Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Morning Meeting

So I survived the meeting with the school OT. There were severa snide comments made that I could have replied to in a nasty way, and made everything unpleasant, but I was too chicken. Bok bok. Besides, what would it accomplish? I didn't have a tape recorder. I hope I made my position clear: I am not out to "cure" Joey, but I expect the school- and her- to help support him so he can function in a world that is not friendly to autistic living.

Note to school people: here are some comments to steer clear from when you are dealing with a parent who is already upset:

"Gee, you seem so good at research and know so much, I thought you knew everything! I'm always taken aback when there is a hole in your knowledge!"
What the parent hears: "You're a know-it-all. I'm not going to help your kid. You do it."
"We're not against sensory integration. I've set up a sensory room [here] and [here] and I helped set up the one in Joey's classroom!"
What the parent hears: "Now that you complained, I'm doing the minimum I've been told to do so you can't sue us."
"You know, sensory integration won't cure Joey."
No shit, Sherlock. How many presentations have you been to where I explicitly state, "Autism is not cure-able, but it is treatable. We want to help Joey function in a non-autsitic world."? So what I hear is: "I haven't listened to a word you've said."



In the end, I think maybe I ought to go back to school. I need some coursework in OT, Speech, and development. These people are NOT going to help us.

3 comments:

Club 166 said...

You did fine.

Getting into spitting contests with the school personnel doesn't get us anything (it feels really good at the time, but they only take it out on our kids).

Some day I want to do a secret documentary and record some of the encounters we have with school personnel. No one would believe the stuff that gets thrown at us.

Daisy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Daisy said...

You sound like a strong advocate for your child. Keep it up! your child deserves it.