Sunday, September 26, 2010

Letter to the school -both sent on the same day

I have just finished signing and putting in Ajs backpack that we received his progress report.
I did not share it with him. 
My dear boy, my husband and I work hours everyday and on the weekend on homework. 
He shouldn't have mostly D's and F's as final grades. 
I brought this up at the iep and ended up with this horrid progress report and no contact or call from anyone on his team.
I believe he can be successful with modification of some of the work and a lot of communication from the teachers and aide. 
We are devoted to him and making this work, but we need some help from his team at school. 
Please let me know your ideas and I will do the same. 

life is fatiguing me lately...

Letter to the soccer team parents

Dear Parents of the Red Ragers,
Last week my husband attended the team parent meeting. He was confronted in front of the group by a couple of parents about our son, AJ.  My husband was not at the game he was asked about. I was there and was organizing the team snacks when Aj evidently hit or pushed a child on the other team after being taunted. I was never aware nor told that this had occurred. Our message to Aj was, and continues to be, that this type of behavior is never acceptable. 
At the beginning of the season I told the coach (as I do every coach, camp counselor etc.) that Aj has learning and attention deficits and sometimes has difficulty controlling his emotions when in competitive situations. I asked him to let us know if he needed assistance, had questions etc. My husband has since had the same discussion with him. If a parent had asked me about Aj, or sat and chatted with me- I would have likely had a similar conversation. We are not hiding anything, and yet we don’t need to put him on public display for every parent on every team to examine and judge. At the end of every season or school year I always write notes thanking the coaches/teachers who have embraced and supported Aj. It does take a village to raise a child and I am so grateful to those who commit to ALL children in our community. 
Aj is a joy in our lives. That having been said, parenting a child like Aj can be a rocky and emotional road. I imagine he travels a similar road. My message to you as parents sharing this community is that families like ours desire and hope for acceptance, support and friendship. Those of you have offered this to mine and other families-I am so grateful. Those of you who gave a cold shoulder, commented that you are “tired of putting up with” my child and sought to shame us in a group forum are not “fixing” any one in my family. In the future I recommend calling upon your grace, integrity and compassion when addressing other families.