I just “lashed out” at a parent via email over a situation with my student

I’ve been a teacher for 17 years. I have NEVER responded to a parent in an unprofessional manner. I have ALWAYS remained calm and level headed no matter the circumstances. <br><br>I have a student in my Support class for students with learning disabilities. This student is also medically fragile and has some medical needs that need to be attended to throughout the day. <br><br>This student has severe dysgraphia and is getting accommodations for this disability. <br><br>Parent insisted that their child does all of their work in cursive and that we make them practice cursive daily. I informed the parent that this would be painful for their child and they would not be able to complete their work. <br><br>Parent told me to make them do it anyway. <br><br>Today while I was giving the class directions for an assignment, the student began to try and write in cursive. They were in pain and getting frustrated. I redirected them to print and finish the assignment. I informed the parent of today’s incident. <br><br>The parent just emailed me and said that since I am making their child do what I want instead of what they want, that their child will no longer be in my class. They then proceeded to tell me that I should not be a teacher to children with special needs because I don’t listen to parents or care about their children. <br><br>Here was my response: <br><br>“Perhaps you should get your child the help they need instead of forcing them to do things that cause them pain and make them feel like failures. I will ALWAYS put your child’s needs over your wants.” <br><br><br>Now I’m waiting for a call from my principal.