In order to ensure the safety and well-being of students with special needs, parents should be allowed to do pop-up classroom visits. Many students in these classrooms are not being properly cared for and educated. How can a parent be certain that their child is getting the appropriate services and support if they are not welcome to observe whenever they choose to without prior notice? Giving a teacher prior notice of a visit allows them the opportunity to prepare in advance for their performance in front of the expected parent.
I have a 14-year old son with ADD who I observed in class when he was in middle school a couple of years ago. His teachers were notified in advance that I was coming. One teacher in particular who was initially very resistant to providing my son with the accommodations he needed, appeared to be the most phony during my observation. She went out of her way to share with me how she made sure that my son was provided with a copy of her lecture notes from the day before, and even played jazz music in class while the students worked on their assignments. As the students worked, she walked around the classroom observing that each student was on task and provided help when needed.
Just after the teacher walked away and finished showing me some of her jazz cd's that she allows the students to listen to, a familiar student turned around to me and whispered with an annoyed attitude, "I hate when parents come to class b/c teachers act so fake, she don't normally act like that or do all of this stuff". Needless to say, I was not surprised by the news. Although I was a bit shocked that a student had become so irritated by the teachers actions that she bravely revealed the true nature of this teachers behavior.
Ironically, this is the same teacher who expressed an unwillingness to provide my son with a supplemental copy of lecture notes taken by another student. She felt that this accommodation would crippled my son. I had to go out of my way to convey to this teacher the nature of his disability, his unique weaknesses and ensure her that the copy of notes was only used as an additional support for his own notes (i.e., to fill in the gaps where he was missing information due to his poor note taking skills). It seemed not to matter to her that these accommodations were written in his 504 Plan, which is a legal and binding document that educators are suppose to be held accountable to follow.
When I conducted a training event for parents of special needs students, a Hispanic mom shared a story about what happened to her son as a result of not being allowed to observe him in the classroom setting. Her son was a kindergarten student with Autism and completely nonverbal. She stated that one night after school while bathing her son she noticed that his arm was out of socket. Many children with Autism don't have the same pain threshold or respond to pain in the same manner as normal functioning children. Therefore, her son did not indicate or was unable to express the pain that he may have felt from this injury, if any.
After taking him to the hospital and reporting this injury to the school principal the next day, the para-professional teacher assistant reported witnessing the teacher grab the child by the arm from a seated position on the floor and yank him up b/c he didn't respond when she called his name several times. Since this parent was an illegal immigrant who spoke very little English, she was too afraid to pursue legal action against the teacher or school. All along, this parent had concerns about her son b/c he was nonverbal and this was his first experience in a school setting. She expressed her concern and desire to observe her son while in class, but the teacher and principal blocked her attempts repeatedly.
I believe the principal in particular took advantage of this parents immigrant status, lack of effective resources and limited English speaking ability in an effort to wipe this criminal act of child abuse under the rug without repercussions from outside officials. Situations like these should make it obvious to school leaders that parents of special needs students in particular should be allowed to make pop-up visits at school, especially when the child's disability is so severe that they are unable to communicate. Spontaneous visits from parents are in the best interest of the student... and the teacher in certain circumstances.
Although my son's disability is mild in comparison to other disabilities and he is fully able to communicate, sometimes he is unwilling to report the inappropriate actions of teachers out of fear of retaliation. There have been a few ocassions where he purposely waited until the end of the school year when it was too late to inform me of something a teacher did or said to him. Unfortunately, my son knows from experience that if a teacher does not like a student for some reason, that teacher has the ability to influence whether the student has a positve or negative school year if they choose.
When I've inquired as to why parents are not allowed to visit the classroom without at least 24-hours advance warning, I was told that these pop-up visits are considered disruptive to the teacher and students. I say that excuse is bull crap! As a parent, I want to feel welcome to pop-up at anytime to observe my child in the classroom to see if he's behaving appropriately, show my support and see how and what he is being instructed. Preventing me from the opportunity to do this makes me feel that the school and/or teachers have something to hide. This restriction puts an unnecessary strain on the parent and teacher relationship. How am I suppose to have trust in the school system and educators, when I'm being hindered from the ability to ensure my child's safety in his daily learning environment away from home? Being able to observe my child at school without notice should be my right as a parent, not a priveldge.
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