I remember when my son was in preschool, at that time he was receiving speech therapy, and the social worker called me because he was dancing over the tables and running out of the classroom, they told that I needed to look for a better placement because they didn’t have enough personnel to attend this situations. I was under the impression they needed to figure out how to keep him in the classroom but instead they started pulling out my oldest daughter from her classroom to deal with his behaviors. I changed him to a special early ed program for children with language impairments and he succeed in everything. Summer came and as a stay at home mom I couldn’t wait to enroll him in a camp, you know how stressful and long some summer days can turn. When I picked him up in the afternoon the Vacation Bible School Coordinator was waiting for me at the door and asked me to keep him home because they couldn’t use their volunteer personnel in only one child. Those are the times in which you get upset with people, with church and with God. I knew I had a very energetic child that struggled trying to express himself with words, but you know he was just 5 years old, why people expected so much from him? Summer was over and when kindergarten came, I was so hopeful until l I received the dreaded call, this time it was his homeroom teacher yelling at me and saying she couldn’t stand him anymore and that I needed to go immediately and take him home. All his rights were violated that day and I knew he needed my protection and my love, but what was wrong with him?
Without second guessing myself I decided I was going to become a homeschool mom and my husband supported the idea, although my master’s in environmental science was left in the hanging. We looked for professional help, and the answers came. My son diagnosis included language delays, ADHD, specific learning disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, the complete cocktail. With all these findings more questions raised because if I didn’t understand the problems how I can provide the require help. I started reading and self-educating and after trying to teach him how to read unsuccessfully, because I had no clue about the science of reading, I decided he needed to be back in a school. This time I knew all his rights and I was able to explain his disabilities. I looked for a small size classroom in a private school and they were willing to enroll him only if I agree to teach so I can be near him to supported him. Having a successful career seemed to be draining in a toilet, but a mother hearth goes beyond and I don’t regret it. I found myself teaching middle and high school students with other learning disabilities, Asperger, Autism, Tourette syndrome, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. I wasn’t the only one begging for help, like me there were many parents, that is when I decided to become the best “teacher” (yes without license) by accommodating all my students to the needs of a few. I’m happy to say that all my science students succeed, some managed to complete high school even though it required a big effort for them, but others are just becoming doctors in medicine, accountants, analyst, psychologist, musicians, some enroll in military careers and even one of them is working for the NASA. That is why I believe in the power of good teaching, because it is inclusive.
I became an educational therapist because I wanted to do it better. I worked for the past years in a non-public in DC with children with emotional disabilities and/or learning disabilities. I was able to translate my ideas to the English language and helped English and Spanish speakers, oh because I forgot to mention that my son elementary and middle school education happened in Puerto Rico, yes, I am a Boricua pa que tu lo sepas!