My daughter

My daughter wanted me to do a posting about her in my blog. When I asked her what she wanted me to say she said, “Tell them I am pretty.” Well she is pretty, funny, smart, messy, and easily provoked by her brother. However, what I really want to tell you about here are the lessons she has taught me as a parent and as someone who wants to educate children. When the Tornado was younger, she had a bad articulation problem. I understood and I would act as her official interpreter. It was working fine until she started school and then it was a problem. Her teacher and classmates could not understand and I was not there to interpret for her. As result, there were lots of tears and a frustrated daughter. Fortunately, the school provided her with speech therapy. I was not very happy with the first therapist but she left the school and they hired a new one. She turned out to be a godsend for my daughter. I received a phone call one day from her speech teacher. She was concerned about my daughter’s behavior and wanted to know if it was something she could control or not. She described that at times when they were working one on one it seemed like she just went away and would not respond to her no matter how loudly she called her name. Then it was as if she woke up and would continue doing what she had before the episode. Well the light bulb went off and I knew what was happening. She was having petite mall seizures just as I had done when I was little. I called the pediatrician who set up an EEG and we made an appointment with the neurologist. Sure enough, I was right only now they call them absent seizures. She is now on medication and the seizures are under control. The interesting thing about all of this is the speech teacher told me she was unsure about whether or not she should call me and tell me what was happing because she did not know how I would react. From this experience, I learned that as parents we could sometimes be so wrapped up in our children that we feel when they are successful we are seen as good parent’s ands when there is a problem we will be seen as bad parents. Very often, this causes parents to become defensive when a teacher points out a problem. This response makes teachers sometimes reluctant to speak out when they have a concern fearing that the parent will get defensive and angry. As parents, we need to remember that ultimately we are all on the same team. Parents, teachers, and school officials all are working toward helping your child reach their full potential. Moreover, teachers need to remember that even though a parent may not react they way you would like them to you need to voice your concerns. It may be the difference between a child being frustrated and dropping out of school and a child receiving the proper diagnosis and treatment for a medical condition. In addition, remember to respect the parent because after all they were the child’s first teacher and will always be the most important teacher in their lives.