Is there any point in me going to these parenting classes ?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, my 5 year old daughter is the only child in her class (possibly the whole school) with SEN's.
We had an open day recently with an Ed psych who runs parenting classes at her house. I put my name down to go, and so did most of the other mums.
I thought it would be good to get some tips on how to handle dificult situations etc. The more I think about it though, I don't think it'll be relevant to me or my daughter. I don't particulaly want the other parents to know about all her problems and how hard they are to handle.
On the open day, one of the mums who's child is very bright just wouldn't stop talking and no one else got a word in edgeways. She's comming on the corse too.
I'm a bit worried that hearing about other peoples children in the same class will really make it hit home how far behind my daughter is.
I'd like to think it'd be a positive experience, but I think it might make me feel very alone.

re:private school. My concern would be what the private school will do if your DD doesn't catch up in the short to medium term in areas where she is delayed - i.e. whether they will suggest you take your DD out. I don't think that private schools are an automatic no-no for kids with SN (especially at the milder end)- some private schools are small, nurturing and supportive towards kids with SN. Hopefully the one MLL's DD attends will be like that.

btw OfstedOutstanding schools are not always the best schools at including kids with SN, or even the best schools at anything other than SATs or ticking the Ofsted boxes. Just because people aren't happy with the local outstanding school doesn't mean all your local state schools would be unsuitable for your DD.

I couldn't discuss ds1's difficulties in front of anyone who wan't my friend, so I can see where you are coming from.

I would be concerned about the close, relationship between the Ed Psych and the school, given that her sister is a teacher there, and she has children in the school. It just really doesn't sound like a very professional arrangement to me.

Whether my child had additional needs or not, I don't think I would go. There are some excellent parenting courses run by children's centres (PHP, PPP, Family Links etc) which will be far more inclusive.

Have you been to visit any other schools MLL. Please don't simply accept what other parents have told you. A particular school may not be right for their child, but it may be perfect for yours.

BTW - there is a child in my dd's class who has speech and language delay, some physical difficulties and wears nappies. NONE of us gossip about him, and whilst my dd has asked me about him, it has simply been in the same way that she asks about other friends. Why are you worried about the parents knowing about your dd's additional needs?

I went along today. The lady seems very nice. We watched a DVD, then talked about it etc. We have a work book and each week we'll try something new and then talk about how we got on.
The school is very supportive and is more than happy to keep her.
She now has a speech therapist and an ed psych, so that's the same as she'd get in the state sector. I personally think speech therapy has been a waste of time, and I don't think she'll make much progress with the new SALT as she just seems sooo boring. I hope I'm wrong, I've only met her a few times. The school seem to be the only people who are positive about my daughter.

Hiya Mummyloveslucy - is the course you are doing called tripleP (positive parenting programme)?

I am trained in delivering it (one to one intensive-not groupwork) although haven't yet done it.

I'll be following this thread as it will be interesting to see how you find it (if that's ok!)

Hi, I'm not sure but the book is called "What can a parent do?" The first session was pretty basic, about giving positive attention rather than negative and not rewarding unwanted behaviour with attention etc.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, no it's not the same one then. Sounds like the first session went ok though. Hope the rest go swimmingly too