"Itself" was used to protect the identify of the student in this post.
This has been a challenging ethical week. As a speech-language evaluator I visit a number of schools each week. This week I was completing a student observation when I saw another student, in a wheelchair drooling all over "itself" while the teaching assistant was sitting at a table listening to her IPod. I asked the assistant twice if she could help the student and the response I received was ""The student" will just drool all over "itself"again plus "it" has a bib. "The student" just received this new chair and it is making "the student" drool even more." I finally got up and wiped the student's face myself. The student did not drool for the next thirty minutes!!! I was shocked by what I observed. It appeared that the classroom teacher did not pay attention to the needs of all of her students either. Yes, this specialized classroom had 8 severely cognitively impaired students, two of which were in wheelchairs. The two students in wheelchairs were not even ONCE addressed during CIRCLE TIME, they were also located the furthest away from the lesson materials and the teacher.
Everyone has the right to have access to free public school general and special education services. Parents need to be active participants in their children's educational and academic experiences. QUANTITY does not equal QUALITY. I urge all of my families to become familiar with their rights and the responsibilities of the school districts ( Special Education in Texas A-Z Index) I always talk to my families and prepare them for school based special education services. I try my best to be present or provide any pertinent information needed when my clients are evaluated by the school district. Many of my home health clients turned three this year and transitioned to Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) or to Walk-in speech programs. Out of four schools only one professional contacted me to collaborate. I have been on both ends, home health and school based therapist. Yes we are all busy and school based caseloads are not getting any smaller but collaboration is key for increased progress for our special needs children.
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