I think these words that I read today in an article by Pamela Darr Wright, of Wrightslaw, hit home with me today. This is exactly what I find so frustrating about the experience of many families when dealing with special education. Public school districts are extremely hard to fight to get what children with disabilities need (and are supposedly entitled to under IDEA) – an appropriate education. But regardless of where the child is ultimately educated, it is impossible for the parents to bail out.

Schools bail out all the time. Just this week I’ve spoken with parents who have been asked to come take their children home. This seems to happen a lot with disabled children. Rather than finding positive behavioral interventions or approaches that work with the child, or even suspending the child (because eventually that leads to a messy manifestation hearing), schools just call the parent up to come get their child.

And what kind of parent would you be if you didn’t go pick up your child?

The flip side of this is true, as well. Just this week, another mom reported that the school psychologist had actually said that the reason the mom may have scored the child as highly distractible and unable to focus on an evaluation survey is that the mom may be overly vigilant. Whoa! What does that mean?

Well, if you read further in Pam Wright’s article you’ll learn that there was a fascinating study done by a psychology professor at Western Michigan University on school psychologists and their findings in special education evaluations. What the study showed in a nutshell was that there were five basic reasons that a child could be struggling in the classroom:

1. the curriculum
2. the teaching methods
3. the administration/school management practices
4. the parents not providing the supports
5. the child’s disability

In 5,000 evaluations conducted, a whopping 100% of the time, the school psychologists found the child’s disability to be the primary cause of the child’s struggle. Ten to twenty percent of the time, parental involvement and supports were blamed for part of the problems. (Parents are either too involved or not involved enough.) But in all 5,000 reports the curriculum used, the teaching methods used or the schools management practices were never mentioned as contributing to the child’s academic struggle.

Ok, so school psychologists will quickly say that of course the child’s disability will be what causes the child to struggle in the classroom – DUH! But the point is that by not even exploring the role of the curriculum, teaching approaches or administration of education in this child’s struggles, the school psychologist is perpetuating a dangerous bias…that the blame for this child’s problems lies within the child himself.

In other words, we don’t need to change what we’re doing; we need to change the child.

So, schools set about elaborate schemes to change the child, to force the child into behaving a certain way, following a certain set of rules and approaches that fit their current systems. Or they do just the opposite; tell the parents that the expectations are too high and the child’s disability will prevent any learning, so they aren’t going to try to change the child; just babysit him.

Parents are told that it’s the child who needs to change – not the system. If the system changes, or the adults in the system do things differently for this child, well, then they’ll have to do things differently for every child and this child will never learn to do school like the rest of them.

Hmmm. Maybe this child shouldn’t have to “do school” like the rest of them. Maybe he should be taught using an approach that addresses his needs? Maybe the child needs an Individual education plan and appropriate education, based on his/her needs?

The “blame the child” mindset is hard to fight. In fact, it’s easy to get sucked up into believing it. And the interesting thing is that when the child doesn’t change after all the school’s “best” efforts, the school bails out.

I’ll never forget the desperate words of LuLu’s assistant principal, pushed almost to tears, “We’ve done all we can do!” he cried.

I had sympathy for him that day…until I realize what that really meant. “We’re done trying to educate her.” They were bailing out. And guess who doesn’t get to bail out on her education?

Gotta go…got a full day ahead as LuLu’s learning coach.



Photo Credit