No Subject

["hope+ graverson" <redwingbird@excite.com>]

I have had a good deal of damage done to my life in the past 10 years by bad
medical people and bad insurance company people using medical records.
Strangely, until I read your post about school privacy and mental health, I
had forgotten all of the good things that happened when my son was in our
schools. I never had to worry about his records.  Procedures were
uncomplicated.  Records were student records -- not the child study team's
records -- not the school's records.  No murky pool here.

It was a speech therapist that helped identify why my son lost his ability
to use his right hand.  It was a school-reimbursed physical therapist that
identified the problem with his spine.  It was the child study team that
created a program for him to use a computer rather then write because of his
neurological problems. I gave them medical records but they were worthless
because no medical doctor had identified a problem. They had been unable to
find the opening in his spine. It was the school teachers noticing his
speech problems and his hand problems that alerted the staff.  They saved my
son's self-esteem -- and they did not sell his medical records or ask an HMO
if they could give him an evaluation.  I hope that it is the same today
because children are too precious to mess around with. 

As to teachers and schools taking over our kids and their mental health,
good education is good mental health. Many Kids who succeeded, have
confidence, are encouraged and cared about are going to have good mental
health and they are going to succeed in school and in life.  Kids that are
neglected, hurt, abandoned, isolated, sick, addicted are probably not going
to do as well.  Who better to see this then a teacher. A teacher that can
help a parent find out what is wrong or provide a student with emotional
support is a good teacher.  This does not mean that teachers should have
responsibility for decisions about students health.  This does not mean that
parents should be excluded because of the irresponsible idea that to discuss
information about a child with a parent is to violate the child's privacy.
That is the latest weirdness to be voted down in California.

There is a program in our state where family therapy became in integral part
of the school system and was operated at night by a psychologist trained in
this discipline.  The privacy of the student and the family were primary and
as the assistant to the program, I saw how that was accomplished.  The child
was never seen as the problem but a student coming to school with a problem.
The child was identified by the teacher and the information given to the
child study team member.  The parents were consulted about the situation and
if they opted, they could come at night and meet the director of the
program.  The stipulation for the family was that everyone living in the
home with the student had to come to the first meeting.  Family therapy is
based on theory that incorporates dynamics within the family unit and change
is brought about by members agreeing with the therapist (the guide) to
contract change.  The symptom of problems is often a child.  If the problem
is not a school problem, it becomes a school problem.  Sometimes the school
problem becomes a home problem and then a parental problem.  No matter what
has happened, the unit undertakes a plan of action to help with the problem
that they come to identify in the sessions.  It was amazing to know how much
help parents received and how many children had success because of this
resource.  It takes competent people -- just like anything in society -- to
put together a program like this.  It was a given that privacy was important
-- children needed to feel safe and not be humiliated by peers; parents
needed to feel that what they had to say about their lives was not school
business.  Proves to me that when people operate according to ethical
standards and are not ready to "dumb down" care and privacy, trust is
established and people can be helped.

The real lesson here is that when the dollar sign enters the equation and
everything is lowered to that level, we can kiss privacy, trust and help
good bye.  

 




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