Stakeholder #2

My second stakeholder is Henry's mother. In her article, she describes with vivid detail her journey through Henry's diagnosis and how she felt during every step of the way. She represents all of the parents of children struggling with a disability, especially those who voice their concerns but aren't heard by schools in their area.

Henry’s mother is the author of the article describing my main event. It highlights how worried she was for her child. She would have to visit the school whenever Henry got called down to the principal’s office. She would have to see how upset her son would get over small things, like wearing his pajama top to school, or peeing his pants because he was afraid to use the bathroom unless it was during the designated breaks. When the time came that he go to public middle school, everyone assured her that he was smart and he would be fine. But she knew Henry best, and was very worried. He was already exhausted from his school day; what would happen when he had to change classes and teachers? She knew that Henry would not be comfortable there, but what were her other options? Therefore, she ended up looking into homeschooling. After Henry agreed, she began teaching him out of workbooks and mailing his assignments off to a teacher to be graded. This system offers the flexibility he needs. However, it comes at a cost. Henry’s mother is forced to work all day on the weekends in order to be home with Henry during the week. This causes her to miss her other children’s events. It is a complicated system, and one that could be simplified if his public school had the proper support.

Amy Mackin discusses her problems with the public school system to a great extent in her article. She says, "Special-education departments tend to focus on helping students with learning disabilities. But kids with Asperger's often don't need academic support." A second claim she makes describes why public schools do not have enough support. "The problem is that public schools are mostly worried about academics and test scores . . . Few schools have designated psychologists (most often, multiple schools share the same one.)"  Amy Mackin represents all of the parents of these struggling children. My last claim comes from Autism Key, an organization that represents the parents of autistic children. The author of this article, Susan Moffitt, claims "special education teachers in my state are not educated in autism, nor are the teachers who host children with autism in their mainstream classes."

These claims are very valid. Amy Mackin describes her situation in such detail that she sound genuine. This also makes her piece more emotional than that of an organization representing these children would be. There were very few facts in her piece, other than talking about how incidents that happened at school. She plays on the audience's emotions very well, describing her son's struggles and how she felt during that time. The claim from Autism Key has a little more factual information on it, but still plays on our emotions very well. Despite how these articles made feel, the issue presented in both of them is still very prevalent.

These claims are similar to other stakeholders because not only do their children want more support in schools, but there are therapists that actually do want to help these students, but aren't employed by schools. However, these claims are different than those made by schools, where they state that they already have enough support, which is obviously not true. These parents share many of the same concerns as their children, but do not have anything in common with the concerns of the schools.

"Watch Me Thrive" 4-23-14 via wp.lps.org