ADVOCACY IN ACTION A PARENT ADVOCATES FOR HER CHILD WHO HAS SPECIAL NEEDS
Ida Wong, parent My son, who is now in eighth grade, has a form of au- tism called Asperger’s. I have spent much of my life advo- cating for his rights in the school system. I learned to be a difficult parent so school personnel would listen to me and make accommodations for him. Here is an example of the kind of persistent, dedicated work this requires.
Though my son does sometimes struggle with so- cial situations, he has strong academic skills. His Star Test scores placed him at the Advanced level in Al- gebra I and also in English Language. He was manag- ing all of his schoolwork well until the end of seventh grade, when he began being bullied by another child and mistreated by a teacher who was not sympathetic to his special needs. He was unhappy and had trouble sleeping, and his grades dropped dramatically in the last three months. When the school made his math place- ment for eighth grade they decided to have him repeat algebra, even though the Star Test results show that he has already mastered algebra concepts and theory. It was clear to my husband and myself that he would not learn anything by repeating the class. We asked that our son be placed in geometry with the understanding that if he was not successful they could put him back in algebra.
School started and he was repeating algebra. So I e-mailed the counselor who forwarded my e-mail to
the principal, but I got no response. I sent the principal e-mails every day asking for a meeting but still got no response. I sent three pages of detailed information about my son’s history, life and school experience, prog- ress in school, strengths and weaknesses, teachers’ com- ments, a summary of the hospital’s autism report, and the results of the Star Testing. I still got no response. I sent the principal another e-mail from my son’s au- tism case manager suggesting we discuss the math placement with the school. No response. I e-mailed him again explaining that my son was moody and not sleeping and had lost his appetite. No response. I vis- ited the school office and asked to see the counselor and the special education teacher, but they would not see me.
As I was leaving a message for them, the secretary told the principal I was there and he invited me into his office! We met for an hour and I showed him all the paperwork I had brought. The principal was stubborn, but finally he listened to me. Today I was told that my son would be moved to the geometry class. He is so happy that he is in his room now studying by himself trying to catch up on all the assignments that he has missed in the class. I fought for his rights. His happy face is my true reward.
Check Your Understanding 5.1
Click here to check your understanding of how school is different from preschool.
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Working with Families of School-Age Children 107
TEACHING PROSOCIAL SKILLS AND MORALS Communities depend on their members having prosocial skills. This book looks at the child in context of the family, school, and community as related to Bron- fenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. It also explores how to help the child grow up to be a productive member of that community. Every chapter has been about how to support healthy growth and development so the child functions as a community member. This section starts with a question.