As I See It: Advocating From a Parent's Perspective

It's been a couple months, and school is once again in full swing. My topic has to inevitably turn to social skills. Every parent I've consulted with over the last few months has needed help with determining social goals or getting the school to acknowledge the need for training for their kiddos. How much should we get? It should be the question, yes, but, more often, the question becomes; how much can we get?


 Most IEPs contain the same language and nearly the same amount of SST, 15 minutes twice a week. Of course, that's not sufficient. A recent study determined autistic children need a minimum of 30 hours a week. That's just not going to happen, right? So, parents, get ready to work the partnerships.

It's imperative to get your teachers on board with on the job training for your child. During the day, the social opportunities are endless; standing in line in the cafeteria, going to lockers, or working with the teacher on spelling. These are all social interactions that could be capitalized upon. The trick is convincing others to use these teachable moments. 



It makes sense to prioritize the skills most needed and work on those. Is your child not understanding others' verbal or visual cues? Well, imagine how that translates into a child's academic performance!

Teachers, especially in general education, may not get it. They may not understand that it isn't willful disobedience, so much as misunderstanding. Talk to them about the medical side of your child's disorder.  Once everyone is on the same page, it's so much easier to suss out solutions.

A Good Day for Change!

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Obama set to take on Teacher's unions










Jonathon Martin writes on politco.com this morning that teacher's unions may not hold the sway they have in past years. There is no question that the unions back Dems at 90 percentile range almost across the board. It's also true they are party faithful working the campaigns across the nation, however, in a fit of principle, it appears the president may be going a different direction in calling for teacher accountability and year round school years.

From a special education standpoint, this could be big news. Students with disabilities at this moment have an option that is rarely used for extended school year services should they regress on a regular basis and at much faster rates than their typical peers, which most of them do. It is, of course, expensive. Moving away from the agrarian calendar we now use would change all of that for a great many students. Of course, this change would mean longer breaks in the middle of the year and would require adjustments on the part of parents. Some Sped students would still need ESY during long breaks, but I suspect a large number would retain better and progress farther should the change be implemented. Our family relies on school as childcare to keep us both working which means, for three months out of the year, I'm on the bench. Many families with special needs would be on board right out of the gate. Single income families on the spectrum are so often not that way by choice.


The calls for accountability could change things for the better as well. Having an incredible teacher is like getting hit by lightening; when it happens, you feel it. It's also about that rare. Great teachers are talented and lucky is the family that finds one, but good teachers just aren't the standard these days, in part because the standard pay doesn't meet the cost of education for teachers and in part because of the protection of the unions.


Many teachers stop school with a degree in mild disability, leaving the mild to severe range of students working with an extremely small pool. Professional development costs money and is often the first thing to go. Training is cut short. So calls for accountability must also address the concerns of the unions while not allowing them to dominate the conversation.

It's a surprising turn taking on the unions pet issues this way. Critics of unions cite the big money the lobby throws into the pot at election time, likening their opposition of reforms to the behavior of big oil or the coal industry. One such website aimed at "exposing" the unions is teachersunionexposed.com.


They state on their site, "There is no disputing that America’s teachers unions -- in particular, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers -- are the most organized and powerful voices in education politics." As an involved parent, I find I can't dispute it. Our difficulties with Indiana special education find me often stumbling over the interests of the Indiana State Teacher's Association. I've even been warned not to take them on in a meeting because I "had no idea how powerful ISTA could be."

On the other hand, why do we have unions in the first place? The short answer is because education is steeped in local politics. Cronyism and closed door deals have dominated the entire institution, and unions were supposed to fight that. My observations suggest, however, that a union can become too locally politicized. This makes the union a prize to be sought in local elections which can be ugly and corrupt. Unions have a very specific function that may not be compatible with the goals of education. They may work well for individuals, but many, including myself, question whether they are good for society if education gets compromised along the way. Our president speaks the truth when he says we aren't competitive on the global stage.

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Teacher's Union, Did We Create a Monster?

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Oh, I have a conflict this week! In special education, I've seen two levels of bad teachers. Some are just teaching impaired and can be fixed, but some are scary bad. Scary bad means they don't really change, in spite of it all. My encounter with one such teacher has taken me all the way to the administration of our school where I learned even scarier things.

Contracts are important, however one year flying by with a bad teacher could be catastrophic for my son, while only a nuisance for other people. Unions guard even the worst teachers with tenacity, I'm told. Our hands are tied, I'm told. They are waiting on Union approval to introduce training on programs like ABA and TEAACH which are industry standards. What? You ask them what they want to do at work? Did they answer 'take long naps' because I'd be tempted if given a choice what to do?

I'm being flippant, I know, but it can't be understated how this undermines the very idea of unions! Unions serve a protective function that can't be denied. They make employment fair and available to anyone. They help workers make decent wages and protect them from personal political pressure. Never in the inception of the institution was it meant to shield a worker from the consequences of a job badly done. You still have to do a good job!

Have we created a monster here? Surely, teachers shouldn't have more protections than students. My administrators know me well. I see something that isn't working and I just may take a swipe at fixing it. One of them told me with a look of concern on his face, "you have know idea how powerful the ISTA is." Part of me sat there feeling like I'd been swallowed up by On The Waterfront, an old black and white Brando film. You know, "I coulda been a contender, Charlie, instead of nuthin' which is what I am." What are they going to do? Mess with my kid's education? They're already doing that.

I started some research, and what did I find out? That the only people out there saying anything about this are union busters, who I do not intend to emulate. I found that Indiana schools are not developing teacher standards like they should be, and that our national rating for getting rid of bad teachers is very low. Where are the parents?

Are we all too blind to connect this with ISTEP failures? This is going to be the beginning of a series of posts about teacher's unions and how they affect special education. Because the bottom line is our children already have enough to slow them down, and sometimes you need to change staff. It's just a fact.