Tina: My daughter has been struggling all school year and had come to me telling me she was having problems with reversing letters. Long story short, she was just identified Friday with a reading comprehension disability and signs of dyslexia tendencies. School wasted no time to change her classes to get her help right away to take place yesterday. However the school principal called her to the office and reprimanded her for her failing grades. Proceeded to use a saying to “either jump off the cliff or pass”. This is bothering me because she was just identified and I feel this is wrong because she is not just not working but clearly has issues. Is what her principal did wrong? can I keep this from happening again?
In the past when I feel that a teacher or principal are somewhat out of line with my child , I usually email (and always copied my spouse) something along these lines- “Thanks for follow-up with (child’s name). What can I do to support your efforts wth her/him? We are thrilled with the new strategies to remediate. Thank-you. My goal is for him/her to move forward with positive supports as a diagnosis of dyslexia this late in the game can have a negative impact on self esteem. Do you have any suggestions?” I think something like that will send a strong message. Sometimes, they need a nudge that your child has feelings and also has a strong advocate as a parent.