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doctor appointment for cherub
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 294852" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Trish, I wouldn't get too mad at the aides. It is a messy job and to do it properly they need special training and whatever alalowances they're entitled to. If you must express anger, direct it to whoever decided that paying the aides what should be paid, wasn't necessary. Get upset on behalf of the aides' entitlements and you will not only get the aides back on your side (because you;'re fighting for them) but you also stand a much better chance of cherub getting the proper support and assistance she needs.</p><p></p><p>Push for funding for the extra pay as well as for training. Parents have much more success at getting funding through on appeal than staff do. Part-time aides are the lowst in the pecking order of who gets listened to in the education system.</p><p></p><p>If you need to, go to your local Federal MP and nag. It's Federal funding that pays for this; your MP is likely to need to work hand-in-hand with the Qld MP but generally they will do this even if they're opposite parties. It makes them look good when they help a kid with special needs.</p><p></p><p>Fighting for the pay rights of your child's aides is the best way to get what she needs.</p><p></p><p>Example - difficult child 3's local school was losing a teacher and a classroom because the total pupil numbers at the school had droppedbelow a certain critical point. It would have put difficult child 3 in a composite class of over 40 kids, including the bullies the school had previously protected him from. It was a recipe for disaster. All the mucking around had also meant he had had three different teachers and three different classrooms and class assignments, in less than a week. So I noisily removed him from attendance and began loud agitating. I did this while keeping the school principal informed of what I was up to, although it scared him. The school staff were unable to appeal the decisions to remove the staff & classroom; as DET employees, they had to do what they were told or face disciplinary action. But as a parent, not being paid by DET, I was a loose cannon and uncontrolled by DET.</p><p></p><p>My target - what I wanted to achieve - was to keep the teacher and keep the classroom primarily because any other option would be too detrimental to difficult child 3 and would greatly disadvantage him due to his disability. failure to meet his needs and give special consideration in this case would be directly discriminatory on the grounds of his disability, I told them.</p><p>But of course, they were all in meetings when I rang.</p><p>So this was my message left at each call - "I am ringing to strongly request that X school not lose a teacher and classroom because to do so will be to disadvantage my autistic son who will not cope as current plans are presented. I must talk to you about this urgently. I must talk to someone urgently. I am not waiting for you to return my call, I am instead telephoning the next person up the ladder and leaving the same message each time. I will keep on telephoning up the ladder all the way until I get to talk to a person. I am going as far as I can to the top on this. When I run out of DET people, I will be calling the media. If you want me to stop calling up the ladder, then get back to me as soon as you get this message and give me some good news."</p><p></p><p>End result - I got as far as state Education Minister (I had also earmarked to call the Opposition spokesperson, especially if I was going to the media). The Minister of course was not the person I really needed, but his PA. And this PA was a gem. I had also called the state head of the P&C, who also began to kick **** at Ministerial level. They had a few beefs of their own at that time, the beginning of the school year.</p><p></p><p>Outcome - I got increasingly apologetic phone calls coming in that afternoon, as rear ends across the city were getting kicked hard, from higher up the ladder back down. A meeting wascalled for me for the next morning at which time we were told that the teacher and classroom would stay "for now". I said, "Not good enough. I need a gurarantee that the teacher will not be lost for this year; difficult child 3 has had too many changes already and it has been damagingly disruptive, absolutely no consideration has been given for his needs due to his disability and I am very angry about this discrimination. We need stability, we need notice and we need to AVOID too much change. And putting an autistic difficult child in a composite class of 40 is just plain wrong."</p><p></p><p>We got what we wanted, but only for that year.</p><p></p><p>No school staff could have done tihs.</p><p></p><p>The fringe benefit - I had achieved my main aim, but along with that I lost some of the hostility form some of the staff who resented my vigilance and activism - because this time, I had won a battle which was to their direct benefit.</p><p></p><p>As I so often told the school - I am on record as being a person who can get action taken, who can get things done. I could be a school's best asset or their worst enemy. It's their choice.</p><p></p><p>I tend to push for "best asset" when I can because when the school owes you, they are more likely to be supportive of your child and give you what she needs.</p><p></p><p>I can be a manipulative cow when I need to be!</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 294852, member: 1991"] Trish, I wouldn't get too mad at the aides. It is a messy job and to do it properly they need special training and whatever alalowances they're entitled to. If you must express anger, direct it to whoever decided that paying the aides what should be paid, wasn't necessary. Get upset on behalf of the aides' entitlements and you will not only get the aides back on your side (because you;'re fighting for them) but you also stand a much better chance of cherub getting the proper support and assistance she needs. Push for funding for the extra pay as well as for training. Parents have much more success at getting funding through on appeal than staff do. Part-time aides are the lowst in the pecking order of who gets listened to in the education system. If you need to, go to your local Federal MP and nag. It's Federal funding that pays for this; your MP is likely to need to work hand-in-hand with the Qld MP but generally they will do this even if they're opposite parties. It makes them look good when they help a kid with special needs. Fighting for the pay rights of your child's aides is the best way to get what she needs. Example - difficult child 3's local school was losing a teacher and a classroom because the total pupil numbers at the school had droppedbelow a certain critical point. It would have put difficult child 3 in a composite class of over 40 kids, including the bullies the school had previously protected him from. It was a recipe for disaster. All the mucking around had also meant he had had three different teachers and three different classrooms and class assignments, in less than a week. So I noisily removed him from attendance and began loud agitating. I did this while keeping the school principal informed of what I was up to, although it scared him. The school staff were unable to appeal the decisions to remove the staff & classroom; as DET employees, they had to do what they were told or face disciplinary action. But as a parent, not being paid by DET, I was a loose cannon and uncontrolled by DET. My target - what I wanted to achieve - was to keep the teacher and keep the classroom primarily because any other option would be too detrimental to difficult child 3 and would greatly disadvantage him due to his disability. failure to meet his needs and give special consideration in this case would be directly discriminatory on the grounds of his disability, I told them. But of course, they were all in meetings when I rang. So this was my message left at each call - "I am ringing to strongly request that X school not lose a teacher and classroom because to do so will be to disadvantage my autistic son who will not cope as current plans are presented. I must talk to you about this urgently. I must talk to someone urgently. I am not waiting for you to return my call, I am instead telephoning the next person up the ladder and leaving the same message each time. I will keep on telephoning up the ladder all the way until I get to talk to a person. I am going as far as I can to the top on this. When I run out of DET people, I will be calling the media. If you want me to stop calling up the ladder, then get back to me as soon as you get this message and give me some good news." End result - I got as far as state Education Minister (I had also earmarked to call the Opposition spokesperson, especially if I was going to the media). The Minister of course was not the person I really needed, but his PA. And this PA was a gem. I had also called the state head of the P&C, who also began to kick **** at Ministerial level. They had a few beefs of their own at that time, the beginning of the school year. Outcome - I got increasingly apologetic phone calls coming in that afternoon, as rear ends across the city were getting kicked hard, from higher up the ladder back down. A meeting wascalled for me for the next morning at which time we were told that the teacher and classroom would stay "for now". I said, "Not good enough. I need a gurarantee that the teacher will not be lost for this year; difficult child 3 has had too many changes already and it has been damagingly disruptive, absolutely no consideration has been given for his needs due to his disability and I am very angry about this discrimination. We need stability, we need notice and we need to AVOID too much change. And putting an autistic difficult child in a composite class of 40 is just plain wrong." We got what we wanted, but only for that year. No school staff could have done tihs. The fringe benefit - I had achieved my main aim, but along with that I lost some of the hostility form some of the staff who resented my vigilance and activism - because this time, I had won a battle which was to their direct benefit. As I so often told the school - I am on record as being a person who can get action taken, who can get things done. I could be a school's best asset or their worst enemy. It's their choice. I tend to push for "best asset" when I can because when the school owes you, they are more likely to be supportive of your child and give you what she needs. I can be a manipulative cow when I need to be! Marg [/QUOTE]
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