An article by Joan Celebi from http://www.SpecialNeedsParentCoach.com
Self-advocacy is the absolute single best thing we can teach our children - it's the skill that will lay the foundation for all their accomplishments later in life.
Many parents of children with special needs, in addition to teaching their children to advocate for themselves, also have additional "to-do's" that are either expected of them by the school system or necessary in order to be sure teachers and staff are properly prepared. Even though the child may already be advocating for him or herself quite well, these are things that would best be handled before school starts. And the child can still be involved as much as possible in these preparations, even though school hasn't officially started yet.
For example, my son uses an FM system to help him hear in classes, and every summer about this time I call the school to be sure the equipment is back from "summer service." Then, we go in and briefly visit the teachers to make sure they are all aware of how to use the FM. My son has always come along with me on these visits. When he was in kindergarten, it was me who did most of the explaining. Now, he's a few years older and it's him who does most of the explaining! So by starting back-to-school preparations now, rather than waiting til the last minute, there's plenty of time to involve children and teach them how to advocate for their own needs.
Another example is a recent client of mine whose child uses a wheelchair. Before school starts, she goes into the school with her child, and they traverse the hallways and classrooms making sure everything's truly accessible (even though school buildings are built to be accessible, you'd be amazed what gets "rearranged" -- art supply closet built into a hallway ... ramps used as storage space ... !!). They make a list of needed changes, and it's the child who goes into the main office and talks to the staff about what needs to be fixed before the first day of school.
One other important example (I could go on all day) is a school system that is resisting implementing the child's stated IEP services, or worse, denying services altogether. These would be services such as OT, PT, counseling, speech and language, and more. These are discussions that take place between parents and school officials, and sometimes mediators and lawyers are also included. Children generally are not a part of those discussions.
I can't resist one more example - a growing number of children have severe or life-threatening allergies. Especially when these children are young, their parents meet with teachers and staff before the school year to make absolutely certain that everyone is completely informed about what the child can and can't eat, what to do when a classmate brings in food to share, and emergency procedures.
So ... the ultimate goal is absolutely for children to be able to advocate for themselves. Along the way, parents do get involved depending on a number of factors, including the child's age, their ability to communicate, the degree of complexity of their child's disabilities, and the cooperation level of the school.
My Free Lunchtime Teleseminar will address all of these points. Everyone who attends will take away a Back to School Checklist they can use as an Action Plan to help them organize their own particular set of back-to-school "to-do's."
