|
If you have a child with learning disabilities you may have heard some worrisome statistics about how badly they may do in school, how low self-esteem may be, how their bad decisions may make trouble keeping close friends and good jobs, etc. The bad news is that the statistics are consistent. The good news is that something can be done about it. The key to overcoming these problems is for you to become an effective advocate for your child and train your child to be his own advocate. The key to parent advocacy lies in three phrases: know yourself, control yourself and give yourself.
Know yourself. You need to know your strengths and weaknesses and learn about the specific disability your child has. You also need to know about special education laws and school procedures. There is abundant information on the Internet about various disabilities and effective teaching methods. No one knows your child better than you. Many web sites explain special education laws, the responsibilities of schools and the rights of parents. If you search the web, you will find acronyms and letter initials like IDEA, FAPE, LRE, IEP, and words like Section 504, Manifest Determination, Accommodations, etc. There are support groups out there that let you know that you are not alone, explain special education procedures, and help your child's school teachers AND YOU develop plans for academic success and behavior modification.
Control yourself. You will learn what will help your child and what the schools responsibilities are. You need to be assertive, consistent and polite. You have automatic credibility because no one knows or loves your child more than you. Do not give up the "moral high ground" with rudeness, name-calling, anger, accusations, etc. The wheels of bureaucracy may not move fast enough for you, but your consistent effort will keep the wheels moving forward.
Give yourself. This is the fun part. After you have learned enough to get started, find support groups and meet people that you can learn from. Soon you will be teaching others through your experiences. Get involved with the school. You will naturally network with people who are in a position to help your child. Get involved with your child's educational goals. Every year they write and revise an individual education plan (IEP). This plan reviews progress, lists accommodations to be made, and sets goals for the coming year. Too many parents put this report away until the next year's meeting. It should really be looked at regularly and reinforced at home. There are usually only a few goals on it. The schools would love to have you actively supporting and reinforcing the goals you helped to write in that IEP meeting.
As your child grows he or she can take an active part in this process also. We know that children do not always outgrow learning disabilities. These children should go to college and/or get specialized technical training-even if it means they get some accommodations to make it possible. Your child needs to learn to be his own advocate. He should find the college office that is responsible for helping with accommodations. He should be ready to tell the professor how he learns best, where he needs to sit, and what recording devices may be necessary. It will be his responsibility to know, control and give of himself, also. He will learn to use his strengths to overcome his weaknesses. He will learn to be positive, assertive and capable. He will accomplish whatever it takes to be successful and achieve his dreams.
|
| |
