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1. I took on the position as Early Kindergarten teacher in a school district this year. I am the third teacher in three years. I have a student in my class that is back for a second year. He struggles to stay focused, likes to fixate on items, and when he writes or draws it is upside down and backwards. He is a fun kid and gets along with all the other children. At the open house (before school started) mom stated that they had concerns about his inability to focus and how he stays fixated on things. They had him evaluated for Autism and there were no concerns. The child psychologist simply stated that he is highly intelligent. The writing upside down and backwards is a new development according to mom.
2. When I approached mom about my concerns with his writing, I had an example of his name after he wrote it and a picture of him working on his people in art. Mom was very receptive to my concerns and is very open to having further screening done to ensure there is no processing issues happening. Since Autism has already been ruled out, we are now looking at vision and processing. Mom signed the release last week so that we can have a developmental and OT screen done.
3. Since I can not find any assessment results or records from the previous teacher, I am going off of what I am seeing with this child currently. I am very thankful that this child's mother is proactive and willing to have the screenings done so we can ensure we are providing all the necessary tools for him to successful. Being open and honest with mom has definitely started to build a strong relationship with her. She knows that I have her child's best interests at heart and I am not singling him out. He is not a behavioral problem and is a very funny child. A real joy to have in class.
4. At this point, I do not believe I would do anything different. I approached mom with my concerns before going to the school psychologist and the principal. When mom also was concerned, then we started the ball rolling to get the necessary screenings. Mom is also taking him to have his vision checked to make sure there are no concerns there. Mom knows that I am on Team GC and I am not saying they are bad parents or blaming anyone. I just want to know that I am providing the best experience and education I can for her child.

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This week talking about families made me think about some things. I feel I have a good relationship with parents so far. Something that I am wondering about though, is when a child has an undiagnosed issue, how can you tell the family you are concerned, with out telling them what you think is going on. I am in no way trained or qualified to tell families I think their child might have a disability. There are a few red flags I see in one of the students, but I've only had this kids for eight days, and again, I am in no way qualified to start spouting out diagnoses. His parent asked me about autism, and I said, "well, we are going to continue to observe him, we will start some things that might help him focus a little better, but for now, I am still getting to know him." One of the parent activities was keeping a journal of the child that goes back and forth from the teacher to the family. This might be a good way to show the family my observations, and compare them with theirs. 

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This week talking about families made me think about some things. I feel I have a good relationship with parents so far. Something that I am wondering about though, is when a child has an undiagnosed issue, how can you tell the family you are concerned, with out telling them what you think is going on. I am in no way trained or qualified to tell families I think their child might have a disability. There are a few red flags I see in one of the students, but I've only had this kids for eight days, and again, I am in no way qualified to start spouting out diagnoses. His parent asked me about autism, and I said, "well, we are going to continue to observe him, we will start some things that might help him focus a little better, but for now, I am still getting to know him." One of the parent activities was keeping a journal of the child that goes back and forth from the teacher to the family. This might be a good way to show the family my observations, and compare them with theirs. 

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Any suggestions?

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1. We enrolled a new family. Two children, a 4 year old boy and a just two year old girl. We are going to call her "Puppy" as she was as lovable as a puppy! First week went by, and our little Puppy, we had noticed had no use of verbal communications. Not even mom, dad, or brother. The teacher and myself agreed to document the child through out the day, while making sure this child had many opportunities to reciprocate in verbal communications. What we also discovered was strong behavioral outbursts around frustration. This could be anything from playing with other children to putting shoes on or going to use the bathroom. While Puppy was one of the most happy and loving children I have ever met, the outbursts were so fierce that children began to not want to play or interact with Puppy. We proceeded to observe, so when we had a conversation with mom and dad we could give clear examples as to what we were seeing. As we continued to observe daily, we noticed that possibly, Puppy was not hearing to well. The correlation between the outbursts of frustrations and the behaviors made some logical sense that she may not be able to hear. We then decided it was time to have a conversation with the family.
2. The conversation was received very well and both mom and dad appreciated the documentation and the talk. They had come from a daycare before where Puppy was in an infant class with very small babies and they had never received any kind of feedback or input about Puppy.  The communication piece they just thought was because she was never around anybody her age. We referred them to see there family doctor and agreed to meet again after the follow through.
Lets fast forward and give you a small perspective of Puppy's journey there after. From 2 years old to 5 years old. ALOT happened.
First off the determination that Puppy was completely def in her left ear was confirmed. Puppy was in speech therapy for two years to learn to talk. Puppy also, and this was because of the loss of hearing, had some sensory issues and was in PT for two years. All while she had to wait, for the surgery to fix her left ear when she turned 5. Therefore, although the fits of frustration got better they still existed in her day to day interactions at school. At least, we had an answer as to why. This helped with the understanding and allowed us to be more empathetic to her needs. It did not, at all help the other families understand why this child was not being "expelled" from our school because of "bad" behavior. And this...right here is where confidentiality does not serve us well.
3. Lessons learned from this child and her journey in our preschool...things take time. Time to find the what, and then the time to understand. Time to learn more and bond with trust in the family and the team that works with the child. And time to completely fall in love with a child! A big lesson too...many of us, at some point in time, have labeled a child with "bad' behavior because we thought incorrectly. I have learned that most will label a child "bad" not even knowing any circumstances around that child, or the family. And for this reason...I feel vey sad.
4. The ending, to the beginning of Puppy and her going off to public school was amazing. They fixed her ear, and she could hear out of both ears, she blossomed into this beautiful and excited kindergartener, and she never once lost the sparkle that surrounded her! I don't feel I would do anything differently, we maintained great communication with the family and we did a wonderful job with this child. It was honestly the outside children and families that did Puppy a disservice.  And what I mean by that is because they did not know the background and history of this child and family, they treated them different. Some were even cruel. If we could educate families on the differences of families and children and that children are never "bad", that...would be a huge part in the inclusion and success of all children. I am going to attach a letter for you to read. A letter written to the mother, from another parent. I keep it in my desk drawer because it not only reminds be that nobody ever knows the whole story of a child's life, but I also keep it to remind myself that every child deserves fair and inclusive environments that set them up for success and it is our job to make that happen. In the end, my administrator found out who wrote this letter, and this family was then expelled from the center.