sped = special ed

[Mark Mandel]

My wife writes:
=======
I think of it as always capitalized, as in SPED PAC - Special Education
Parent Advisory Committee.

A SPED parent is the parent of a SPED kid. With all the hassle and tsouris*
that implies, both in dealing with the child and his needs, and dealing with
getting an appropriate IEP (Individual Educational Program) to meet his
needs.
=======

* Yiddish -- 'trouble, aggravation, heartbreak...'

m a m

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 2:10 PM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:

> "SPED" (pronounced as one syllable) for "Special Ed(ucation)", including
> "SPED parents", was everyday for us in at least the early nineties, maybe by
> the late eighties, in Framingham, Massachusetts. Bcc-ing to my wife, who may
> remember more detail or chronology.
>
> m a m
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:
>
>> This is a colloquial shortening and blending that I've heard used by
>> other parents, but now just spotted in the local paper:
>>
>> "Look how much we've done for this kid. He's a great kid. We want the
>> best for him. No matter what we do it's like BAM! BAM! Obstacle,
>> obstacle, obstacle. So I jump over that one, jump over that one, jump
>> over that one. It's like that for any sped parent." -- Dorothy Odgren
>> quoted re: her son John Odgren, in "'It seemed there was nothing we
>> could do,'" Lee Hammel, _Sunday Telegram (Worcester, MA)_, 27 June 2010.
>>
>> What's interesting is its application to someone indirectly involved
>> with special education services -- the student and service providers are
>> directly involved, one receiving and one giving. "Sped parent" is
>> standing for "parent of a special education student."
>>
>>

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