Proximity has many other advantages.
I have been available to make quick minor adjustments, back the teachers and reinforce rules, heard about long-term projects, answer questions about his ability to do certain things, and teachers were a lot more aware about how active I was in Red’s education.
Red's teachers knew, for example, that I read to him every night but that keeping a reading log just didn’t work well for either of us.
The teachers and staff witnessed me taking notes, and working on my Master’s degree and I asked them plenty of questions and they asked me questions too. Sometimes about Red but increasingly about other students with special needs.
Teachers took notice of me juggling being a single parent, school and work. Many had not considered just how challenging raising a child with autism is and that close to 80% of us are single parents!
As parents we really are doing everything we can and we tend to beat ourselves up when we recognize it never is enough.
When teachers witnessed how hard I was working to make Red’s school experience a positive one, they tried harder themselves.
Whenever they’d make comments about how well Red or I was doing I pointed out that I was lucky to be working at the same school and that most parents really do try their best too but that raising kids with special needs is not easy.
Probably my favorite part of being in close proximity to Red’s education was getting to hear the “Red Stories”.
Teachers would share an interesting moment that happened in their classroom regarding Red. In this way, I got to witness teacher’s growing as professionals and bonding with my son.
Red was making a difference in their lives.
