What do you do if you suspect that a learner has a disability but his or her parents do not want to believe you. Who should you turn to and how do you help the parents understand?
What do you do if you suspect that a learner has a disability but his or her parents do not want to believe you. Who should you turn to and how do you help the parents understand?
Sounds like an essay question to me :-)
Much depends on the parents, the child, the severity of the problem, the suspected reasons behind the reluctance… for instance, some parents simply don’t want their kids shuttled into the Roach Motel of special ed… and they’re often right. Has nothing to do with denial or grieving or all the fancystuff taught in classes. Other times it would serve the student to at least be evaluated for a disability. Approaching it as a way to get more from the educational situation — regardless of whether or not there is “something wrong” with the child — is one option; approaching it as being concerned that a child is working and trying but not succeeding and we’d just like to find out what’s going on is anotehr.