Thursday 14 August 2014

Raising expectations

We're finding it frustrating that people seem to have such low expectations of Peter. It took months of his teachers saying that he was doing well, settling in beautifully, a lovely member of the class etc. before we found out about some atrocious behaviours that they were dealing with on a daily basis and were able to help them put strategies in place to improve things. We've just had a similar situation as Peter has just finished three weeks of a special needs holiday club - on the last day we discovered that he had been behaving appallingly from the first day, and the play leaders had just let it all slide meaning that his behaviour deteriorated as he continued to push the non-existent boundaries. When we challenged them they were shocked that we don't accept such poor behaviour at home so it rarely happens - they genuinely didn't think Peter was capable of making good choices.

Why is this? Is it because he has autism? Because he's developmentally delayed? Because his speech is immature and his eye contact is minimal with people who aren't close family and friends? Is it because he's a looked-after child?

How do they expect children to learn how to behave if expectations are so low from the start?

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