Back to School With RCSN

The start of the school year is full of hope, excitement, and a bit of anxiety – especially when your student has special needs.

We have received many calls from parents in the past weeks expressing uncertainty about their children's school placements. In my experience, concerns that crop up so early in the school year are often a reflection of an adult’s impatience and have little to do with how the child is faring.  

A teacher might draw hasty conclusions that a child is not in the right class and suggest that the placement is not appropriate.A parent might go quickly from annoyance to anger about a note the teacher neglected to answer or a suggestion that was not acted upon.

In both cases, adults can help children by realizing that working toward a good school year is a process that takes time and patience. Teachers and parents should change places for a moment. The parent can understand the teacher’s situation by imagining what the successful management of a classroom entails. The teacher can stand in the parent’s shoes by focusing on the needs of just one child.

Both should understand that a school is much more than the particular classroom in which a child is placed. A school’s success depends on its teachers. But it also depends on how well its resources, interventions, and services are allocated to help teachers meet the needs of individual students.

Statements about students not being in the right program at the start of the school year should be handled with caution for more reasons than one - perfect programs are made, not born. Schools that strive to meet the needs of their students in creative ways improve and everyone benefits. And if a student really would be more appropriately served in another school, parents and teachers should keep in mind that the evaluation, IEP, and recommendation process often takes several months. That alone is reason enough to come up with a plan that utilizes all the school has to offer and supports the child throughout the process of finding a program that works. And that means working together.