what would you want for your child?

Honestly, I ask myself this question every day, multiple times. And I shout it inwardly in my head at others all day long. And apparently psychic shouting doesn't help because other people continue to bumble through the day as if we don't have real kids' lives in our hands.

Take an on-going discussion this year. "Everard, you must write goals for Little Johnny in several areas--Language Arts, Math, Social Skills, Communication Skills, etc., etc. Little Johnny is only just turning three years old and your job is to teach him how to be ready for kindergarten in two years." Everard refuses to step up to the plate. This is his third year working with Little Johnny and all his mates and Everard completely resists taking any responsibility to Little Johnny's education even though he is Little Johnny's main defense against a cold hard world. I want to strangle Everard.

For example. Everard "specializes" in teaching children with Autistic tendencies. Today we were to have a meeting for Little Johnny's friend Jimmy, who, big surprise, has autistic tendencies. I knew that. Our speech therapist knew that. Our nurse knew that. Jimmy's mom knows that. How did Everard miss that? Jimmy has moderate retardation...no language, lots and lots of sensory issues--he flaps his hands, he rolls around on the floor, he sometimes trips over his own feet. It's hard to "assess" Jimmy in a traditional way because Jimmy is simply not a traditional kind of kid. And he's probably never going to be.

Still, I somehow wrote a report based on Jimmy's current functioning. The nurse wrote one. So did the speech therapist. And his home teacher. Not to mention his occupational therapist. Somehow, Everard is not sure where Jimmy is functioning (and I'm just making a wild guess here, but I suspect it goes hand in hand with Everard also missing that Jimmy has Autism) and thus, doesn't really know how to write goals for Jimmy.

You know, I do prefer being left. I really do. And I don't support firing teachers without due process. But Hell, I think there's something to be said for a longer waiting period before any of us acquire tenure! Because quite frankly, although I think Everard is very nice (a little milquetoast for my taste, but you know, he's nice), I don't think I'd want him for my child!