School Support

PARENTS TALKING TO SCHOOLS AND EDUCATING THE EDUCATORS

The Association has been giving talks to schools and other groups since it was founded in 1994. Over the years committee members, notably Sorcha Regan, Jo Cullen and others, travelled around the country raising awareness of Dyspraxia/DCD, which in those early days was barely heard of. Our ability to follow up on requests for talks depended on having a relevant presentation available and folk to do the talking!

If you've ever tried to define Dyspraxia/DCD in one or two simple sentences you’ll know it’s not easy. How do you answer that often asked question - "What exactly is Dyspraxia?" For non-professionals such as us parents it really is difficult to trot out the technical stuff about "fine and gross motor skills impairment" etc. On the other hand we do actually know more than we think and that's where the value of parents talking to teachers and other groups comes in.

Things got a lot simpler when Amanda Kirby's Dyscovery Centre in Cardiff produced a short film, as part of a training programme, called “Living with Dyspraxia”. It basically shows a day in the life of 12-year-old Tim, a boy with Dyspraxia/DCD, as he goes from getting up in his chaotic bedroom, to a difficult time in school - in the classroom and playground - to coping with his stressed out mother at the end of the day. The film includes interviews with professionals, teachers and parents and explains in clear and basic terms what Dyspraxia is and how it affects the individual. It also provides advice and information.

Over the past year, with fellow member Siobhan Gallagher and a couple of others, we swallowed our nerves and armed with the above DVD and plenty of handouts - and always in pairs - we visited primary, secondary, and special needs schools, and groups from NEPS (the National Educational Psychological Service). When I say 'talks' I really mean we showed the film and followed up with an informal discussion and Q&A session. We found we were generally well able to answer any questions raised - and if we couldn’t, we’d find someone afterwards who could!

Without exception we have found the teachers' and other groups to be welcoming and very interested. The format is relaxed and it gives us the opportunity to talk about what it's like for the children, their parents, typical problems that crop up at school and the often small things that can be done to make life more simple. It's certainly much easier to show a film and chat in general about Dyspraxia/DCD than it is to go into school and talk to an individual teacher about your own son or daughter, as we’ve all had to do at some stage.

Sometimes we've sat on baby chairs in the Jnr Infants classroom with the Headmaster and his team, other times we've had tea and biscuits in the Staff Room and prayed that the DVD player would work! The feedback has been very positive - the teachers are relaxed and frank because we're talking 'in general' and we get the opportunity to be frank with them in return. Often the request comes through a parent, who would suggest to the Head that we talk to their child’s teacher and the rest of the team. Usually we visit during an In-Service Day and would be given an hour or so of their time.

So that's how it has worked - and it does work, it is a quick easy way of getting the information out there where it's needed. However, there is now more demand than we can meet which is really a wasted opportunity. This is where you, our fellow members come in - we need to build up a few teams who in turn can spread the network further. We reckon we'd have every school in the country covered in a couple of years!! Well, ok, let’s not get carried away.

We're initially looking for interested parents to meet with us in the autumn to get things moving. We'd encourage the Regional Groups to get involved and would work with you. We're also aware that up till now these visits have been made during the working day – which is something we'd look into. Everyone is busy of course and we're not suggesting huge time commitments here. A few pairs of volunteers making one or two visits a term would make a tremendous difference.

At this particular time, when schools and parents are under increasing pressure, we need people to understand Dyspraxia/DCD and, more importantly, our children better. We need to get secondary schools on board because we know the transition from primary to secondary can be difficult, we need to help the older ones get ready for third level or the world of work. We know what we need and we have a wealth of experience among our members, from being the parents of small children up to young adults. And a new weapon at our disposal are the young adults themselves, some of whom have expressed interest in getting involved. How better to explain the challenges of Dyspraxia/DCD than to hear it from the young people themselves.

Please get in touch with us on 01 - 8747085 or by email info@dyspraxia.ie and we'll get back to you.

Orla Stanley