“Too Many Kids are Suffering at School”

by | Nov 27, 2015 | Blog

Listen What Boys Need A Newsletter from Michael Reist www.michaelreist.ca Newsletter #4: Too Many Kids are Suffering at School Where are empathy and compassion in our schools? This recent e-mail is typical of the hundreds I get from distraught mothers.  “Today was not a good day and the reason for my email. We were called to the school where he had overturned pretty much everything.  It was like we were looking at someone else’s child.  And he kept repeating he was a “bad boy.” It was heartbreaking. I was not aware that his teacher is not able to remove him from the room. Instead they are trained to remove the entire class…We are really struggling to find the right course of action for him.  The school is going to have a speech pathologist come in to see if he is struggling with language and speech.  We have made appointments to have his hearing & sight tested just to rule it out.  My gut tells me there is a disconnect with his classroom teacher and maybe a combination of him struggling with worksheets and more structure.  I really don’t know, all we know is this is not the boy we see at home.” The only thing missing from this e-mail is the recommendation that he be put on medication. I’m sure that suggestion will be made eventually. The solution is always a technical one – professional specialists or medication. It is never a human one. This five-year-old boy needs empathy and compassion. He needs to be held. No one is listening to the mother’s “gut.” Are teachers to blame for this...

59th Annual Ontario CEC Special Education Conference

by | Sep 22, 2015 | Blog

Listen Registration is now open for the 59th Annual Ontario CEC Special Education Conference, being held November 13 – 14, 2015 at the Marriott Gateway in Niagara Falls! Want to save on the registration rate? Just register as a delegate by October 1st for the early bird rate of $295.00!! Click here to open the conference brochure: 2015 Ontario CEC Conference...

“I don’t want to go back!”

by | Aug 28, 2015 | Blog, Publications & Research

Listen What Boys Need- Back to School A Newsletter by Michael Reist- www.michaelreist.ca Let’s not forget what we learned this summer. We learned who our boys are without school. If we were lucky, we saw our boys as they are in nature. We saw our boys as they are with unstructured play. They may have complained about boredom at times, but we had the chance to see them as relaxed kids who were free and natural and happy. We have to remember that this is who our boys really are. The great educational theorist, John Holt, said, “In school, we do not see children as they are. We see them as school reveals them to us.” This past summer we got to see who our boys really are. They love to move, they love to have fun, they love to laugh, and they love to have the freedom to be themselves with all their spontaneous, wonderful energy! Now it’s time to go back into “the system.” Let’s remember that it is a system; it is not a natural environment. Some kids manage OK in school; some actually like it, but for many – especially boys – school is not a pleasant place. A.S. Neill asked the fundamental question, “Do we make the child fit the school or do we make the school fit the child?” In our school system today, the child is expected to fit the school. “Sit still, be quiet, and do what you’re told.” We must work to make the school fit the child. Eventually our schools will become more boy-friendly. Parents will become more active...

Halton Region Special Needs Strategy Planning Tables Update

by | Mar 7, 2015 | Publications & Research

Listen The Ministries of Children and Youth Services, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and Community and Social Services have asked the organizations in Halton Region who work with children with special needs to come together to plan two strategies: 1. Coordinated Service Planning 2. The Integrated Delivery of Rehabilitation Services. These new strategies will mark the beginning of a new way of delivering services to children and youth with special needs and their families. First steps of the Special Needs Strategy include:  Identifying children’s needs earlier and getting them the right help sooner; A new developmental screen for preschool children has been developed that will help identify potential risks to children’s development and connect them with the services they need as early as possible.  Coordinated family-centered service planning for children and youth with multiple and/or complex needs; Service planning coordinators will connect families to a range of services and supports and help the family to develop one coordinated service plan.  An integrated approach to the delivery of rehabilitation services; Children and youth will receive seamless and effective speech language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services from birth through school exit. These services will be built around their goals for home, school and the community and be delivered in the way and in the place that meets the needs of the child and family. READ MORE HERE: Parent Engagement Communication FEB15 – final...