Friday, May 01, 2009

Another part of the puzz;e...

So the brats attend a preschool attached to school 3 for 2 days a week. I can't pick them up from preschool so the inlaws do. In term 3 they are going OS for 6 weeks - DH is planning to leave work early one day a week - and the other I had hoped to use the OOSH (after school care) that is next to the preschool - that serves the local primary. Fridays - I hear they often aren't that busy then.

Speaking to the 'coordinator' this afternoon - because Hannah has 'special needs' she needs to be 'externally assessed'. They can assess Kit for themselves. This is to make sure that they will cope in OOSH. - oh and BTW - it can take about 2 and a half months for them to be able to assess her. We need the placement in Term 3 - now I thought that giving them about 10 weeks or more notice would be sufficient but apparently not.

So what's my rave? I'm probably being a bit unfair and irrational - but WTF?? That women came across as officious and supercilious and smug. "The best interests of the child' (as if I have no idea of han's best interests - no hon I work 4 days in 3 for the luxury of it!). Poor Hannah is being looked at like a bug under the microscope this year and it is driving me nuts. Everyone wants her 'assessed first' - no commitment until they've 'assessed' her. Haven't they got eyes in their heads? If it was going to make any difference or improvement to the services Hannah gets I probably wouldn't mind but mostly it means jacks**t. It disguises discrimination and fear and leads to no additional support. It's just hoops to jump through that 'normal' people don't have to.

These extracted quotes from todays conversation don't do much to ease my mind either:
"normal as we call the others" "she is down syndrome" and then the pointless story of the child with special needs who has violent behaviour and the other kids are scared of him - what was the point of that story - does she think Han is violent? Does she mean that my littlies (and I understand they are going to find it a bit overwhelming) are going to be scared there too? It doesn't offer much comfort when if Han goes into an OC class - I'm guessing scary violent 'special needs' kid will be in there!

Anyway being 'different' clearly sux. Then I get home and my poor boy has had a difficult day because he doesn't have a 'special friend' at preschool like at LDC - and two of them ganged up on another one and poor Kit seems to have been siding with the one they ganged up on and obviously found the whole deal confusing and upsetting.

I do feel a bit glad that I virtually threatened that woman with Hannah for next year - with so what happens next year when she is in kindy? I asked - all the while thinking I hope in hell she doesn't have to go to that school if this is how OOSH operates. Her only response was - oh let them know as soon as you can - maybe she was hoping that 'them' would not be 'us' or her oosh.

Again - I know - I am being abit over sensative - and I could view it all differently and more positively but hey - I have been jumping over all sorts of hoops and to no avail - I am NOT in a mood to give people the benefit of the doubt.

1 comment:

Sandi said...

Urgggggh! This is so unfortunate and I get the same interactions from private preschools that we have contacted here. So frustrating.