Freya’s Case study
Please read on how we were able to transform the live of not only for Freya but also for her parents…
3: The outcome
The greater win however was for Freya, who graduated Year Twelve with a full West Australian Certificate of Education, and her self confidence intact. My journey with Freya was challenging but it turned out to be the biggest gift. It gave me the reason to find the answers and to fight the good fight ... and win. Freya was the reason Dovetail came to fruition. My Freya, like your child has the right to quality education where their barriers are supported and their gifts celebrated.
Freya’s story
1: The challenges
Dovetail Therapy and Support happened because it needed to! As a parent of a daughter with severe dyslexia I was so frustrated with the difficulties she encountered at school. From the minute she entered the system it was a struggle and it just didn't make sense because she was articulate, quick tolerant and eager. When we finally got the specific learning difficulty dyslexia I thought it would become easier for her. Sadly no.
As part of my Masters in Autism study I understood a research project into parental involvement in the Individual Education Plan. I certainly had had limited involvement and I wanted to find out about the experiences of other parents. It seemed my experience of limited involvement in the Individual Education plan was not that unusual. Whilst the findings of my research was somewhat disappointing, what was positive was the depth at which I came to understand the legislation supporting students and their parents with disabilities. Armed with this knowledge I set out to challenge what was going on for Freya at school.
2: The guidance and support
Year Eleven saw Freya catastrophically fail every single assessment. Freya was able to learn - her cognitive assessments showed me she had no intellectual disability or impairment apart from her specific learning difficulty, so what was going on? It was actually very easy to work this out as I had given the school the Individual Education Plan that needed to be implemented to support Freya, grounded in evidence based practice and strategies that could easily be implemented in a whole class setting. So if she was failing, it was because they were not removing the barriers as a result of her disability.
It took some work to get the school to the point where they took on board what I was saying. Actually it really took me suggesting that the Human Rights Commission could work out what was going on for Freya because all the evidence I had pointed to the fact that Freya’s disability had not been appropriately supported. The gentle nudge certainly moved things in the right direction and a more consultative and collaborative approach followed.
Kereth & Andy
Hear from the parents on how they dealt with the journey and how the outcome has changed their lives for the better.