Post by WeNeed3 on Feb 23, 2009 7:41:30 GMT -5
Five questions with D204 Special Needs PTA President
President, District 204's Special Needs PTA
February 23, 2009
More than 3,500 of the nearly 29,000 kids enrolled in Indian Prairie School District 204's schools are classified as special needs students.
Only 150 or so of those special needs students' parents participate in District 204's Special Needs PTA -- the only organization of its kind in the entire state. That, said Lori Price, makes it the best-kept secret in the school system.
If you go
Indian Prairie School District 204's Special Needs PTA meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month in Room B6 at the Howard Crouse Education Center, 780 Shoreline Drive in Aurora.
Price has been president of District 204's Special Needs PTA for the past two years and, along with the rest of its regular members, has done everything she can to grow the group. Truth be told, she has succeeded; it only had 59 members when she became president.
Still, she's hoping to attract to the group more parents like herself, a wife and mother of two -- an 11-year-old son with special needs and an 8-year-old daughter who also needs to feel special. Earlier this month, Price sat down with Sun reporter Tim Waldorf and explained why the group means so much to her.
1. How did you become involved with District 204's Special Needs PTA?
When I moved to the district in 2005, one of the things that I saw on the district's Web site was that it had a special needs PTA, and immediately I was like, "Wow!" I mean, the fact that they have a special needs PTA tells me that they're probably pretty involved in the special needs area. So that was one of the things that actually influenced our decision to move here.
2. What is a benefit that this group has had for you and your family?
Just being a resource. Talking to other parents and getting ideas. Getting a sense of understanding and of validation, if you will. Knowing there are other people going through what we're going through, because you can talk about some of the issues you have at home regarding your special needs child. You can talk to a friend or neighbor, and they'd go, "Oh, yeah, my kid does that, too. He never listens to me, either," or whatever the issue may be. But, when you get into a group of special needs parents, they completely get the intensity or severity of what you're talking about.
3. As an education reporter, my experience with parents of special needs students is that they either love or hate how their children are being taught. Do you see that dynamic within your group?
You get people who want to fight just to fight. They have an ax to grind. But then you get people that maybe don't know their ways around the special ed world yet. Maybe they're newly diagnosed or just haven't taken the time to get involved yet. Maybe they just don't know what to do first, or they're being told by the school or somebody else -- a good-intentioned parent or family member -- "Oh, just let the school do what they want to do. They know what's best."
4. How does your group serve these two very different kinds of parents? How does it find middle ground?
I think it is by listening to other parents and getting ideas and hearing about things that have worked for them and haven't worked for them, and by talking to the administration. Some parents, after the meetings, I've seen them go up to these district administrators and go, "I'm really having a problem with Johnny," and they'll say, "Well, have you gone back to the school and done this?" "Well, no, I haven't." I mean, it's all about fostering communication and giving them ideas.
5. How does the District 204 administration view your group? Right now I think we're enjoying a very good relationship with them. We have a district administrator that attends every one of our meetings. So there's always somebody from the district to answer the questions that parents might have.
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/lifestyles/1444409,6_5_NA23_5QS_S1.article
President, District 204's Special Needs PTA
February 23, 2009
More than 3,500 of the nearly 29,000 kids enrolled in Indian Prairie School District 204's schools are classified as special needs students.
Only 150 or so of those special needs students' parents participate in District 204's Special Needs PTA -- the only organization of its kind in the entire state. That, said Lori Price, makes it the best-kept secret in the school system.
If you go
Indian Prairie School District 204's Special Needs PTA meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month in Room B6 at the Howard Crouse Education Center, 780 Shoreline Drive in Aurora.
Price has been president of District 204's Special Needs PTA for the past two years and, along with the rest of its regular members, has done everything she can to grow the group. Truth be told, she has succeeded; it only had 59 members when she became president.
Still, she's hoping to attract to the group more parents like herself, a wife and mother of two -- an 11-year-old son with special needs and an 8-year-old daughter who also needs to feel special. Earlier this month, Price sat down with Sun reporter Tim Waldorf and explained why the group means so much to her.
1. How did you become involved with District 204's Special Needs PTA?
When I moved to the district in 2005, one of the things that I saw on the district's Web site was that it had a special needs PTA, and immediately I was like, "Wow!" I mean, the fact that they have a special needs PTA tells me that they're probably pretty involved in the special needs area. So that was one of the things that actually influenced our decision to move here.
2. What is a benefit that this group has had for you and your family?
Just being a resource. Talking to other parents and getting ideas. Getting a sense of understanding and of validation, if you will. Knowing there are other people going through what we're going through, because you can talk about some of the issues you have at home regarding your special needs child. You can talk to a friend or neighbor, and they'd go, "Oh, yeah, my kid does that, too. He never listens to me, either," or whatever the issue may be. But, when you get into a group of special needs parents, they completely get the intensity or severity of what you're talking about.
3. As an education reporter, my experience with parents of special needs students is that they either love or hate how their children are being taught. Do you see that dynamic within your group?
You get people who want to fight just to fight. They have an ax to grind. But then you get people that maybe don't know their ways around the special ed world yet. Maybe they're newly diagnosed or just haven't taken the time to get involved yet. Maybe they just don't know what to do first, or they're being told by the school or somebody else -- a good-intentioned parent or family member -- "Oh, just let the school do what they want to do. They know what's best."
4. How does your group serve these two very different kinds of parents? How does it find middle ground?
I think it is by listening to other parents and getting ideas and hearing about things that have worked for them and haven't worked for them, and by talking to the administration. Some parents, after the meetings, I've seen them go up to these district administrators and go, "I'm really having a problem with Johnny," and they'll say, "Well, have you gone back to the school and done this?" "Well, no, I haven't." I mean, it's all about fostering communication and giving them ideas.
5. How does the District 204 administration view your group? Right now I think we're enjoying a very good relationship with them. We have a district administrator that attends every one of our meetings. So there's always somebody from the district to answer the questions that parents might have.
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/lifestyles/1444409,6_5_NA23_5QS_S1.article