Education is not a “one size fits all practice” and, when done properly, is a true partnership between schools, teachers, and parents. Some students, however, need additional support, and in many instances, the school – or the school system – just doesn’t have the tools to provide that support. If you are a parent of a child in need of this support, worry not – schools can get the support and they must, under law, provide it to your child.
Founded almost two decades ago, Therapy Source (www.txsource.com) is one such organization that partners with schools and school systems to provide top tier support to students. While Therapy Source isn’t a direct partner with parents, it is an advocate – and a provider of special services which are, in turn, received directly by students.
According to Phillip Puleo, Eastern Regional Director of Therapy Source, “our job is not to be partial to either parents or school districts. Our job is really to match the best professionals with the needs of the districts themselves.”
According to a recent report from the National Council for Special Education, “all children, including children with special educational needs, have a right to an education which is appropriate to their needs. The aims of education for pupils with special educational needs are the same as apply to all children. Education should be about enabling all children, in line with their abilities, to live full and independent lives so that they can contribute to their communities, cooperate with other people and continue to learn throughout their lives. Education is about supporting children to develop in all aspects of their lives – spiritual, moral, cognitive, emotional, imaginative, aesthetic, social and physical.”
Most people don’t know or understand that when their children are having additional challenges with school learning, that they are entitled, by law, to request information from the school district as to how it determined the educational path for a given child. When this happens, companies like Therapy Source step in, bringing teaching and staffing solutions onsite to schools and working with school districts to help normalize the school balance.
Schools must provide support for children with any disability that impedes typical school functioning – and provide them with alternate learning methods that enable them to perform and be successful, in their own right, in school. Not all school districts have enough students that are geographically compatible to maintain full time teachers for them; so, they work with companies like Therapy Source to get the services to the students who critically need them.
“When this happens,” according to Puleo, “the entire process becomes a partnership between the schools, the parents, and the teachers we bring in to the schools. Our goal is to create balance, while working with everyone. We play a major role in getting the services to schools, and in turn, to the students who need them most,” said Puleo.
If you think your child has additional school-based needs that are not currently being met, it is important to understand your rights. Federal Law requires that every school district have a child-focused committee to review and address concerns for students’ education. For those that have cleared the way to help for their child(ren), the process is a simple one.
Once teachers are brought in the ramp up time is very brief. Sometimes teachers take a day or so to prepare and sometimes they see students on their first day. Regardless of the timing or the needs faced by students, having a team behind them makes all the difference in the world. Not only does it normalize the school experience and create balance, but it is truly life-changing for those involved.