Special Ed Teachers Who Are Not the Right Fit.

If both therapists are complaining about you have you considered you actually are the problem? A little speech and OT do not seem like a serious issue but you demanded services and got them but if the issue is that minor they don't need the full time, but you are demanding the full time. You are demanding a lot.

I have a spectrum son, I also have another three that are ADHD so I understand the concept of advocate. That means working 'with' the system to get them services, not demanding what 'you' want.

This is the vibe I am getting from your words, you want it your way and you don't mind attacking to get it. You may get what you want in appearance but clearly their hearts are not in it. Even if you get two new therapists the result will be the same.

What I mean is nowhere in your post did you describe what therapy she gets, the progress she has or has not made, the benchmarks, the goals, all you have said here is you want all 30 minutes! That doesn't sound like an advocate.

I can see this concern from both perspectives. I am a mother of 3, my middle son receives speech therapy services and I may have him evaluated for OT as well (just visual motor/handwriting concerns). He just started kindergarten, but I brought him to an integrated pre-school twice a wk for the last 2 years for speech therapy. I am also a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. When I was working full time, I had could have up to 40 students on my case load as well as supervising OT assistants. When seeing students, I had to first schedule with all the parents/teachers, which was a feat in itself. Basically you see students all day, with maybe a break for lunch when I did paperwork). You are scheduled every half hour, which really leaves no time to go to the bathroom or even drop off/pick up students in their classroom if you do not either end a session a minute or 2 early or pick up a child a couple minutes late... it's just the way it is. The other consideration is that IEP meetings happen every year for each student as well. They are scheduled when the team (teacher, parent, phsychologist, therapists) and whoever else, can be there. Sometimes services had to get cancelled for students to accommodate meetings. That being said, 10 to 15 minutes each time is a little extreme and should not happen. The packing up and being ready to go at the end of the day has to happen if there is a big group of children to get out the door to buses and parents at once, but if your child is not getting adequate time for services that isn't fair either. I know there were occasions when my son's therapist was a little late or dropped him off early, but to be fair, we were late getting there sometimes too. Things happen... On the other hand, she would try to make up for it other times by keeping him a few extra minutes. Before you say "where is their work ethic", do realize that most therapists and teachers deal with many students with a variety of needs, as well ask keeping up with crazy amounts of paperwork and collaborating and dealing with parents (sometimes who are unrealistic and ungrateful). Believe me, we do our best to schedule, work with, care for and help your children work to their potential. Maybe you aren't giving them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to scheduling and working with some many children? That being said, part of your child's services are working with and collaborating with parents, so that strategies and ideas can be carried over at home and you need to be able to work together. You are doing right to advocate for your child. Maybe you just came of as being ungrateful or maybe the therapists were stressed out or having a bad day. Maybe just try again, let them know that you appreciate the services they give your child, and that you just want to work together to assure the best benefit for your child. Good Luck!

Start the next time you see them to sign in and out so the chair person can make sure that the lessons are being done the way they should be. This would piss them off but at least they'd get the idea that they should be on time.

Also, if you hear the person being abrupt with your child you perhaps need to go in their area and sit down or sit out of sight of your daughter if she gets upset seeing you during this time. But make sure the OT can see you. This way she knows she's being observed. Hopefully she'll stop bringing her personal issues to work with her.

I'd remind this chairperson that you've been around for a long time and never had issues before. She owes you respect even if you were the mom from hell. Your child is who she is serving, it's her job to make sure these services are done the right way.

It sounds like you need to arrange a face-to-face meeting and calmly explain the situation again, letting her know that you view everyone involved as partners, not adversaries, in helping your daughter develop and learn. I can understand how hurtful that was to hear, especially out of what seemed like a clear blue sky, but it is worth taking a closer look at now anyway. Sometimes we sound more mother-bear than mothering without meaning to.

Who cries and cries all day over speech therapy being cut short by 10 minutes or so?????

And she came to your house for sessions? For free? Because you clearly deserve this special treatment as a tax-paying citizen.

Girlfriend, your complaints are nit-picky at best. Thank God we have a system that even offers such services. And speech therapy takes a lot of time to see improvement, The kid has to work at it themselves, on their own, in their every day environment.

I know this from personal experience, as my son received speech therapy and rather late I might add. He received it in a public school when I left a private Christian school that did not offer these services. His therapy was group oriented, and not individually based. The speech therapist preferred to have the kids play board games and work on their speech skills with their peers as she moderated and corrected.

R.,
First of all, you have absolute right to complain, it is your child. Consider to write everything down in a very clear and objective way and expect a good response that satisfy your expectations and your kid's needs.

A. :)

For one, I would be documenting how often the OT person was late and skipped out early. Add it up. "OT person was late on these days. My daughter did not receive services for x amount of time this month. I am expecting my child to receive 30 minutes of instruction per week. She is receiving 15. I have tried to address this to the OT. If you are unable to resolve this, then who else do I speak to?"

I would also put the complaint in writing. Be official.

Same with the Speech person. Ask her about x and y. Tell her you are aware that she called CPSE and asked for a switch. If the teacher finds you difficult, then perhaps she should instigate the change. You might also offer to video the session and any discussions you have with the teacher. You say she was loud and made your child cry. That is a legit concern, IMO, when dealing with a small child with speech issues. If the speech person has her own problems (we are all human) that are affecting her job, she needs to think about that.

I have a special needs child who is in SPED and us parents HAVE to make sure our kids are getting what they deserve because no one else will. If you do not speak up and voice your concerns the lateness will continue. Other people can call you demanding and think you're the problem but you're not! You're a parent who wants the best fir your child so sometimes raising your voice to be heard is the best thing! Keep doing what you do mama! Good luck!

Stop feeling sad and start to be mad! Good for you going to the chair. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
You have every right to every min of the therapy. It's not only you and your child that's being shortchanged. It's every tax payer that contributes to your school district. You can always go to the school board.

These people who are working with your daughter are NOT acting professionally. They are putting the blame on you to keep from getting in trouble. Do not be cowled by this. The therapist has no business raising her voice. Speech is hard work and sometimes kids don't want to do their lesson and you have to come down hard on them to nip that in the bud, but there's a big difference in YOU doing it and the speech therapist doing it. For example... my son's speech therapy (which was not at my home) was twice a week, and I did his home program FAITHFULLY twice a day. One day he got his back up and refused to work with the therapist. She told me that she wouldn't bill me for that session, but she would have to if he did it again. I took him home and put him in his room and told him that since he didn't work with his speech teacher, that he had to stay in his room by himself. I brought him a boring sandwich and let him come out only to go to the bathroom, and before too long, he was begging to come out. I told him AGAIN point blank why he was in there and why he would stay in there. Then he was begging to go back to speech. I told him that the teacher was with another child who appreciated learning how to talk better and we couldn't go back until Friday. I kept him in that room as long as I had decided, which was several hours. Tough, yes. But he learned his lesson the HARD way and never did that again.

If his therapist had raised her voice at him, number one, it wouldn't have worked. Number two, I would have complained to high heaven.

You need to get yourself together and call that chairperson back and tell her that you expect her to listen to your concerns and and not just to these people who are not acting professionally. Being late, leaving early, raising voices at your daughter which will NOT help, is not about "not making you happy." It's about short-changing their client that they get paid to work with. You also need to find out who the chairperson's superior is and how to contact him or her before you talk to the chairperson. If the conversation doesn't go well, write a letter to her reiterating what is happening and that you want a change of therapists, and cc it to her superior. Tell her in the letter that you are writing because you don't feel that your concerns are being taken seriously. THAT should get her attention, and copying it to her boss will make her get this handled. Either you will have different therapists, OR they will stop their unprofessionalism.

If it gets to the point that you have to write that letter, ask a friend to proofread it to make sure it says what you mean to say, sounds professional, and has good grammar and spelling. Don't say that they treat you like scum. Don't make it about YOU. Make it about your daughter and treating her in a professional manner. Being late, leaving early and raising voices is NOT professional and shouldn't be tolerated by their superiors and your child deserves better.

Stop crying now and make yourself stand up for your daughter and feel strong about it. AND when the therapist isn't there, work hard with your daughter in her home program and show her point blank that she MUST work without fussing with the therapists.

Good luck!

Is she getting speech and OT through the state? I'm confused on what CPSE is? I have a step dtr who is moderately retarded and gets speech, OT, PT and music therapy through the state. Her mother has fought with her therapists so much they have actually banned her from some agencies. Regardless, you should be able to switch "agencies" from who the OT works through. For whatever the reason is, you should NOT be shorted time, nor have your child upset during her services. So yes, you should be able to change therapists, I'm just not familiar with how you are set up to give you details on how. Good luck.