My new student started this past Tuesday. He celebrated his third birthday on Saturday and was in school as soon as the bus picked him up Tuesday morning. He seems so young since more than half my class is already 5 years old. He arrived at school with nothing except for a cough that sounded like bronchitis, although I am not a doctor so I can't diagnose. He didn't even come with any diapers or wipes despite needing them. He had a rash on his stomach and a brace on his arm that I knew nothing about.
It amazes me that parents would send their barely three year old child to school without meeting or calling the teacher. It floors me that people would send a child with signficant disabilities to a school setting without even writing down the child's name on a piece of paper and providing an emergency contact number. If something was wrong, this particular child does not have the ability to communicate it. What was even more frustrating was the fact that phone number provided to the office was out of service. So when I did try to call to say that the child needed diapers and was suffering from a nasty cough, it was not productive. How can you as a parent of a very young child with disabilities just assume that your child will be fine?
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I feel like there is so much responsibility put on us as teachers to BE the parent in that situation (and in many situations). I hate to hear things like this but I can't only be grateful that the parents DID send him to a safe place where he was guaranteed to be taken care of by someone who really cares.
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