This week is PSSA week for my fourth grader. I realize many children are affected by standardized tests, hopefully not many to the level of our house.
Our affectedness began about two weeks ago. It took me some time to put the pieces of the elevated tics and outbursts puzzle together but I got it. Plus the emails from his teacher describing his anxiety attack during a session discussing the exam clued me in. Thank the Lord he does not attend a school that has PSSA centered teaching and they don't make references to it regularly.
So today was Day One of the stupid exam. My child is fortunate enough to be given his exam in a private room with a scribe on hand if needed. Even with all of that and having parents that laugh at the pointlessness of the stupid exam, he still cried all day and made himself physically sick. Nobody talks about how Tourette's can often come with a side of extreme perfectionism. It's more fun to talk about the bad words shouted in the most rare cases. No one wants to hear about the all to common crippling mental tics.
I know that I am really offending some people by calling the exam stupid. For the record, even if my child did not have special circumstances I would still refer to it as STUPID! I seriously don't understand the point of these tests and what they are really used for. If you need one long ass exam to let you know if your child is performing at an acceptable level then I feel you are not involved enough in their education. If the school needs the exam to realize the child is not performing properly or they have potentially shitty teachers then they as an institution are not involved enough.
Really, what is the point of these exams?
If you make it through standardized exam time with little to no effect on your family, make sure to give thanks and hug your child.
If you are a family like ours, give thanks for your fabulously unique child and hug him or her extra tight.
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