I hate to start a post with the obvious- but today it is the only way to start. In general, children with special needs do not outgrow them. I have great hope (pun intended) that my RADlet will be able to overcome and compensate for her trauma based start on life. Even if she does, though, it will always be a part of her. GB is Bipolar, FASD, and Autistic, with 5 months of early trauma thrown in. It is part of who she. Her coping skills have improved and will continue to improve. It will not change the way her brain works, the way she learns things, or heal the physically damaged parts of her brain.
Seems obvious. So I am wondering why I received an email today from Mrs. Very Stupid Chairperson today, saying that since GB was doing so well, I might want to consider mainstreaming her again. She isn't even our chairperson any more. I thought about all the-rooted-in-reality facts I could give her. Then I realized, since she is not our chairperson anymore, I don't owe her any explanations. I emailed her back one word. "No".
That ended that. I am still left here wondering how many other people in our society thinks that, with help, GB will be NT or "normal". Meeting with the CSE tomorrow. How many of those people have the same misconception?
4 comments:
GB's Mom, I have wanted to do a post on "becoming normal" for a long time- Is it alright with you if I link back to this one? If not, I'll still do the post, but I like being able to share what was the "push" to do a disability post.
*sigh* I know with our nephew, I think in large part because he LOOKED so normal that some people (especially his parents) to accept that his brain was not normal, never would be by the time I finely got him diagnosed and that he would function differently than others. Do I believe that had his (idiot) parents sought proper care, diagnosis or accepted the special education services they were offered that he would now have better coping skills? That he would be better able to function in the world? That we wouldn’t receive random phone calls form homeless shelters a crossed the country? Absolutely! But that is not what did happen until he was in high school…so we will never know.
The emotional scars may very well heal with time; some neurology may be able heal or re-route in time. But it is what it is and it makes sense to me to get her all of the help that you possibly can…for as long as you can.
Ashley- feel free to link.
Sunday- I am sorry. I managed to talk my sister into services when my nephew was 3. He wasn't diagnosed until he was eight and my sister's response was to pull him out of public school and home school him. Now, at 19, he is lost.
BTDT and not only have the t-shirt, but an entire wardrobe : (
Maybe you could have asked her "if GB had lost a leg in a car accident, would you be thinking she'd grown a new one just because she's learned how to hobble a few feet on crutches?"
The problem is these people can be so dangerous to our children. We need to get FOX and Good Housekeeping to run not-feel-good stories about run-of-the-mill typical life with special-needs kids. There are too many miracle stories out there.
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