Fighting the Good Fight With An Armour When Advocating For Our Kids

Being an Occupational Therapist and a mom to a son with Autism, I have sat around the table at multiple school team meetings mostly as the therapist involved with the student and for the past few years as the mom and the parent. The one thing that I have learned over my years of experience both as in the role of the therapist and that of the Parent is that we need to be equipped when we go in to advocate for our kids. I call it the good fight because we are all there for the kids and so we are there to fight for what we know is best for the kids.

As the OT for the School Health Program, I have seen the non verbal stance that most parents take when they come to this kind of a meeting.. It is that of being on guard/ on the defence/ ready to defend our kid from all that the school team is going to report on. As a parent to a son with Autism, I go in armed and ready for whatever the school needs to report to me not knowing if it is going to be good or bad…

That's where the armour comes in… For any fight we need to be armed or else we are going to lose and who likes to lose??

1. Helmet of knowledge: As a parent, I know my son the best but that being said, I need to research about Autism and the implications of the diagnosis on his educational career. I need to learn more about the curriculum and what are the expectations of the curriculum based on his modified education plan or Individual Education Plan (IEP).  I also need to be aware of the rights of my son to be included and be part of the classroom and the policies of the school board for kids with special needs. I also need to educate the staff on the newer evidence based research practices for tools that work as educators are too busy to worry about what’s happening outside the world of education and curriculum.
2. Belt of Truth: I have always taught my kids to speak the truth and if I am preaching that,  I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t practice it. I believe that the truth sets us free so I know what my son’s strengths and weaknesses are, so why would I hide it from the school who are trying their best hopefully to include my son to reach his maximum potential.
3. Breastplate of righteousness: As the therapist, I strive to do my job with integrity and accountability and I would hope that the people who see my son at a school as support systems be it his Teachers, Principal, Speech Language Pathologist, other health professionals etc. also do their jobs so that they can sleep well at night. There should be evidence of this through open and timely communication with the parents.
4. Shield of Trust : Trust or faith is what we have in our judicial system,  in the supernatural power.  So, trust is what I base my relationship with the school on.. I put faith in the school and the staff that they would tell me if something was wrong or if my son wasn’t completing his work and not wait for the next meeting in 2-3 months to bring up the concern because that is lost time for my son.
5.  Sword of the diagnosis “Autism” : Autism is unique in that  if you have met one person with Autism you have met ONE person with Autism… This diagnosis doesn’t allow for a universal quick fix of do this and this and this and your child will be set for school. Being a spectrum disorder, what is a challenge for one kid is a strength for another. For e.g.. My son loves technology to plan his day but I know many kids who would much rather have visual schedule on paper and would find technology challenging to plan their day.

So, I put on my armour to advocate for my son because at the end of the day, I hate losing  and I am the voice for my son(for now as he is young) to succeed and be the best he can be with support of his family and the school system.