Post by Jodi on Mar 23, 2005 13:42:47 GMT -5
Last night I attended a meeting put on by the California Department of Education, Special Education Division at my school district. All parents of children involved in Special Ed. were invited, and I had my laundry list of issues I wanted to discuss.
There were about 20 - 25 parents in attendance. The state's rep. (a consultant) was late by about 20 minutes. We were informed that the meeting would not be extended past the posted time (funny we get punished for their tardiness).
Anyway, the make up of those in attendance was about 90% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 5% Caucasian. I heard at least five parents state that they called several weeks ago and requested an interpreter. Of course there was none. One of the state consultants asked a young girl, maybe a junior in high school, if she would try to interpret. She reluctanly said yes.
Throughout the meeting people would pause to give the girl time to interpret. There were many times when she didn't interpret at all, and the parents were starting to get frustrated. After about 45 minutes, a parent volunteered to take over. The young lady was thanked and we applauded her efforts.
During the evening, I realized that my laundry list paled in comparison to those issued raised by other parents. Many had their IEP's completed before they even showed up to the meeting. Several were supposed to be receiving services, like speech, but weren't. Many parents expressed concern that their children were placed in severe classes, and there were no expectations of their children. It was heartbreaking to listen.
Then something AMAZING happened! The young girl who was doing the interpreting earlier in the evening stood up. She stated that she was attending an RSP class in high school, and that the teachers treat her like she is "stupid". She said they don't give her enough homework, and she isn't learning anything. She said she feels terrible about it, and that she asks the teachers to giver her more work. They laugh about it and basically ignore her. I looked at the faces of the state consultants, and grinned because they were in shock.
I loved the fact that they saw her and "expected" so much of her by asking her to help out and interpret. She had no visable disability, and so she was treated that way.
So of course I likened that to my child. DS is a double-edged sword. On one had the physical appearance of my child protects him in a way because people will tend to be more "on guard" and watch out for him. However, he also misses out on opportunities because expectations are automatically lowered.
Kudos to that young lady for being brave enough to accept the challenge of interpreting, and extra kudos to her for being so assertive and addressing her concerns to these people!
Jodi
There were about 20 - 25 parents in attendance. The state's rep. (a consultant) was late by about 20 minutes. We were informed that the meeting would not be extended past the posted time (funny we get punished for their tardiness).
Anyway, the make up of those in attendance was about 90% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 5% Caucasian. I heard at least five parents state that they called several weeks ago and requested an interpreter. Of course there was none. One of the state consultants asked a young girl, maybe a junior in high school, if she would try to interpret. She reluctanly said yes.
Throughout the meeting people would pause to give the girl time to interpret. There were many times when she didn't interpret at all, and the parents were starting to get frustrated. After about 45 minutes, a parent volunteered to take over. The young lady was thanked and we applauded her efforts.
During the evening, I realized that my laundry list paled in comparison to those issued raised by other parents. Many had their IEP's completed before they even showed up to the meeting. Several were supposed to be receiving services, like speech, but weren't. Many parents expressed concern that their children were placed in severe classes, and there were no expectations of their children. It was heartbreaking to listen.
Then something AMAZING happened! The young girl who was doing the interpreting earlier in the evening stood up. She stated that she was attending an RSP class in high school, and that the teachers treat her like she is "stupid". She said they don't give her enough homework, and she isn't learning anything. She said she feels terrible about it, and that she asks the teachers to giver her more work. They laugh about it and basically ignore her. I looked at the faces of the state consultants, and grinned because they were in shock.
I loved the fact that they saw her and "expected" so much of her by asking her to help out and interpret. She had no visable disability, and so she was treated that way.
So of course I likened that to my child. DS is a double-edged sword. On one had the physical appearance of my child protects him in a way because people will tend to be more "on guard" and watch out for him. However, he also misses out on opportunities because expectations are automatically lowered.
Kudos to that young lady for being brave enough to accept the challenge of interpreting, and extra kudos to her for being so assertive and addressing her concerns to these people!
Jodi
We're from So. Cal. just nosey here. Loved the story...steff