Originally Posted by CCN
Originally Posted by marytheres
But I truly feel psych felt like DS should have just been able to "obey" the assistant. She doens;t believe the assistnat was at fault at all - she thinks DS is the problem. I think DS' hiddent disabilities and giftedness paired with an awful assistant caused DS breakdown but of course schools never see any "problems" on their side.

Of course they don't... sigh. I'm sorry that happened.

I'm grateful you've shared this as well... I'm training to be a teaching assistant as we speak (I have a class tomorrow smile ). I'm impressed so far, actually, about how much the instructors have been emphasizing how important compassion is.

Maybe your son's assistant was too focused on achievement. I wonder if that was just her personality or if she was under pressure to produce results? (I think I may err the other way...in my application I stressed that I feel I can contribute by making kids feel welcome and safe in school... and they still accepted me into the program, ha ha)

Anyway it's good to hear that your DS has a good teacher. That can make all the difference.

Aww thank you so much. I am not sure exactly what the problem was first hand b/c I never got to oberve her with my DS (or any kid) at all (even though I volunteered a lot in the class. I was never allowed to be there when she was there. DS reported she shamed him for his poor fine motor skills (called his writing "pre-school style" in front of the group, used his writing as an example of how pre-schoolers work and not kindergartners (thing was he worked so hard to get to pre-school level - he is almost two years behind in fine motor due to the hypontonia ... I think assistant didn't know he had a 504 or didn't care or understand it. And DS, of course, is very sensitive. His big fear was to be held up as "stupid" or inadequate. And she did precisely that. Teacher talked with her about her doing that... However, DS told me that he "could never trust her again." She also would refuse to let him use his favorite color marker, or let him have his favorite color and then not assign any work with it... that kind-of thing. She hated that he questionsd the "why" behind leassons and rules. And yeah beleive me all day of DS' questions can be annoying but he truly is curious as to the "why" behind lessons and rules. It actually helps him comply. It sounded to me like she got into power struggles with him and was more concerned about "winning" against my DS than "reaching" my DS. frown

Last edited by marytheres; 09/14/12 06:27 PM.