Sharing Your Child's Story

There are lots of elements to a good story. You need to grab the reader or listener’s attention. You must share the story line with enough description to draw the others into the details of the story. The characters need to feel real or at least interesting. A reader must be able to follow the story line. Does the vocabulary selected bring vivid pictures to the listeners mind? Does everyone understand the vocabulary? Is humor appropriate? How about the conclusion. Will the reader walk away thinking they were moved by the story? Will he remember it long enough to share it with another person?

These questions are often asked by a Composition 101 instructor but they need to be considered by a person advocating for her child. It is important to tell your story in such a way that you get people to listen. The listener or reader needs to feel like this is a unique story. It’s not like the other 100 stories that he has heard this year from parents. If a parent can tell her story in a unique way it will grab others attention. This is how to encourage a provider to take a special interest in your child as you seek individualize solutions.

Some important elements are

• Your child's history ( traumatic birth, adopted out of foster care at three years)
• His diagnosis (he meets the criteria for autism but does not sound like any of the children in the autism literature)
• His school history (he melted down twenty times a day in kindergarten so we pulled him out and have homeschooled for the last 3 years)
• Services He receives with any important information (have providers write letters sharing important details about your child)
• His strengths
• His challenges
• Progress he has made
• Hope for what you would like to see

Write out your story. Time it as you practice sharing it. Stay on script. This is the best way to get your message across in the least amount of time. Be as concise as possible. It is important that you are heard. It is also The best way to accomplish this is to give the most Information in a short amount of time. It is good to develop a 2 minute and a 5 minute version. Use the version that is most appropriate for the setting.

You child and his story is unique. There is no one else with his exact needs. The goal of sharing it with others is for them to understand why he is not like another child. He is the only one like him and needs a program that individualized!

 

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