*** Official School Baloney Interpreter *** -- from YourChild.org

🔴 “WE DON’T SEE THAT AT SCHOOL” 👉 Translation: We’re discounting your input and avoiding responsibility ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE’S DOING FINE” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to increase services or change anything ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE’S MEETING HIS GOALS” 👉 Translation: The goals are probably too low, and we want to keep them ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE NEED MORE DATA” 👉 Translation: We’re stalling instead of making a change ________________________________________ 🔴 “LET’S GIVE IT MORE TIME” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to act right now ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE CAN TRY THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to commit to writing it into the IEP ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE ALREADY DO THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want accountability or documentation ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T TYPICALLY DO THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to set a precedent or allocate resources ________________________________________ 🔴 “THAT’S NOT HOW OUR PROGRAM WORKS” 👉 Translation: We’re prioritizing our system over your child’s needs ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T HAVE THE STAFF FOR THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to allocate resources ________________________________________ 🔴 “THAT WOULD BE TOO RESTRICTIVE” 👉 Translation: We’re avoiding adding support (even if it helps him succeed in gen ed) ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE NEEDS TO ADVOCATE FOR HIMSELF” 👉 Translation: We’re shifting responsibility to the student ________________________________________ 🔴 “THIS IS A MIDDLE SCHOOL—EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGHER” 👉 Translation: We’re lowering support instead of increasing it ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE’RE PREPARING HIM FOR HIGH SCHOOL” 👉 Translation: We’re justifying reduced support ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE NEEDS TO STRUGGLE A LITTLE” 👉 Translation: We’re allowing failure instead of supporting learning ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T WANT HIM TO BECOME DEPENDENT” 👉 Translation: We’re limiting support prematurely ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE’LL MONITOR IT” 👉 Translation: We’re not changing anything right now ________________________________________ 🔴 “LET’S SEE HOW HE DOES” 👉 Translation: We’re delaying action ________________________________________ 🔴 “THAT CAN BE HANDLED INFORMALLY” 👉 Translation: We don’t want it written or enforceable ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE’LL SUPPORT HIM AS NEEDED” 👉 Translation: No defined plan, no accountability ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T THINK THAT’S NECESSARY” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to provide it ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE DOESN’T QUALIFY FOR THAT” 👉 Translation: We’re drawing a line—often prematurely ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE HAVE TO BE FAIR TO ALL STUDENTS” 👉 Translation: We’re prioritizing equity optics over individual need ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE CAN’T GUARANTEE THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to be held accountable ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T WRITE IEPS THAT WAY” 👉 Translation: We don’t want specificity ________________________________________ 🧠 PATTERN TO REMEMBER Almost all resistance falls into 4 buckets: 1. Delay → “more time,” “monitor,” “more data” 2. Deflect → “we don’t see it,” “he’s fine” 3. Deny → “not necessary,” “not how we do it” 4. Diffuse → “as needed,” “we’ll support him” ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T SEE THAT AT SCHOOL” 👉 Translation: We’re discounting your input and avoiding responsibility ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE’S DOING FINE” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to increase services or change anything ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE’S MEETING HIS GOALS” 👉 Translation: The goals are probably too low, and we want to keep them ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE NEED MORE DATA” 👉 Translation: We’re stalling instead of making a change ________________________________________ 🔴 “LET’S GIVE IT MORE TIME” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to act right now ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE CAN TRY THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to commit to writing it into the IEP ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE ALREADY DO THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want accountability or documentation ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T TYPICALLY DO THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to set a precedent or allocate resources ________________________________________ 🔴 “THAT’S NOT HOW OUR PROGRAM WORKS” 👉 Translation: We’re prioritizing our system over your child’s needs ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T HAVE THE STAFF FOR THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to allocate resources ________________________________________ 🔴 “THAT WOULD BE TOO RESTRICTIVE” 👉 Translation: We’re avoiding adding support (even if it helps him succeed in gen ed) ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE NEEDS TO ADVOCATE FOR HIMSELF” 👉 Translation: We’re shifting responsibility to the student ________________________________________ 🔴 “THIS IS A MIDDLE SCHOOL—EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGHER” 👉 Translation: We’re lowering support instead of increasing it ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE’RE PREPARING HIM FOR HIGH SCHOOL” 👉 Translation: We’re justifying reduced support ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE NEEDS TO STRUGGLE A LITTLE” 👉 Translation: We’re allowing failure instead of supporting learning ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T WANT HIM TO BECOME DEPENDENT” 👉 Translation: We’re limiting support prematurely ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE’LL MONITOR IT” 👉 Translation: We’re not changing anything right now ________________________________________ 🔴 “LET’S SEE HOW HE DOES” 👉 Translation: We’re delaying action ________________________________________ 🔴 “THAT CAN BE HANDLED INFORMALLY” 👉 Translation: We don’t want it written or enforceable ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE’LL SUPPORT HIM AS NEEDED” 👉 Translation: No defined plan, no accountability ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T THINK THAT’S NECESSARY” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to provide it ________________________________________ 🔴 “HE DOESN’T QUALIFY FOR THAT” 👉 Translation: We’re drawing a line—often prematurely ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE HAVE TO BE FAIR TO ALL STUDENTS” 👉 Translation: We’re prioritizing equity optics over individual need ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE CAN’T GUARANTEE THAT” 👉 Translation: We don’t want to be held accountable ________________________________________ 🔴 “WE DON’T WRITE IEPS THAT WAY” 👉 Translation: We don’t want specificity ________________________________________ 🧠 PATTERN TO REMEMBER Almost all resistance falls into 4 buckets: 1. Delay → “more time,” “monitor,” “more data” 2. Deflect → “we don’t see it,” “he’s fine” 3. Deny → “not necessary,” “not how we do it” 4. Diffuse → “as needed,” “we’ll support him” ________________________________________