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MIRACLES IN PUBLIC SCHOOL? Is it anyone's duty to do the impossible with your disabled kid? Linda and I enrolled Cecilia in public school Special Education expecting a lot. We expected miracles. After six weeks I realized an important basic fact about special education teachers. The fact was, school teachers are not trained to perform miracles. Making miracles was not part of their training nor was it within their capacity as teachers. I never specifically asked a Special Ed teacher to perform a miracle on Cecilia. But I asked them to teach Cecilia to read, write, safely cross the street, and tie her shoes. These would have been miracles. So, without saying it in so many words, I was asking for miracles. They didn't happen. Special Ed teachers knew how to keep Cecilia clean and safe for six hours, and they provided a sprinkling of education, but miracles were out of the question. You can't perform miracles without love. The teachers didn't love Cecilia. Linda and I loved Cecilia. Performing miracles, was our job. Whether your child learns to read, write and add is not nearly as important to a teacher as it is to you. This is human nature, not a educational deficiency. Does your doctor love your child as much as you do? Do you blame the doctor for not loving your child as much as you do? Who's praying for your child? You or your child's teacher? Through no fault of their own, Special Ed teachers are baby sitters. They cannot change your child's life. They have twelve (often disruptive) students to contend with. If you want your child to learn to read, write and do arithmetic, wash dishes, sweep the floor and become as self-sufficient as possible, it's up to you. Unlike your child's teacher, you have the emotional commitment necessary to make it work. If you're like most parents who have disabled kids, you feel love. You have faith. And resentment, disappointment, frustration, despair, anguish. And sometimes you my ask yourself, "Why me?" I don't have the answer, but I know that the combination of your faith and your love and your commitment will help your child achieve fulfillment in ways a teacher can't hope to duplicate. With love, you can do the impossible. Maybe that's why you have been chosen to do it. |
 she didn't have to go to school.  and learned quickly. Unfortunately, school made her feel anxious. Is it any wonder that she did her best learning at home, in a spirit of relaxed fun? was legal for her to do so. I was against it. I encouraged her to stay in school. But she insisted. And it was the best thing she has ever done for her education.  on her reading skills, and the payoff has been great! She is now reading "Easy Reader" books and picking out words in the newspaper. This was an impossibility when she attended school because school made her feel too nervous. years ago. I believe home schooling at a younger age would have been very beneficial. |
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