Oh, wow, it seems I have ruffled a few feathers with my blog post about the school board meeting. I'm happy to see that two individuals took the time to comment on my ill-informed rant. I'm really just happy two people read it! If you were one of the two anonymous commenters, please head back to that post to read my replies. If you hadn't cared enough to comment, I wouldn't have been told that the Licensed Educational Interpreter is for hearing impaired students. Thank you for sharing that with me. I wouldn't have known that the Special Ed CIAs who have been pink slipped, will be rehired later in the summer. Do you know how scary it was, as a parent of a special needs student, to hear that the CIAs in the department designed to help my child were getting cut? Thank you for giving me the hope that an appropriate number of staff will be provided to meet the needs of not just my child, but all of the students in special education next year.
Before I read the comments, I had considered that my post was too harsh and had even considered removing it. Well, I am no longer considering that. If my little post could elicit such strong opinions from fellow families in our county, I can only say that I am glad I shared my opinion openly and honestly. Just like I said in my reply, I can not sing my praises for our experiences with the school system this year. It hasn't been all butterflies and rainbows. I wish it had.
If you are a family that isn't touched by Special Education, I invite you to take an active interest in special education and the services it provides for special needs students. If you didn't know, special education touches students with many varying degrees of disability. My daughter has a developmental delay, possibly autism, while other students may have Downs Syndrome or ADHD. There is no one face of Special Education. Special Education touches many families. To be perfectly honest with you, I wouldn't be interested, if my child weren't in special education. But, families in my situation can't always find the voice or information they need to seek out the services their children need. Those of you, like the folks who left comments, have a voice and you can be a great advocate for children with special needs. Not all of us pick our kids up at the end of the school day and head to soccer practice or ballet or Girl Scouts. I never thought of myself as liking to use adages or cliches, but I guess I really do. What's the one about walking a mile in someonelse's shoes?
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