Last year we moved to a better district because we wanted to upgrade housing but most importantly we wanted our kids to have the best education possible. So that meant that they switched schools with my son starting high school, my oldest daughter finishing middle school at another school and well my youngest had to start her new school to finish her last 6 weeks of school because she hated her school. To be honest, I didn’t worry about my youngest daughter because her personality pretty much draws people in and she has never had a problem meeting friends and people are just drawn to her. At the end of last year after spending a month and a half in the new school she had so many friends and even made some that she began visiting and vice versa.
The new school year is finished and of course she made even more friends and despite having so much work and it being stressful at times, she came through with all A’s and 1 B, which was a 88 which was great because she worked so hard and they challenged her unlike her last school and there were times she worked on homework for almost 2 hours. Now onto my son, he started high school this past year and usually he has no problems meeting new friends either but it takes him a little longer because he is a little shy at times.
When we visited the high school, which looked like a college campus compared to the school he was going to and one I graduated from but they told him that the school has been labeled as being more difficult than college because they work hard there.
Let’s just say that after finishing up his freshman year they were on point with what they were saying. He said this was the hardest he worked in all his years combined but they were great teachers, the students were cool and they did everything to help you achieve his goals. He even changed his mind on what he wanted to do after he graduated which was something to do with computers because he was taking web design and actually have become pretty good at it also.
That left my oldest daughter and the one that I worried about the most because she really hated leaving her friends behind at the other school but I knew this would be the best for her because those friends brought her down and didn’t put her to her potential.
Well things started by registering her and then going to the open house which was a great experience because all the teachers loved her and talked about her pretty and tall she was. They were recruiting her from the start to play basketball in the future and 1 of her teachers was actually the coach and would take the time to help her develop more. Beforehand my wife and I told them that at her previous school they always said she had behavioral issues but really didn’t think that was the issue.
Of course they probably thought that all parents think that there kids isn’t bad and they’ve probably heard that before but we also told them about her issues with Math, which is something she’s always had an issue with and don’t understand how she passed all these years. Fast forward to a couple of weeks after school started we received a call from the teacher who took a liking to my daughter when they first met and she was concerned about her and wanted to speak with us.
Of course, we were scared and nervous and thought the worse because we made them aware of possible behavior issues but that wasn’t the case, she even said there isn’t a bad bone in her body but did notice she had problems comprehending things. I’m sure there are other parents that have faced a similar situation before. My wife and I have schedules that at least one of us is home at all times. Some parents don’t have that luxury and may need help with their child. A premier study has shown that in-home care for your special needs child can help out a lot.
After a series of meetings and tests on my oldest daughter it was discovered she had a learning disability and the previous school basically ignored it. You see for years we told them that we believe she had issues with comprehension and that she had problems learning but they chalked it up to her behavior hell even the doctors said it was something that she’ll eventually grow out of. During the year this school contacted her other school and was questioning why they didn’t do nothing for her or even try to run the same tests they did on her but they got the same run around as we did.
I still remember the day when they invited her to one of the meetings to tell her about the learning disability she had and how we all were in tears and my daughter was so distraught that when she left she ran into the bathroom and cried while another teacher went behind her and comforted her and cried with her………………..man I tell that sent chills up and down my body and is doing the same as I write this. This confirmed everything I thought about this school and that is they care so much about these students because they were coming in early, staying late and willing to do whatever to help my daughter and other students like her.
When my daughter got home she was actually happy and said her favorite teacher, her name is Mrs. Priest talked to her and said that no matter what, that she can overcome any obstacle in her way and she has the supporting cast to do with the teachers, the school staff and more importantly your parents.
Mrs. Priest is the first teacher my daughter actually had a connection with in all the years she’s been in school, except her Pre-k teachers and her other teachers in this school she absolutely loved also. Despite her having a learning disability she tried so much in her classes and was paired with a couple of advanced girls and she would compete with them because like her dad, she’s very competitive and that brought the best out of her.
This had to be the toughest school year we’ve ever had with any of our kids but it was most definitely the most rewarding because all this time the other school always blamed her problems on behavior while promoting her without getting down to the real issue. See where we came from we’ve seen so many kids done like this and they slip through the cracks and become statistics in society and they never reach their full potential and at times turn to a life of crimes because people never cared or just have given up on them. There is no telling what would have happened to Jasmine if she continued to stay at that school because they didn’t give a damn about her.
At the end of the school year Jasmine said that was the best school she’s ever been to and wished we moved to this area a long time ago and I really wish I did also because we were going to about 10 years ago but I decided against it. Oh yeah, that little issue we thought she would have issues meeting new friends, let’s just say she was one of the most popular kids at school and she made so many new friends and her confidence went through the roof.
I definitely saw her grow from a distant, angry girl to a confident, happy young lady who’s always joking around and laughing. The last day of school when she came home we could tell something was wrong and then she just began crying in her room and we thought something bad happened in school and we tried talking to her but she wanted to be left alone for a while. When she finally wanted to talk she said she was crying because she’s going to miss all her friends and that they were crying together and most importantly she’s going to miss Mrs. Priest because she’s going to high school next year.
So that was our year in review, do you know of any issues with your child or another child that may have a learning disability? If so, push the school to look into it because while most people will say it’s behavior, a lot of the times could be they’re acting out for another reason or they’re not bad after all? If you have stories about someone you know about any disability I would like to know and would love to feature them on Daddy’s Hangout. Talk to me!!!!! To learn more about head over to the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
