The Foreign Service Journal, June 2012

78 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 2 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT taking full advantage of it. Online services have made keep- ing in contact with family members possible and affordable. The Internet allows us to order many of the staples we need while living abroad, manage our bank accounts and, for many Foreign Service spouses, run a busi- ness or develop a career while moving from post to post. So why shouldn’t we embrace tech- nological advances that ensure a more promising future for our special needs children? To be sure, there is no guarantee that telepractice is going to be the answer for everyone. Each individual Foreign Service family and State’s Employee Consultative Services will have to make that determination. But to those who wonder whether it really works, I like to point out: If surgeons can direct delicate opera- tions taking place in remote African villages, as they are, online; then I can certainly use telepractice to teach your kid how to make an “r.”