Skip to main content

Tokens



I went to the great and mighty Google and entered the following question:

What do special needs parents want?




Here’s a sampling of the results. There’s plenty to delve into and learn from. You know what answer I didn’t find?

Badges.


Apparently the school system is launching an initiative to motivate special needs parents to attend informational workshops by offering them...badges.

I’m sure this is well-meaning, but I just don’t get it. Special needs parents are some of the most highly motivated parents out there. They maintain an active, independent parent advocacy group, SECAC. Why on earth would you think you could motivate them with badges? Were they out of stickers? 

What happens if you earn all the badges? Do you get a sash?

If I wanted to get parents who are already over-burdened to participate in educational workshops I think I’d appeal to their innate desire to learn more about how they could become better equipped to support their children. If I wanted to provide incentives I’d be thinking along the lines of certificates for respite care and restaurant gift cards for those nights where everything has gone to pieces and you just can’t cook. 

But, badges? No. It just wouldn’t enter my mind.

I promise I’ll keep my eye on this in case there’s somehow more about this that I don’t yet fully understand. But, at this very moment, it seems to be an unwitting insult to a group of parents in our community who are looking for empowerment, not token reinforcement.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more