A friend of mine has been fostering a child that has been diagnosed with both autism and cerebral palsy. They have seen him grow from a child who could not talk and who had a great deal of difficulty using his body to a child who asks for help when he needs it, communicates his needs and interests with others, and who can climb up a climbing wall without difficulty.
My friend shared that they were quite shocked during recent parent-teacher interviews when they were shown her foster child’s “work” from the term. They were blissfully unaware during the first couple of months of school, during which their foster child enjoyed going to school and they believed he was also getting an education, that the he was in fact not being educated. Their biggest concern was that the work he did do, circling a few answers on 2 or 3 review worksheets each day, was not helping him progress. They wondered, what does he do all day?
Their position is that while it is true that this kid is behind, not giving him any productive work to do is not going to help him catch up. They are very worried that his needs are not being met, and I agree with them. I worry that his teacher is “meeting him where he is at” and that this means that he has little to no opportunities to grow. When this child has been supported and pushed to grow, he has responded by learning and growing immensely. The extremely low expectations that this child’s school has for him risk his future.
So what would you do if you were this foster parent?
Laura Duggan says:
Call an IEP meeting, which parents can do at any time and ask how he’s being given access to the standards. Also, review his goals, and do his parents agree with them. How is his in class work going to help him meet these goals, or do the goals need to be adjusted?
December 3, 2018 — 6:19 am
Robin Schwartz says:
Hi David, Your blog post is excellent. Sorry to hear about your friend’s son education.
What grade is this student in? An IEP can help but I hesitate to depend too much on the school as schools inadvertently drop the ball. The reading program in my son’s school worked for most students but not for my son.
When my son was in second grade, we started homeschooling him on top of school with a great reading program as well as supplemental Math. This before schooling and after schooling made a big difference in the short and long run. He graduated with a Regents diploma this year.
December 3, 2018 — 8:23 pm
Susan Jones says:
I’m afraid in my experience …. finding alternatives is the best option. No, that’s not at all fair. I worked at an excellent private school (The New Community School) and … many of our students were coming from the Land of Low Expectations. Most schools simply don’t have the resources & expertise to do the job right.
(If I remember correctly, about 25% of our students were paid for by public school systems who recognized that the standard school couldn’t meet the student needs [or lawyers became convinced of that in due process]).
(it’s really saddening to read the Facebook posts by special ed teachers about their caseloads and expectations, by the way)
December 3, 2018 — 10:25 pm