Do you want to know the 7 common mistakes that you make as a parent when you are sending a child with special needs to formal school

The new session has just begun and we are already overwhelmed with mixed thoughts of what we should do differently this year. Should we reduce the time, provide a shadow teacher, or simply change the school?

Here is a little insight into these mistakes and what action should be taken in this direction

1. Lack of understanding about the Child’s condition and profile: Different categories of children fall into this group, kids can have physical impairment, visual, or hearing impairments, some may be slow learners, speech delay, etc. Sometimes parents do not fully understand what is the diagnosis and how it affects their child's learning and development. How this condition will progress in the future, what is the prognosis? Educating yourself about your child’s medical condition with the help of Paediatricians, Paediatric neurologists, Developmental Paediatricians, child psychologists, occupational therapists, special educators, and speech therapists and sharing that knowledge through proper documentation with the school is very important.

2. Lack of communication with the school: Sometimesparents hesitate to talk to teachers and fail to communicate effectively with the school staff about the child's day-to-day functioning.  There can be some days and times designated every week for parent-teacher meeting. This will be helpful for teachers so that they can make necessary accommodations and for parents so that they can make a log of individual performance components like sitting time, reading, writing, peer activity, sports, eating lunch, using the washroom, etc.

3. Keeping expectations realistic:  Parents often expect that their child will be settled as he was in the last session, or may compare with other kids with the same profile in academics and extracurricular activities. But every year with growing age there are new challenges related to relationship development with teachers and staff, finding their classrooms, new space, new corridors, academic pressure of new syllabus, or anything new or too demanding. Children should be given time and space, it's not that they are naughty but they are processing social cues of functioning in schoolslowly and steadily.

4. Understanding what Inclusion or Inclusive setup means: Sometimes we have the misconception that if the school has special educators they fall into the category of inclusive schools. Inclusive schools are the schools that have made necessary adaptations to accommodate children with different challenges. Schools with inclusive education programs provide support for various student-oriented activities which include identification and assessment of CWSN, provision of aids and appliances, braille books, large print books, therapeutic services, development of teaching-learning material, assistive devices, and equipment, Resource room,  environment building, vocational education, orientation program to create positive attitude and awareness about nature and needs of children, in-service training of special educators and teachers on curriculum adaptation. So it is always preferable to take admissions in schools that have recognition of inclusive schools.

5. Neglecting Individualized Education Program (IEP): IEPs are personalized education planthat addresses your child's specific needs and provides necessary adaptations in the syllabus. IEPs are the plansthat help children to have educable and measurable goals on which their progress is monitored.There can be at least 3-5 children with special needs in one classroom with different issues. Each child should have a different IEP. It is very important to have IEPs developed and reviewed regularly.

6. Extra Dependence on Shadow Teachers: Shadow teachers are people assigned to help children in day-to-day functioning in school, who are shadows of main class teachers. Sometimes it is considered that shadow teachers are the extreme solution and we become overdependent on them. It is very important to pre-define the role of a shadow teacher according to the profile of the child. Some of the duties that shadow teachers are responsible for are assisting children in curricular and co-curricular activities, assisting class teachers for child related classroom activities, and developing strategies (break out time, social story or scrapbook, reducing the school hours)which will help in overcoming challenges, and most importantly tapering the assistance from her or his side offered to the child and make him independent.

7. Underestimating the importance of social skills development: While academics are crucial, social skills development is equally important for children. Collaborating with the school to create opportunities for your child to interact with peers, participate in social activities, and receive social skills training can greatly enhance their overall development.