Mrs. Riz, a veteran special education teacher, writes about her initial puzzlement over a student’s sudden cycle of emotional ups and downs. Then she found out from the student’s grandmother that the girl had been on and off her meds since the start of the school year because her mother hadn’t gotten around to getting the prescription refilled. Though a gentle-seeming woman, Mrs. Riz has harsh words:
When [the student] is "off," our school day is often horrific. She certainly doesn't learn a damn thing on those days or weeks. ... I should not be made to babysit kids who are prescribed medication, and are left without by negligent parents. It would be different if her mother had doubts about medication overall, that kind of thing. No, it's laziness.
Yet another chapter in the increasingly complex story of parent-teacher relationships. ...
