Yes, I know you are frustrated to see another email from me. Yes, I have been in your shoes and can relate. Yes, I think I heard you sigh through the email.I might have even been able to see you roll your eyes when my name came across your screen. You need to know however, that I am on your side. I support you. I do not talk smack about you. I hold you in high standards.I want you on my team.I want you to see my child for who he is. I want him to be successful. To do this we need you, his teacher, on our side.
Even though our son functions at a high level, he struggles with school. Our son has Asperger’s. He is not the same as other high school students. Socially, he is between a five and eight year old. The word organization doesn’t even exist in his world. Our nights are consumed with homework.A lot of homework. Frequently he says “I don’t know” or “I didn’t understand the directions”. Patience is not always my best virtue, as it should be. This is where your role is essential.
When I email you and inquire about an assignment, I am not asking for a favor.I am merely inquiring about the assignment.I know it is frustrating for you. I know you teach high school. I know you think my son should be capable of going from your room to home and knowing the assignment. He doesn’t.He has a processing disorder that unfortunately prevents him from doing this. When you don’t respond to the email, our nights become more frustrating.Anxiety sets in. Emotions run high from everyone. Fortunately, his brother and sister are both good students and don’t require much help with school. It doesn’t make it fair however, that I ask about their day and half-ass listen to their answers while waiting for our night of homework to begin with their brother.
Do I wish he were what we would all call a normal teenager? Oh on so many levels I do. My hopes of him being an athlete, going away to college, being invited to a dance, being invited to a friend’s house. These were all tossed out the window many years ago. I would not however, trade him for another child. He has compassion. He is honest. He is a hard worker.He wants to please everyone, especially you. Without his diagnosis, I do not know if he would indeed have these traits.
So will you join our team? Will you communicate with me? Will you take a minute to respond to the email about the assignment? Will you go the extra mile and be the teacher that took a deep breath, but spent extra time working with him? Will you join our team in the hope of helping our son be successful? We don’t really have uniforms and there aren’t a lot of extra sign on bonuses for being on our team. ESPN will not be covering our story. We will however, let you be the star player. All we need from you is communication and your patience. Heck, we will even throw in a nice teacher appreciation gift at the end of the year. In the end, we will all be part of the winning team. You can even have the MVP trophy.
