Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Dear current and future parents of early intervention,

Hi. My name is Beth and I am a Developmental Specialist or more commonly known in the EI world as a Special Instructor. I am apart, or should be apart, of your Early Intervention team. My job is look at the whole child and help them meet their milestones in each area of development. I am an asset to your team. I understand that you feel that your child only deserves the best and you feel that the BEST is a "Licensed Therapist". You feel that only people with an actual license should be working with your son or daughter. Let me give you some facts about Special Instructors.

We are the teachers on your team and we are trained and certified to work with your child and catch whatever your "Licensed Therapist" might not catch because they typically only focus on one area.

We are professionals. We were not just picked up off the street and told "Hey you want to work with children?"

We have the same amount and sometimes more education than that of your "Licensed Therapists".

When you turn down our services, your "Licensed Therapist" will often to come to us for new ideas and ways to work with you child.

We have letters behind our names too!

Please don't be naive and think that you can throw out offensive comments about us and think that your "Licensed Therapist" won't tell us about it. Our fellow therapists' respect us and we respect them as well.
Did you know that I can help a child learn to walk and talk without the need of a licensed therapist?? Did you also know that many families appreciate my services and see the value I add to their team??

We are all equals on your team, so please see the value of what I have to offer you and your family. My name is Beth. I am a Special Instructor. I am educated. I am a professional. I deserve your respect as such. Please do not question my ability to work with children...because I do not question your ability to parent your child.

Sincerely,

Beth, SI

3 comments:

  1. Not to bad, just tired of being offended every other day, and just felt the need to stand up for special instructors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm behind you 100%!! Good post.

    ReplyDelete