Thank you.What do you do when a parent doesn't give their child their medication and then sends them to school?
Medication is a real delima. First, you have confiditiality issues. How do you know he is on meds? Second issue is that the school does not want any employee saying a child needs.... because the law often then forces the school to pay.
Sounds like you have plenty of doccumentation at least orally. Make it a point to write down all your observations in a non-judgemental way. Get any other adult who may work with this child to do so also.
Then you have ';data'; which is the buzz word for today's educator. http://www.interventioncentral.org/ is a good site to help you with forms and data collection. This site also has lots of tips and articals to help you with dealing with the behaviors.
A last thought. If the lack of meds is doccumented by data, it is possible it is a ';child abuse'; situation. An adult who knowingly denies a child the necessary medicines to make them successful is abuse by neglect.
Here in Texas, we are dealing with the exact same problems...(are you in Texas?)...
One more thought... when a child's behavior begins to take away from the education of the others, it is time to act. The other children have a right to an education that is not weakened by the actions of one child.
I myself am a ';Behavior Specialist'; in my district, and I work with children like the one you describe. They are good kids... it is not his fault he does not have the ability to settle down, but on the other hand, he MUST learn to adapt.
Spend some time looking on the web for help with your own sphere of influence, which is how you set up your room to survive until the school decides to back you and help with this situation. The web site I mentioned is not to judge you or your methods and your attitudes. It will however perhaps give you some more tools in our arsenal to help.
As a last resort... are you a member of a teacher orginazation? They can sometimes help with your administration giving you the support and backing to work with one of these children. In my district, so often, we are left to our own resources until something bad happens or we force the administration to help with children like these. NCLB almost is a mandate for the admin. to minimise reporting problems etc. So if they leave the burden solely on you, there are no reports to file on a child's behaviors!What do you do when a parent doesn't give their child their medication and then sends them to school?
In most cases a parent cannot be forced to give the child medication. ADHD, for example, is often helped by administering meds but it is not a condition that requires meds. Many parents do not medicate for ADHD because of the side effects.
As to the one on one, does this child have an IEP? If he does and it says he is to be given one on one, then the school has to provide a way to do this. It could mean hiring an aide to help reinforce lessons. If it is just mom wanting this, and there is not a requirement in the IEP, then you are only obligated to do the best you can in this situation.
If the child is swearing and throwing things then he needs to be removed to the principal's office each time. One curse word and he's out. One thrown pencil and he's out. When he's been removed several times for the same behavor, more detailed analysis will be made. This could result in a behavior plan for the student. Contact your SPED director and make a referral based on the behavior in the meantime. Document each and every word spoken and each item thrown with dates. This will aid in getting the child some help.
Good luck to you! Do not quit teaching!
first of all if the mom wants 1 on1 she needs to hire a private teacher. second there are people in the school districts that you can contact cuz not giving meds is a form of abuse. try and have patients i know its not easy but people like us work in this field for a reason.... a big heart
sounds like one of my days every now and then.
you just have to deal with it. you cannot force a parent to
give children medication.
you are in a special needs class. you will have days like this ALOT%26gt;
Talk to your supervisor and find out if you need to take further action in figuring out why the child is not getting their medication in the morning. It may be as simple as they cant remember or they cant afford it. If that is the case your supervisor is going to have to step in and take over with the parents. I would also suggest scheduling another IEP for the child even if there isnt one set to happen soon because the situation has obviously changes since he is acting out in class. You can also try and give the child a space where she can go in order to calm down or vent. For instance if you have a corner of the room that isnt being used you can put a bean bag or a chair or a mat and allow that child to go there to calm their nerves. If it is as simple as the child just does not understand how to express themselves that may help. You need to make that child aware that while they are in that spot there is not talking and not questioning from either side (the teacher or child). Then when the child feels that it is a good time to rejoin the class and activities they may do so quietly with out disrupting the class. It may take some time to have an understanding on both sides but hopefully if that is all that needs to be done then I hope that works. But I would definately talk to your supervisor and figure out a plan.
As a parent of a special needs child, I have some say in whether or not my child is even given a prescription. Unless the lack of medication causes medical problems, there is no abuse/neglect involved. How are you sure that mom is refusing to give the child meds? Perhaps mom is trying to medicate the child and either the child is refusing to swallow the medication...or maybe the doctors haven't found the correct type of medicine or proper dosage. Involve the social worker, and if your school has a behavioral specialist as my son's school does, involve that person as well. Schedule an iep meeting to try to resolve the behavioral issues without pointing the finger and blaming mom when you may not have ALL the information.
As a former special ed teacher I can tell you what we did about that here in Iowa. The nurse and Social Worker sent a letter home saying that the meds would be kept at school in the nurses office. Every time a dose was due, the children went to the nurse for the dose. The letter was resent when the RX was almost gone. This worked in an inner city situation. Good Luck to you!
There is not anything else left to do but report it to authorities.
I can tell you are a very dedicated , caring teacher that only wants the best for this student. Having to give him so much one on one takes away from the other students. So, if she wants the best for her son, she will either get him meds or help he needs to partisapate or the authorthies will have to make a major decision on whats best for the child.
Try to focus on what is within your control. Giving the child his medication is obviously not within your reach--it is a parental decision and there are no issues of abuse it is simply their decision. I know it is frustrating but wasting time fretting over something you can not change isn't helping the situation.
What types of plans are you using. Have you done a functional analysis? Find out what makes the child get motivated and use it in a token economy to help HIM make the decision instead of forcing it. Try not to forget that this child deserves your help just as much, if not more, than the others in the room that you have defined as victims.
http://www.teach-nology.com/policymakers鈥?/a>
A teacher's rights link, hope this is helpful in this difficult situation.
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