Parent to Parent: Researching Appropriate Schools for Your Child

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Who's Teaching Our Children with Disabilities?

LDA- Spoken Language Problems

Information and news releases furnished by the members of Schwab Foundation for Learning, who are responsible for their fact and content.

Debi Kellerer lives in San Francisco, California with her husband and two teenage sons. After using Schwab Foundation for Learning's services for 6 years, she became a staff member. Debi is currently the Membership Services Coordinator at the Schwab Foundation for Learning.

Our family has learned a lot about learning disabilities since our son was diagnosed at the age of twelve with a specific language disability. After having him tested through the school and an audiologist, we were confronted with many questions that we needed to answer before we could get him the help that he needed:

What is his learning style?
What is the best learning environment for him?
What are the obstacles that get in the way of creating the best learning environment?

As we looked for answers, we learned that we needed to make a few changes. The most important was including our son in the decision-making process. We realized that in order for him to advocate for himself, he needed to be involved as an active participant.

Our son did not have a positive experience in middle school. He was referred to as "lazy" and "stupid," descriptions we had never dealt with before. Often he was told he was not trying hard enough. These experiences led us to evaluate different school options. The journey of finding a school took a lot of time and energy. We requested information from various schools, which we heard about from friends or found in the yellow pages. We visited many high schools and read books on school selection, which helped us to consider questions that we had not considered and kept us focused on what was best for our son. During our visits it was important for us to:

Meet with the school principal
Observe different classes, while in session
Observe special education programs, where they existed
Observe student life
Talk with other parents and students at the open houses

During our visits we considered many aspects of school life. As a family we discussed what we hoped for in a school. Our list included:

Academic excellence
Educational philosophy
Morale of the faculty, staff and students
Parent involvement
Teacher to student ratio
Safety

Our son chose to attend a very small private school. The school did not have a special education program in place, although their program used a wide variety of teaching methods that reached many different types of learners. For instance, when our son was having difficulty in algebra, the teacher used our son's knowledge of computers and spreadsheets to help him understand that the equations used on the spreadsheets were, in fact, algebraic equations. The faculty, staff and student body were aware of the potential of each student and what they could contribute to the school.

Our son attended the private school for three years. During that time he began to gain back his self-esteem and confidence. As he learned more about himself and the way he processes information, he began to experience success academically. We have accepted the reality that school will always be a struggle, yet it can also be a place for success.

Our son is currently a senior, attending a public school. He chose to attend a public school over a smaller, private school because he wanted to see if he could monitor himself in a larger school environment, in preparation for college next fall. He is realizing that there is still more he can learn about himself and the way he learns, but he feels he is better prepared to acquire the help and resources that he needs.

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