Are We Caught Up Yet?

Teaching Children With Special Learning Needs


Special needs can take many forms- from profound disabilities to learning delays. No matter the end of the spectrum, it is something that has to be faced. And, if you have a child with special needs, you probably spend a good deal of time facing the situation.

There is a quote by Leo Buscaglia that goes something like -

"My experience of my experience is my experience of my experience, and your experience of your experience is your experience of your experience".

I love that- don't tell me you "know" because you don't. You may understand. You may have compassion. But none of us knows exactly what the other is going through.

Okay, so this is the disclaimer. I have my opinion. It is not necessarily a correct opinion for everyone. But this is on my mind, so I am going to share from my experience:

If there is a dyslexia blog or resource that I hear about, I am there. I love the support and information I find on these forums. However, one topic that seems to come up often is that of getting children caught up and working on grade level. I have a few thoughts about this.

Let's say your child is born with a deformity of his legs. You are told that he will need all sorts of assistance to get learn to walk. After years of braces and physical therapy, he still has trouble walking well and does not have good balance.  But, you are pleased that things are moving the right direction. Now that child is in third grade. HOLD ON!! Third grade PE class requires that your child run the mile in a certain time to meet the standard set for that grade. And he needs to be able to hop on one foot for a certain amount of time. All this time you were just happy that your child could walk (if not well) and looked forward to a time when he would walk steadily. But now your child is BEHIND!! No longer are pleased to be making slow and steady progress. You need to get CAUGHT UP!!

I know the above scenario is absurd. But that is how I feel when these concerns are dwelt upon. I completely get it. I was there. Wondering how in the world will I will get my child "caught up". I am not sure when my focus changed. At some point I stopped looking too far ahead and started looking at where we are. And then, what the next step is. By looking too far ahead, we were always "failing". By keeping the focus close to where we actually are, we able to celebrate the small victories.

The thing is, I think all parents take so much on themselves. We don't want to fail our children. When we have a child with a special need, big or small, it weighs all the heavier. I can't help but think that slowing down and working with them where they are will yield far more satisfying results. They may never get fully caught up, but they may catch the love of learning and that may serve them all the better.



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