate in the…
Read MoreA Letter to “Those Special Education Parents”
Dear “Those Special Education Parents”, You may know who you are and you may not. You’re the parents that previous teachers warn the following teacher about before transition IEP meetings or in emails about an upcoming move to a different school. Administrators are aware of you too and they attend meetings that you’ll be at, even if their attendance is not required. And why have you received the label of “those Special Education Parents?” Because you advocate for the services your child deserves. Earlier this year, I had an IEP…
Read MoreAs Parents, We Need to Start a Conversation About Autism
I read an article today about autism. It said children with autism most likely won’t show affection. They won’t need affection. They won’t understand emotion. They won’t have empathy or sympathy. Then I went onto read an article about an autistic boy that attacked his teacher. I noticed no one asked why. The child was labeled as a monster. No one questioned the school. Instead, it labeled the seven-year-old boy as autistic. I heard words like aggressive. Angry. And the police were called. I let myself read another article about…
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