C
CoachGoofy
(put this here because I'd imagine that multiple groups have insight).
Dear parents of child with special needs who is starting at my gym,
Please, PLEASE answer the registration form questions. All of them. Especially the one that asks if your child has any physical, emotional, or educational issues that we should know about. Answer as honestly as possible, PLEASE. If your child has challenges, I need to know so I can provide appropriate instruction in meeting the challenges the gym brings.
We don't ask that question to exclude your child. I promise. My first calling was special education-I look forward to working with children like yours, children who need a different approach. Many kids with exceptional needs are among my favorite people on earth. Help me help them-let me know that they need help! Everyone has so much more fun that way. That question is there so that we know where to start, at least, in tailoring our instruction to each athlete.
There is not a single thing you could write on there that would make me hesitate to invite your child to team, should she have the ability. NOT. A. THING. I am not going to see your child as a label, but as a person who may need things presented differently. We are not asking to find a way to look down on anyone's kid; we want all our athletes to be successful with a minimum of frustration.
Sincerely,
Coach Goofy
It drives me up a tree when they write 'none' in that box, a child struggles (be it with blood sugar crashes or not being able to translate words into movement or being distracted by corrections given verbally while they're still in motion), and then the family gets mad at me because their child has XYZ condition. And I feel bad because it turns out my expectations were not completely realistic and it isn't the kid's fault we had no idea.
Anyone know why someone would omit that sort of thing?
Dear parents of child with special needs who is starting at my gym,
Please, PLEASE answer the registration form questions. All of them. Especially the one that asks if your child has any physical, emotional, or educational issues that we should know about. Answer as honestly as possible, PLEASE. If your child has challenges, I need to know so I can provide appropriate instruction in meeting the challenges the gym brings.
We don't ask that question to exclude your child. I promise. My first calling was special education-I look forward to working with children like yours, children who need a different approach. Many kids with exceptional needs are among my favorite people on earth. Help me help them-let me know that they need help! Everyone has so much more fun that way. That question is there so that we know where to start, at least, in tailoring our instruction to each athlete.
There is not a single thing you could write on there that would make me hesitate to invite your child to team, should she have the ability. NOT. A. THING. I am not going to see your child as a label, but as a person who may need things presented differently. We are not asking to find a way to look down on anyone's kid; we want all our athletes to be successful with a minimum of frustration.
Sincerely,
Coach Goofy
It drives me up a tree when they write 'none' in that box, a child struggles (be it with blood sugar crashes or not being able to translate words into movement or being distracted by corrections given verbally while they're still in motion), and then the family gets mad at me because their child has XYZ condition. And I feel bad because it turns out my expectations were not completely realistic and it isn't the kid's fault we had no idea.
Anyone know why someone would omit that sort of thing?