It actually helps if the child is at a special school or in a group of children with special needs. The school wants to encourage the child and say nice things about them and the progress they are making and is often unwilling to appear negative. Some strong points I have come across: even if the school says "no behavioural problems", the parent may have lots of letters from the school about the problems in class. Another is that a school catering for children with very severe educational difficulties may have different ideas of what is "normal" from any other school. Finally, if you have a child on Ritalin or similar, they may be fine while it is working. But Ritalin is a fairly short-lived stimulant that interferes with sleep, and so it is not usually given in the evening. That means that the child gets home just as it is wearing off. And it is very well documented that many children cope best with a firm regimented approach and don't get it at home, so home and school behaviour are very different.
|