Sunday, June 16, 2024

 Sunday, June 16, 2024

   The mother of going-in- 4th grade CH wasn’t in church today.  She canceled a session for Thursday afternoon because she was ill. The plan was to speak after Mass.  It wasn’t clear why she wanted to talk with me rather than reschedule my session with her son. 

   She called, saying she had heard of me through someone. She had just been told that her son wasn’t welcome back at the private school he’d been attending because of his poor progress in reading. She had him evaluated, and he was diagnosed as dyslexic.  She said she didn’t understand what the report said.  She tried to tell him the problem could be overcome with effort.  Both Judy and I suspect there is something else going on here.  She knows of a child with autism who attends the school without a problem.  I thought at first the problem may have been that the mother harangues the teachers to make more of an effort to help her son.  The other possibility is she has used denial and insisted there’s no real problem; her son is fine, and it will resolve itself.  They kicked him out to force his parents to find help for him. 

  Whatever the reason the school kicked him out, I hope she will call me. I have an excellent track record for helping kids who haven’t been helped by anyone else. I also hope she isn’t just too sick to call. I worry about that, too. She has four school-age kids and is a loving mom.

       I had going-into-fourth-grade MH today. She always looks sad. Today, I told her she looked sad and that she could talk to me if she wanted to. She said nothing. Afterward, I thought she might be thinking there was nothing I could do to improve her situation. That might be true. If she is having problems with someone, I probably can’t change the situation. I have to make clear to her that I might be able to help her cope with it. 

   MH’s reading is good. I would love to know her tested grade reading level at the end of the year. Her father thanks me for everything I’ve done for his children. I think he is more concerned about the psychological benefits than the academic ones, which is why he doesn’t terminate our relationship. 

  I continued as usual with Adolescent D. The work feels grueling. I wish I could think of something to do to make it feel better, but nothing has come to mind. 

  I continued watching, enjoying and being soothed by Bridgerton.