Dear Service Provider,
However, please try to stick to our agreed appointment day and time. If you’re not familiar with dealing with children with autism or other developmental disabilities, you may not realize that missing appointments or arriving late or early can disrupt their day and cause behavioral issues.
However, please don’t tell me that my child is disinterested in communicating, making friends, or being close to others. My child has a condition that interferes with his ability to do these things. Please don’t confuse his struggle with these abilities with his desire and need for them.
However, please don’t tell me that with every service there is a beginning and an end. It’s my understanding that the related services in IDEA are based on need – not the length of service time.
However, it is my hope that I learn as much as I can from you. Please come with resources, practical strategies and ideas that I can actually use to help reinforce your efforts with my child. I may not have access to visual boards, pictures, apps, or other items you’ve mentioned using. The more resourceful you are to our family, the greater the odds are for my child’s success.
However, please note that I might not be able to afford some of those items and there’s no worse feeling than not being able to help your child because you can’t afford what was suggested. Perhaps you can offer resources on how I can borrow these items or maybe you know of sources of funding that can help my family with purchasing them.
I know that there might be times you won’t have the answer.
However, please don’t deliberately speak to me in medical terms or jargon you know I probably won’t understand. Just be honest and transparent with me. Tell me you need to meet with your colleagues or do a little research. I know you’re trying to help us.
However, please don’t tell me about other parents who you think don’t care. In fact, please don’t speak poorly of other parents to me. It only causes me to wonder how unsupported those parents feel and what you might be saying about me to them.
However, please don’t leave me out of your ideas for strategy or planning processes. Please have faith in me enough to presume my competence in following your lead. If you teach, model, and provide useful tips and information on how I can help my child, please trust that I will get it done. I want to help my child and I cannot do this without you.
However, please help me by creating a document that is easy for me to capture and record all the information that is needed. Please be patient with me, time is never kind to me and I’m dealing with more than you can possibly imagine.