Home visit from special ed teacher tomorrow

[pinksprklybarefoot]

We recently moved.  DS1 had been receiving speech therapy through the school district we lived in, and we met with the people that he would now be working with.  The instructor said that they would be doing home visits this week, so she would like to drop by with his new IEP.  The previous school district did not do home visits.

1) I will ask her tomorrow why they do these - something about it feels weird or condescending - not sure why, but if anyone here has any insight...

2) Is there anything that I should make sure of before she arrives?  Our house is kept pretty clean, the kids have books and toys, we have food in the fridge - I think our house appears pretty "normal."  Two things concern me:

-All three kids sleep in the same room, and the baby sleeps in the pack 'n' play.  There is no room for a full-sized crib, and we are probably only six months away before he'll be in a bed, so we decided to just make do.  The bedrooms are upstairs, though.  I'm not sure she will even see them.

-Yesterday, bot boys managed to split their lips open while playing with another little boy.  This is the first time that this has happened to either of them, and it happens the day before this lady is coming to visit.

I know this isn't a CPS visit, but for some reason it feels they she is going to be judging our home/lifestyle.

[ollyoxenfree]

I tend to think of a home visit from an educator or health professional as an attempt to make the student/parent/client feel MORE comfortable, not less, since it's on the client's "home turf". When some people visit at school, they feel like they regress to being a student again themselves - inferior in the relationship, rather than a full partner. I would think this is meant to be a friendly visit to help establish a good working relationship, not something akin to a police search and seizure. 

I suppose I can see how it would feel intrusive. I can't imagine she will care about the sleeping arrangements, but you are entirely within your rights to keep her visit within the normal entertaining areas of your home - living room or home office or family room or kitchen or whatever. Just don't invite in her elsewhere. Don't even mention it.

If you are really uncomfortable with a home visit, tell her that you'd prefer to meet at the school or office. I wouldn't even bother making up an excuse. Just ask for a mutually convenient appointment. 

[pinksprklybarefoot]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree 

I tend to think of a home visit from an educator or health professional as an attempt to make the student/parent/client feel MORE comfortable, not less, since it's on the client's "home turf". When some people visit at school, they feel like they regress to being a student again themselves - inferior in the relationship, rather than a full partner. I would think this is meant to be a friendly visit to help establish a good working relationship, not something akin to a police search and seizure. 

This makes me feel a lot better.   I think I've read too many social services horror stories on MDC!  I am probably way too suspicious.

[pink gal]

I was an early childhood special ed teacher for a while, and we made home visits all the time.  The purpose was not at all to judge the family, but rather to partner with them in helping their child.  Parents know their child best and a child is most comfortable in their home.  When teachers can partner with parents to build strategies to enhance development into their daily routine the child benefits enormously.

In the program I worked in we also saw those visits as a way to extend ourselves to the families.  We wanted the families to know that we valued their time and input enough to spend our time coming to them.  I can see where it could feel like they are coming to "check you out" but it is probably just their way of enhancing their relationship with you and your child.

I hope you will have a good experience with your home visit, and that it will be beneficial for your child's educational programming.

[Doodlebugsmom]

All kindergarten teachers do a home visit at the beginning of the year in our district. They stayed in the living room and didn't seem like they were there to snoop. As a pre-k teacher myself, I would look at a home visit as a chance to get to meet the child in their home environment where they are more likely to be comfortable and be themselves. Trust me, pre-k teachers know that injuries happen ALL THE TIME at this age. I can't imagine she'll think anything of the busted lips. I've seen busted lips occur in every pre-k class I've been in.

[Altair]

I do incoming K visits for our inclusive ASD program.  It's for a number of reasons, and none of those are to judge the household.

The primary reason is to meet the child on their "safe" home turf.  For the teacher to get to see your room, your toys, your favorite things, etc, and start to form a connection.  Then we do a school visit with only one other child present, to make the home-school jump a little less traumatic and all at once. 

At the same time the teacher meets/plays with the child, our social worker talks to the parent to find out about interests, strengths, areas where the child needs more support, strategies that work, etc.  It's informal and relaxed. 

All of the professionals that work with the child meet a few days before school starts to share what we know so we can make a plan for a gentle start to the school year. 

Though, yes, to be honest there are times that certain things really stand out at home and we would mention it.  An extreme level of order?  Lack of any structure for a child who might benefit from it? Sensory issues with the home environment?  We wouldn't make a big deal out of any of these things, rather it may be something mentioned at a PTC if the parent was asking for help with home routines/environment.  But no judging!  Parenting a special needs child is hard work. 

[Octopus8]

Is this for Early Intervention? When my son was younger we had a speech & motor therapist that came out to the house each week. They always stayed in the living room, never ventured into anywhere else, especially not into any bedrooms. They aren't there to check you out, it's just usually easier for the mom to have home visits, especially if you have other kids. It was always a good experience for us, it really helped him, and I was sad when the home vists ended when he turned 3.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

You all are all making me feel so much better! Honestly, it probably will help DS1 warm up to the teacher faster if he meets her again at home (he met her at the initial meeting). He can be shy in public at times, but on his own turf, he is much more animated.


And yes, it is an early intervention thing. He has made great strides in less than a year, so I am glad that we had him evaluated. He really enjoyed speech therapy in the previous school district, so I am hoping that he has an equally good experience with this one. I have a little bit of mama guilt for moving him out of a situation that was so good, but we were somewhat stuck and had to make decisions quick (owner of our apartment building was being foreclosed on).

[Linda on the move]

I think another thing about the teacher or therapist meeting a child with speech issues at home is that they can get to know the child's family situation, pets, etc., which make just TALKING to the child easier. I have a child with sn, and when she was little, if people knew her and knew what she was talking about it, they could understand a lot more of what she was saying.

[Octopus8]

Oh, yeah, totally don't worry then! All of the Early Intervention ladies that came out to see him were REALLY nice, I never once felt judged, even if my house wasn't 100% clean. And no, they never ever looked in my fridge - They never once even asked for as much as a glass of water LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinksprklybarefoot 

And yes, it is an early intervention thing. He has made great strides in less than a year, so I am glad that we had him evaluated. 

[insidevoice]

We have biweekly visits from an EI worker.  The first time she came over I felt terribly judged (it was a transition from the first EI worker we had to the second, the first was fabulous as well.)  She actually DID comment on a couple things, and she said a couple things I didn't understand.  Two hours after she left, she called to apologize- she had us confused with another family who only had conditional physical custody of their child- while the state retained custody, and she had been asked to go in to that home with an awareness that the parents had a history of neglect and abuse. Additionally, that family had physically and verbally assaulted a previous worker.  I can understand her being a little edgy. 

Since that confusion, she apologized profusely, and is nothing but wonderful when she comes, even though we cosleep, and have normal family chaos going on.  When finances were tight, instead of judging, she helped us to access extra money to get some sensory toys- with no judgement, but a simple offer of help because what we all want is the best possible outcome for the child we work together to support. 

[pinksprklybarefoot]

Just a quick update - the visit went great. The ladies were very nice, DS1 seemed to enjoy the visit, and I was able to get some helpful information about getting a referral for DS2 (he is 18 mo and only has a handful of words). They actually commented on how well-organized our place is. All-in-all, it was a success.