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I interviewed the parent of a child with a mild form Down syndrome. Their child is seven years old and is going to attend Kindergarten next year. Down syndrome is a genetic condition in which a person has forty-seven chromosomes instead of the usual forty-six.
1.
What is the special need of your child?
My child has Down syndrome.
2. What are your personal goals for education of your child?
Our personal goals for our child is to get her to the highest level that she can achieve and to mainstream her whenever possible; which we have found to be very difficult.
3.
What is
your current relationship with the school, special education, and
administration?
We have a decent relationship with the school, however I feel it could be much
better.
4.
How can it
improve?
Our relationship could improve if the school was more willing to go out of the
box and try new things. Many of the educators, especially those in special
education, have been teaching for several years and are stuck in their ways.
5.
What form
of communication is used and how often? Is this best?
Our daughter has a homework notebook and I stop in her classroom every morning
to drop off her book bag. If anything needs to be discussed it is done then.
Yes, it works well for both parties.
6.
How often
do you communicate with school?
We communicate with the school daily.
7.
How
effective is the special education program?
I feel the special education program at our school is fairly effective.
8.
How
flexible is the program to meet the needs to your child?
The programs set in place are fairly flexible to meet the needs of my child.
They could improve.
9.
What
problems have you had with school?
Besides their lack of ability to try new things, they onetime put her down for a
nap in a dark room, unattended. When she awoke, she was very scared and
disoriented. I realize she was napping, but there still should have had someone
there to watch her in case she did wake up.
10.
Are you
part of any parent group?
No, not currently.
11.
What
communication do you have with other parents?
I talk to a couple other parents of children with special needs occasionally and
discuss different things, from school to other community activities. My daughter
and I will have a lot more contact with others with disabilities when she turns
eight and will be able to participate in Special Olympics.
12.
What
community involvement does your child have?
We have three young girls, 6, 7, and 9 years old, and they all go to the local
sporting events with us throughout the year. We
go to basketball and football games, track meets and several other community
activities. During the summer, they are all in T-ball and softball, attend the
library program and vacation bible school and do other various activities.
13.
Are you
satisfied with your communication with your child?
Yes, most of the time. We work on communication daily and I believe we are
improving all the time. Although her speech is not perfect, we are able to
understand her and she can definitely tell us what she wants.
Other Comments:
I think all schools should have some type of training for teachers and maybe student council members to understand how offensive the word “retarded” is. Highly trained educators use it often and I really think that it should be brought to someone’s attention.