With all this in mind, I dreaded my nephew's third birthday party. First strike was the hour. Four PM, is not good for James. He is creature of routine. By that time, we are headed home ending our day, not starting a new activity. Holiday, vacation, busy weekdays are all very similarly structured. Home, snack, relaxing, and then homework, bath and dinner. After that it is movie time with Mom and Dad. With what was happening at school, I tried to talk with my husband about James skipping the party. It didn't work and James spent an hour cowering on my lap watching YouTube in the basement playroom, where we stayed for the evening. Not good but not the time or place for teaching a lesson.
Although my fears were realized, I at least planned ahead and took Monday off so James (and his parents) could recover before going back to an already difficult school routine. Also, a school meeting has been scheduled to address James' behavior. We have briefly talked about developing a behavioral plan and amending James' IEP (Individualized Education Plan). I have to make sure this plan is created with James' sensory issues in mind. This over-sensitivity to sound must be tackled. It went from fear of noise and fear of violence to noise=violence. I have patiently waited for whatever their plans - to settle him in the new class were - to work. They are not. Besides, when I was told that James would have a transitional person help him ease into his new environment, I mistakenly assumed that it would continue until the transition was deemed to be complete, not three days, regardless. Honestly, I feel nothing was seriously done to help James because they wanted him to fail. Okay, maybe "fail" is harsh, but it is a matter of semantics. I believe the school wants James to give up a seat in this higher-functioning class, and be placed back in the class for kids with violent behavioral issues. They can't fill that class, parents have actually pulled their children out of the school when a change could not be accommodated. As we will if this is suggested. Although James in non-verbal, he has typed "they hurt me" and chosen "I feel" "scared" on his iPad. How can we send him back to such an environment?
This time, concrete plans must be detailed, including implementation, measurement and evaluation. And I want my ideas about using a weighted vest, about brushing and joint compression, and about noise-canceling headphones, to be incorporated meticulously. These common ingredients of a "Sensory Diet" have been introduced in the classroom, but incorrectly, and have exasperated James' issues. Because of this, we will demand a one-on-one para-professional. Concurrently. we are planning a full medical work-up on our boy as well. Checking his hearing, looking for any allergies (besides the hot button gluten/casein issues), even his brain activity. I can't continue to ignore the physical, just because he seems healthy as a horse. Besides, if the doctor feels a one-on-one is needed, a medical justification would be a far easier way to ensure it!
Yikes. Talk about new resolutions!
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