Thinking Outside. The. Box.

Thinking Outside The Box

I am not good with bureaucracy.  I know there are rules and processes in place in an effort to keep things fair and to ensure there is regulation and oversight.  I get that red tape (sometimes) serves a purpose.  I also admit to being somewhat (okay, quite) impatient and I get really tired of hearing variations of "we can't do that", or "it's out of our hands, it's how the system works and we can't change it".

You CAN.  You can and WE can.  Sure, change is not easy, and the larger the bureaucracy, the slower the change.  I'm also not advocating for anarchy here, let's change the system from within in a positive and collaborative way, but let's not merely throw up our hands in defeat without even trying to push for change when it's needed.

Sometimes professionals become complacent and just accept "no" for an answer, or worse, stop asking altogether when they assume the answer will be no.  When people and their ideas get rejected so often, sometimes they simply stop asking and give up trying.  This is not okay.  People deserve to work in an environment where they are heard and where change is possible.  The status quo is unacceptable, we must learn and change and grow as we find new and better ways of doing things.  Stagnation is unhealthy and unhelpful (plus, it's boring, and we folks with ADHD love novelty).

When parents or educators see what they feel is a fairly simple solution for a problem in school the possibility should at least be considered.  In fact, when parents and educators are coming up with ideas and suggestions, rather than simply pointing out problems, this should be rewarded and encouraged.

This brings me to the original reason for this post (we folks with ADHD might go off on tangents sometimes...)

Is your child's school providing appropriate accommodations and required services during this time of distance education?  

Is your school's division and school team doing everything they can to follow your child's IEP (or SSP, or BIP, or whatever letters they are currently using) via online learning?

I fully recognize the extreme challenge educators are facing having gone from in-class instruction to online platforms to one-on-one in-class supports to who knows what school will look like in the Fall.  The onus is on a team of people, not any one person, to work together and come up with solutions that will meet the needs of each individual student.  Not an easy task by any means, but a very important one, and one that parents, caregivers, and students have every right to expect.

As a parent, caregiver, or student, if you have concerns or needs that are not being met, please don't feel as though you cannot ask for support or accommodation because of the challenging circumstances we are all experiencing.  Education is a right to which all children deserve access, and it's up to the parents and school teams to work together to make that happen.  

If you need help working with your school, please feel free to contact us to arrange a meeting.