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From: Karen Trenchard
Date: 05 Mar 2004
Time: 10:09:00 -0000
Remote Name: 203.220.128.181
Dear Kathy, I have 3 kids, Dan-6 (PWS) Joe-4 and Emma 7 mths. Dan started school last year (We live in Albury - Australia). We struggled to get our son enrolled at the local school. The principal was probably using this as leverage with the Department of Education to increase the funding allocated to Dan. It was a particularly stressful time for us. Dan now has an aide pretty much full-time. From the start of this year ( our school year starts in Jan.) they have been sending in a second aide while the usual aide has her breaks. I think we are in a very fortunate position at the moment, and I don't expect this level of support to continue. I do however see this support as critical to my son's success ( and I'm mostly talking about socially - not academically). We do continually get reports home about his bad behaviour (he is the most wonderful child, loving, caring, gentle, loves to sing and loves Playschool - a childrens tv program in Australia). I am a Secondary School teacher and am very aware of the biase of nearly all teachers against intergration. There is insufficient support for teachers, and they often seem very focussed on the academic goals of the elite, and forget the important role schools play in socialisation of the masses. I don't know if any of these ravings are of any help or support to you - it's been a long week. I empathise with you. I know each year will bring new challenges as Dan tries to settle into a new environment, with a new teacher ( even though he has kept the same aide), and the strain this will inevitable place on our family.
From: http://www.very51.com/
Date: 04 Aug 2005
Time: 20:43:49 -0700
Remote Name: 61.29.204.106