Common myths about Exceptional Student Education (ESE) that lead to the failure of your child's education in the public school system:
ESE teachers and school administrators are given a high level of trust. It is somewhat like the trust given to a family physician.
All ESE professionals are well trained.
ESE professionals work for the best interest of the child to have meaningful and measurable progress.
ESE has up-to-date teaching methods proven to work with your disabled child.
ESE will provide all the services your special child needs to be successful.
ESE administrators make sure Special Education programs are well supported by legislative bodies within the community.
The list above is usually what a parent believes when their child enters the ESE public school system. Many of these misconceptions are reason for a parent's inability to understand why their child is not getting the services they need. This can lead to the feeling of helplessness, frustration, anger, etc. after you begin to try to obtains services and are denied. Once you hit road block after road block, it's real easy to get angry because you feel like you can't get anywhere. So, how do you turn anger into a proactive and constructive approach? Read on.
DISPELLING THE MYTHS AND OVERCOMING THE MISCONCEPTIONS
What the parent can do to overcome these common misconceptions:
Always question the reasoning as to how and why decisions are being made for your child. An IEP meeting can be requested by the parent and held monthly to see if goals and benchmarks are being met or are accurate.
Realize that over 50% of all teachers in ESE do not have formal education in Special Education. A public school teacher’s employment file is a public records document and can be inspected by the parent.
Know that an ESE student’s success is dependant on the teacher’s ability to teach. The student or the parents are usually blamed for the student’s inability to learn. The parent can ask to see how the teacher presents material and how classroom behavior is managed. The parent can also have an outside professional observe the child in the classroom setting.
Recognize that most ESE programs are dictated by a poor philosophical value of the child’s ability to learn; not the child’s learning potential. It is never wise to “wait and see” what a special needs child will be capable of doing later. They should have adequate services to recover from developmental delays immediately.
Be aware that service increases (e.g. speech therapy) occur as the result of the threat of a lawsuit. The Florida Department of Education web site has many technical assistance papers (TAP) that clarify to public school staff what they must provide to be compliant with federal laws.
In the state of Florida, legislation routinely diminishes funding for disabled persons. Public outcry and threats of political demise increase funding for disabled children. Mandates to reduce class size were citizen driven. Legislative bills to have private insurance cover services offered by ESE have never passed.
HELP IS HERE
Start by reading the article "Emotions and Advocacy" to get an overall view of things. I'm sure you will be able to relate to what is in this article. It also contains some helpful tips to get you started.
