I remember the days, when kids with learning problems or
developmental delays were labeled “retarded,” and put in the special ed class,
never to be taken seriously again. Today, if you look at a textbook about
teaching kids with special needs, they say to avoid labels; instead of “Willy,
Down’s Syndrome,” it’ll be “Will, 5th grade.” The teachers are
encouraged to group the kids together, and whatever extra help they need, that
comes after ward.
Most of the “problems” that they have are really the same
things that any parent would have to deal with. One of the most prominent
stories is a “daycare nightmare,” where their one-year-old daughter ends up
scratched and bruised, not from the adults, but from a two year old! Apparently
the manager walks out, leaves his 11 year old son in charge, and he has no idea
how to handle an aggressive child. I bet a lot of parents have this problem,
where they’re strapped for child care and they have few alternatives.
The author wrote this book as though it were coming from his
daughter’s own words. As a former special education teacher, and can appreciate
how hard it can be to raise a child on the autism spectrum, because they don’t
communicate the way others do. Some parents can get frustrated easily when
their kids don’t do what’s expected of them, and for a kid that doesn’t pick up
everything naturally, it can be even more frustrating. When I said earlier that
it’s not good to label the kids, it’s the same way with raising any child. It’s
hard work. You have to learn to accept the kids as they are.
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