Why do special ed teachers.therapists seem to condescend to the students, parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

Somehow a lot of SLP's, despite not being the brightest bulb on the porch, think that they know EVERYTHING. They become Pediatrician,neurologist and psychiatrist all in one.

In our case, SLP said attention was the problem, the Special Educator said attention was the problem, but the School Psychologist said no attentional issues noted so no disability was identified. It's like working with a triplet of ostriches with their head in the sand. They each are experts pointing to diagnoses that are not in their field of expertise.

[Anonymous]

Because a lot of them WON'T ever accomplish much. That's just reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because a lot of them WON'T ever accomplish much. That's just reality.

Based on who's definition? Where did you wander in here from? Isn't that also true of the low ses kids statistically speaking? And the kids of non college educated moms? Should teachers only teach the wealthy kids? You are ridiculous. Many kids in special Ed graduate from high school. Many kids with autism have extremely high iqs and could go on to do any number of things. Many kids with ADHD function much better on meds. Some kids blossom with good supports. The whole point that it is all futile because they are uneducable is the problem. My god, I hope you have nothing all to do with any children, and I feel awful for your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because a lot of them WON'T ever accomplish much. That's just reality.

Based on who's definition? Where did you wander in here from? Isn't that also true of the low ses kids statistically speaking? And the kids of non college educated moms? Should teachers only teach the wealthy kids? You are ridiculous. Many kids in special Ed graduate from high school. Many kids with autism have extremely high iqs and could go on to do any number of things. Many kids with ADHD function much better on meds. Some kids blossom with good supports. The whole point that it is all futile because they are uneducable is the problem. My god, I hope you have nothing all to do with any children, and I feel awful for your own.

This may be true, but I rather agree with the pp that many kids will plateau early. However, it's no reason to be condescending to them. Unfortunately, I think the brunt of the workload may burn out more therapists and teachers who care more quickly. The ones that don't will last.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because a lot of them WON'T ever accomplish much. That's just reality.

Based on who's definition? Where did you wander in here from? Isn't that also true of the low ses kids statistically speaking? And the kids of non college educated moms? Should teachers only teach the wealthy kids? You are ridiculous. Many kids in special Ed graduate from high school. Many kids with autism have extremely high iqs and could go on to do any number of things. Many kids with ADHD function much better on meds. Some kids blossom with good supports. The whole point that it is all futile because they are uneducable is the problem. My god, I hope you have nothing all to do with any children, and I feel awful for your own.

This may be true, but I rather agree with the pp that many kids will plateau early. However, it's no reason to be condescending to them. Unfortunately, I think the brunt of the workload may burn out more therapists and teachers who care more quickly. The ones that don't will last.

That's a HUGE generalization. I'm not quite willing to accept that my 4.5 year old will plateau early because he's struggled with certain things up until this point. When are we supposed to just assume it will plateau? God that's bleak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

Re SLPs, I thought we were the only ones with this experience. School SLPs are the worst!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because a lot of them WON'T ever accomplish much. That's just reality.

How sad! And scary if this what and how people think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

I am wondering if your kid is at the same school as mine. She was obsessed with attention. Mainstream TEACHER who had my kid all day agreed the issue was language and not attention, but miss know it all could not let it go even when her own testing showed otherwise. I basically (in front of the IEP team) told her we see some of the top people in the country and even the world and they feel our child needs SLT and attention is not the issue. We have documentation of this in the file. Some of them are highly regarded researchers and professors. What makes you think you know more than they do? Please share your research and publications on the subject matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because a lot of them WON'T ever accomplish much. That's just reality.

Who, our kids or the school experts? While there are some great school "experts," many are at the school system because they could not hack it in private and its a dumping ground for the bad, lazy and uncaring. If you are talking about our kids, you are very very wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

I am wondering if your kid is at the same school as mine. She was obsessed with attention. Mainstream TEACHER who had my kid all day agreed the issue was language and not attention, but miss know it all could not let it go even when her own testing showed otherwise. I basically (in front of the IEP team) told her we see some of the top people in the country and even the world and they feel our child needs SLT and attention is not the issue. We have documentation of this in the file. Some of them are highly regarded researchers and professors. What makes you think you know more than they do? Please share your research and publications on the subject matter.

OMG. Not the OP here but we encountered the same type of issue in our school system. Outside evaluations (multiple evaluations that showed the same speech-language issues) and input from top professionals from top institutions (not hand-picked private professionals) didn't matter to our school system - they insisted against all evidence that DC didn't have speech-language issues at all. It's maddening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

I am wondering if your kid is at the same school as mine. She was obsessed with attention. Mainstream TEACHER who had my kid all day agreed the issue was language and not attention, but miss know it all could not let it go even when her own testing showed otherwise. I basically (in front of the IEP team) told her we see some of the top people in the country and even the world and they feel our child needs SLT and attention is not the issue. We have documentation of this in the file. Some of them are highly regarded researchers and professors. What makes you think you know more than they do? Please share your research and publications on the subject matter.

Most of the school SLPs my child had over the years were fine to very good.

But the very first one we encountered told me that she had done her own research and developed her own way of addressing apraxia (which was not at all current or evidence based). I used a variant of your line about research, etc in a meeting -- she was unfazed. Simply replied that she was too busy to publish her research but she could prove that her method worked better.

[Anonymous]

So far I've had good results except two professionals: the school psychologist who never spent a moment evaluating my child but came to some really wild conclusions about him anyway; and a psychologist who I hired for myself who took it upon herself to interfere with my child's care and practically diagnose him (without even ever having seen him ...) Other than that everyone has been great, if not necessarily evidence based. In particular I found the DC Strong Start people to be very professional and thorough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

I am wondering if your kid is at the same school as mine. She was obsessed with attention. Mainstream TEACHER who had my kid all day agreed the issue was language and not attention, but miss know it all could not let it go even when her own testing showed otherwise. I basically (in front of the IEP team) told her we see some of the top people in the country and even the world and they feel our child needs SLT and attention is not the issue. We have documentation of this in the file. Some of them are highly regarded researchers and professors. What makes you think you know more than they do? Please share your research and publications on the subject matter.

OMG. Not the OP here but we encountered the same type of issue in our school system. Outside evaluations (multiple evaluations that showed the same speech-language issues) and input from top professionals from top institutions (not hand-picked private professionals) didn't matter to our school system - they insisted against all evidence that DC didn't have speech-language issues at all. It's maddening.

Your private evaluations may show that there is a speech-language issue, but that doesn't mean your child will qualify for service. The SLPs are bound by certain qualification criteria. Other students may benefit from treatment, but that doesn't mean we can provide service in the schools. Sadly, that is what private therapy is for. Also, speech-pathologists in the county are not allowed to qualify a student based on assessments completed by a profession who is not an SLP. Psychologist often use tests that are more of a screening and not specific enough to language. So, they are required to do further testing even if they'd like to provide service. Believe me, testing takes a long time and takes the student away from instruction. We'd love to use your testing from the private psych, but simply are not allowed to. A private SLP may identify a speech-language weakness, but if the scores don't meat qualification criteria (which are very low), then our hands are tied. Not receiving school service is not an indication that your child would not benefit from treatment. We are simply limited to providing service only to those students whose difficulties can be identified as a disability which negatively impacts education and requires the specialized service of an SLP. As students reach MS and HS, they have more academic English classes and we are not allowed to bill for services which can reasonably be provided by someone else. Sometimes, that is the English teacher. For instance, we are not supposed to make IEP goals for reading even though SLPs have extensive training in this area, but MCPS have reading specialist who can target this area and they are easier to come by. There is always an SLP shortage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

I am wondering if your kid is at the same school as mine. She was obsessed with attention. Mainstream TEACHER who had my kid all day agreed the issue was language and not attention, but miss know it all could not let it go even when her own testing showed otherwise. I basically (in front of the IEP team) told her we see some of the top people in the country and even the world and they feel our child needs SLT and attention is not the issue. We have documentation of this in the file. Some of them are highly regarded researchers and professors. What makes you think you know more than they do? Please share your research and publications on the subject matter.

OMG. Not the OP here but we encountered the same type of issue in our school system. Outside evaluations (multiple evaluations that showed the same speech-language issues) and input from top professionals from top institutions (not hand-picked private professionals) didn't matter to our school system - they insisted against all evidence that DC didn't have speech-language issues at all. It's maddening.

Your private evaluations may show that there is a speech-language issue, but that doesn't mean your child will qualify for service. The SLPs are bound by certain qualification criteria. Other students may benefit from treatment, but that doesn't mean we can provide service in the schools. Sadly, that is what private therapy is for. Also, speech-pathologists in the county are not allowed to qualify a student based on assessments completed by a profession who is not an SLP. Psychologist often use tests that are more of a screening and not specific enough to language. So, they are required to do further testing even if they'd like to provide service. Believe me, testing takes a long time and takes the student away from instruction. We'd love to use your testing from the private psych, but simply are not allowed to. A private SLP may identify a speech-language weakness, but if the scores don't meat qualification criteria (which are very low), then our hands are tied. Not receiving school service is not an indication that your child would not benefit from treatment. We are simply limited to providing service only to those students whose difficulties can be identified as a disability which negatively impacts education and requires the specialized service of an SLP. As students reach MS and HS, they have more academic English classes and we are not allowed to bill for services which can reasonably be provided by someone else. Sometimes, that is the English teacher. For instance, we are not supposed to make IEP goals for reading even though SLPs have extensive training in this area, but MCPS have reading specialist who can target this area and they are easier to come by. There is always an SLP shortage.

We turned in several evaluations including a recent one from this summer from an SLP. The school SLP said she didn't see an language issue despite this child having serious language issues and only recently began talking. She was very clear she was not going to assist and was very annoyed we were even asking for services. It made no sense when the primary issue is language, the teachers supported the request and the SLP is saying that the test scores are fine (when they are not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SLP is terrible at our school. Despite documented concerns for years, she denies any speech issues and says its attention. After several evaluations and years of therapy, she is the only one commenting this. Our special ed teacher seems great but most I have met are not and most general ed teachers because they don't know each disorder generally lump all SN kids together and assume the worst vs. the best. Many don't like parents who are involved and advocate.

I am wondering if your kid is at the same school as mine. She was obsessed with attention. Mainstream TEACHER who had my kid all day agreed the issue was language and not attention, but miss know it all could not let it go even when her own testing showed otherwise. I basically (in front of the IEP team) told her we see some of the top people in the country and even the world and they feel our child needs SLT and attention is not the issue. We have documentation of this in the file. Some of them are highly regarded researchers and professors. What makes you think you know more than they do? Please share your research and publications on the subject matter.

OMG. Not the OP here but we encountered the same type of issue in our school system. Outside evaluations (multiple evaluations that showed the same speech-language issues) and input from top professionals from top institutions (not hand-picked private professionals) didn't matter to our school system - they insisted against all evidence that DC didn't have speech-language issues at all. It's maddening.

Your private evaluations may show that there is a speech-language issue, but that doesn't mean your child will qualify for service. The SLPs are bound by certain qualification criteria. Other students may benefit from treatment, but that doesn't mean we can provide service in the schools. Sadly, that is what private therapy is for. Also, speech-pathologists in the county are not allowed to qualify a student based on assessments completed by a profession who is not an SLP. Psychologist often use tests that are more of a screening and not specific enough to language. So, they are required to do further testing even if they'd like to provide service. Believe me, testing takes a long time and takes the student away from instruction. We'd love to use your testing from the private psych, but simply are not allowed to. A private SLP may identify a speech-language weakness, but if the scores don't meat qualification criteria (which are very low), then our hands are tied. Not receiving school service is not an indication that your child would not benefit from treatment. We are simply limited to providing service only to those students whose difficulties can be identified as a disability which negatively impacts education and requires the specialized service of an SLP. As students reach MS and HS, they have more academic English classes and we are not allowed to bill for services which can reasonably be provided by someone else. Sometimes, that is the English teacher. For instance, we are not supposed to make IEP goals for reading even though SLPs have extensive training in this area, but MCPS have reading specialist who can target this area and they are easier to come by. There is always an SLP shortage.

We turned in several evaluations including a recent one from this summer from an SLP. The school SLP said she didn't see an language issue despite this child having serious language issues and only recently began talking. She was very clear she was not going to assist and was very annoyed we were even asking for services. It made no sense when the primary issue is language, the teachers supported the request and the SLP is saying that the test scores are fine (when they are not).

I can't really comment on that without knowing more details. Sorry. I do agree that some SLPs are less motivated than others. Unfortunately, caseloads typically grow, often substantially, over the course of the year and the SLP does not get additional help. So, more work in less time. Allocations for schools are made in January and a lot can change by the end of the year. Add in medical billing, IEP meetings, Speech Service meetings, paperwork, and prep time and you're left with barely any time to actually provide service. It's very frustrating. I am sorry that you've had a hard time.