Unless you are a teacher of special needs students you do not understand the daily emotional inner battle we face. It is exhausting. These are our children at school. Parents depend on us to keep their children safe. We start the day like everyone else being happy, tired, hopeful etc. In a moment our balloon of high expectations can be popped, and we are so upset and our blood pressure skyrockets. Why? Because other individuals are different than us. We eat, sleep and breathe our students needs and expect all other individuals to do the same.
Schedules change without notice, teachers are absent without notice, teachers don’t follow behavior plans or strategies we have given them, and our class is just forgotten. Some individuals are so apologetic, and others simply don’t want the added task of seeing our students and making time for them.
Don’t get me wrong. There are wonderful teachers out there who go above and beyond to include our students. They are the unsung heroes.
Parents need to question what is happening. If a child is included in a general education setting what does that mean? Are they included within the group or separated? I send home communication notes daily with suggestions from parents so they can talk with their children at home about their day. This is a wonderful tool for parents to communicate with their children. It can be a simple checklist or a summary or whatever works for you.
I hope this helps!!