Some hear No and say OK, I hear No and ask why not?

All I wanted to do was sit in on a reading lesson in my son's classroom - is that too much to ask? Apparently the answer is yes. So I ask why not? What are they hiding? What don't you want me to see? It is my right as a parent and a member of my son's CSE team to observe a classroom. IDEA tells me that and yet the principal tries to tell me something different. If it is ok to come into the class during a party, why is it not ok to visit a class during a lesson? Other school personnel can sit in on a class and observe my son, however, I cannot. Am I to believe that the whole theory of parent participation is a crock of crap? Administration wants to talk a good game but in reality they want to keep the doors shut.

I must now push on and carry it to the next level. Civil rights are being violated and someone will pay.

March is National Disability Awareness month

Awareness and understanding - that is what they want. Sure we are aware of a disability when we see a child in a wheelchair or the lovable face of a child with Down syndrome, but what about the silent disability? All of our beautiful children on the autism spectrum and those with learning disabilities who struggle every day. These children are struggling to accomplish everyday tasks that you and I take for granted. The attempt to rid society of the use of the "R" word? I know that label doesn't belong on my son but society is using it on a daily basis, both adults and children in schools, work and on the playground. In order for us all to understand a person's disability, one must start by changing the language we use to describe another human being with feelings.

Awareness is a message that needs to be spread to every corner of this planet.

Teaching is Rocket Science

The NICHD (Natl Inst for Childhood Health & Dev) considers reading failure to be a national public health concern. Not state but national. A health concern that in this day and age we as Americans in the greatest country in the world can't fix. How can that be possible? Our children have enough health concerns with swine flu and vaccines and the possibility that they are in fact causing our children's problems. Drugs and alcohol abuse are staring them right in the face and now they are faced with not being able to read, one of the most basic needs. Each and every child is entitled to a free and appropriate education. So why aren't they getting it? Better yet why aren't more people fighting to get their children the education they deserve? We need teachers to learn how to teach. Education schools aren't teaching elementary teachers about reading. And then parents are spending money on tutors to teach what the teachers aren't teaching!

On a side note, I spend a lot of time reading and researching learning disabilities. When I find something a little bit lighter to read, I like to pass it along. So once again my book review on the flip side of this madness is for another Emily Griffin book. You know her - she wrote Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Baby Proof. I just finished Love the One You're With. A story of Ellen and her having to choose between her college love and her husband. Great read. I like to escape to someone else's life and see the struggles they are encountering. Marriage is tough, kids are tough but I think I see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I like to envision myself sitting comfortably overlooking my wine vineyard on a beautiful sunny day with my horse and dog next to me. My kids are grown, happy and successful and I am actually in love. We can all dream, can't we?

Too much information

Well I just got home from the first day of my training for lay advocate for special education - WOW - so much information to take in. I feel as though I have finally found my "spot". There was so much frustration in the room with these parents desperately trying to get their beloved children the help they need and DESERVE. I wanted to stay there for days. The president of the Long Island Chapter of the International Dyslexia Association was by far my favorite speaker. While I felt empowered with my new found knowledge, I also felt scared for my son's future. The sad reality is he will never be able to catch up to his grade level unless he gets the right education from this day forward. That breaks my heart.