If I knew back then what I know now,
I would’ve started my journey on the right foot, right from the beginning.
I would’ve instinctively known that children adopted from another country (i.e. Romania) should see a speech and language therapist as soon as possible,
long before they begin school.
I should’ve known that infants and toddlers that are learning a 2nd language need help, not to learn to speak the words,
but to sound them out and read them with fluency and a deeper meaning of those words. If they don’t, this can cause reading and comprehension deficits
later on in their school years, and this can cause grade level delays in their learning.
When my twin daughters didn’t recognize letter sounds and numbers by the end of Sr. Kindergarten – beginning of Grade 1,
I would’ve taken them then to see
a speech and language therapist and sought out a reading methodology that teaches phonological skills,
if only I had known…
Like many parents before me, because I didn’t know what was wrong and what to do, my daughters, like many bright and able children before them, were not
identified as having a Learning Disability and reading two grades behind until the end of grade four. They would have continued in school struggling,
unsupported and misunderstood, while being pushed through without ever acquiring the basic/foundation learning skills needed to be successful in the
classroom and life. They would have completed highschool, maybe, without ever reaching their true potential, certainly without realizing how smart and
gifted they really are.
Had I known, I would not have waited. Had I known, I would’ve acted immediately the moment the first hint of a deficit showed itself in their early
education years.
Had I known, I would’ve ignored the teachers/school board experts that said they would “grow out of it”, “they are just making age
appropriate errors”, “they don’t need speech and language therapy, they speak just fine”, “they just don’t want to succeed bad enough” and my favourite,
“maybe you should just let them fail – maybe then they will pull up their socks”. All of this before they finished grade four?!
I could’ve changed the
course of their learning experience
if I had only recognized the signs and knew what they meant at the time, the right time!
My father told me once that if you live your life in “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve”, you will never move forward nor be happy. How a mother is suppose
to not feel responsible for all that should’ve/could’ve/would’ve that happens to their child, especially the bad stuff, I haven’t figured that out yet.
However, what I do know now can and will change the lives of other parents and their children, and all the “would’ve, could’ve and should’ve” will not
apply to them!
What has taken me 8 years to understand about children with learning disabilities, learning styles, learning differences, schools, school boards, the
Ministry of Education and Human Rights and how it applies to education in this province, is made available to parents of struggling students so their
journey is much shorter, more informed and a direct route to more successes earlier for their child in the classroom.
It was during my volunteer time at LDA Halton that I recognized the ever widening gap of parents working in isolation and ignorance of each other, and
the mutual struggles we were facing within our school system and community for our bright and able children who were struggling in school. This gap in
clarity of information and lack of resources sent me back to school to find out what I could do to help, and launched the idea of “pass”, parent advocates
for struggling students inc., along with Barb, another parent on her personal journey through special education and children who learn differently.
To contact Cheryl please email
ccoates@passforkids.com
