Bearer of Bad News

I had a PPT where I had to tell the parents that their son has significant issues and needs to attend a program in another school. Fortunately, the son was previously identified. It's hard being the bearer of bad news. Most parents don't take that kind of news too well, and who can blame them? There is no way around it, but as a member of the PPT I have to give the information as honest as possible. I think that some people find it easier to sugarcoat their news, or downplay the seriousness of their information. Unfortunately, the parents leave these meetings not understanding how limited their children are.

My most recent case involved a student that if he was a year younger (4 years old) he would have qualified under the disability of Developmental Delay. But since he was already 5 years old, no one wanted to revisit this case in less than a year to give him a new label. He entered my school as a kindergartner with a disability of Speech (Language) Impairment. Obviously to us he had more issues. These issues came to light during our evaluation. The good news was that the mother was aware that he had some limitations. n her words, she "hoped the news would have been better." The good part of the job is that we usually offer great recommendations to help the child. In this case, the child needed to be placed in a different school with a smaller, more intense kindergarten program. The parents agreed that it was a good recommendation and he entered the program today.

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When Things Come Together

First thing this morning I had the two meetings that I mentioned in the last post. Both meetings went really well. I was amazed at how we were able to sit down and actually develop ideas on how to provide better services to students. I think we were able to change how one teacher views her role in the classroom. This particular teacher was hung up on the fact that her student wasn't turning in homework and his mother wasn't helping the situation. I told her that she had to let the homework go. There are more worthy battles to fight. I have often found it hard for people to realize that you can't always change behavior, but you can change how you react to it. I hope that the message sticks this time. My principal was pleased with the outcome of both meetings; it was her idea to have the meetings in the first place. If she's happy, then I'm happy.

On another note, I got a request for records from Nathan's mother. Now they are living in Vermont. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm expecting him to be back in my school by next year, it really is the next logical step.

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