Friday night we went to a "Town Hall" meeting for the School for the Deaf. A new Program Director has been hired and a lot of changes are in place to make Utah's program - that many parents considered to be the best in the nation - to be one that parent's are at an uproar about and most staff members no longer want to be a part of.
It was intense.
You see, they are narrowing the choices of techniques for teaching our children from eight, to two. And the technique we had chosen carefully to learn and use with Taryn, is being eliminated.
Some parents were crying from frustration, some were yelling, some interrupting. The deaf parents were signing with hard deliberate strokes and hand slapping to portray the hostility in their words, the Director was defensive, most were confused, and I sat brimming with an animocity and anger I didn't know I possessed. It was foreign to me. But afterward I put a finger on it...
MOTHER BEAR
... It was my mother bear instinct. It was coming out in me, just as it was in all the parents sitting in that room. And we were ferocious.
I would not have wanted to be the one in the Hot Seat. She looked scared.
The rights we have as parents were being stripped away from us. The rights we have to provide what is best for our child. What is in their best insterest. The best education.
And while the malice I felt was uncomfortable and alarming, it was not misplaced. The words of every other parent in the room confirmed to me that it was relevant and even necessary.And our opinions were voiced. But I don't know that they were heard.
The meeting was adjourned unresolved. And I left feeling very confused.
So my head has been swimming.
What's a mother bear to do?
3 comments:
Oh Tasha! That is horrible. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that and to not have anything resolved is even worse I think. Pray, pray, pray for an answer. I hope that if the technique that you guys deceiced on is eliminated you can find a different one that helps just as much. How frustrating! I'll be praying for you and your family!
I can only imagine how frustrating that's got to be! I'm so sorry so much was left unresolved. That's a tough lingering feeling to not let it get the best of you. Well said in the above comment - Pray. Pray for divine intervention to take place. For sometimes that's all we can do.
Best of luck & we'll pray that things will get resolved for the better. :)
But why are they wanting to change it if it was the best in the country?
Post a Comment