Actually, I don't. I hate it. So much. James is crying every day at school. The only thing he can tell me is "they hurt me." He is frightened of any child who makes noise. Even if they are quiet, he anticipates the noise that he knows they CAN make. It's pretty bad. We had a meeting about creating a behavioral plan. I requested a one-on-one. I requested his sensory diet be followed to a tee. I requested they use his iPad. In this case, a successful behavioral plan cannot be implemented without a one-on-one. The teacher has complained that her staff is stretched thin. How else could James be monitored, let alone brushed? How can the plan be put it in place and function if no one oversees it? That was 10 days ago. Zip. Not even a copy of the minutes from that meeting. I complained to the "principal." Actually, that's not her title. I have no idea what her title is and I don't really care. . . because that was Tuesday and today is Friday and I have heard NOTHING. Not even "we're working on it." So today, I wrote letters. Enough of making myself sick and being unable to sleep. Well, at least for one glorious weekend. Because at home, although we do have new issues - I now have a kid who is terrified of his adorable cousin; I have a kid who won't let me leave his sight and follows me around the house; I have a kid who cries when I take away my attention to use the phone - because at home, this is what I see. And this? I do like this.
1 comment:
AS a former employee of this school, the staff in the entire school is stretched then, and it's not that they don't want to help each child individually, but they receive NO ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, instead new classrooms are opened and staff is pulled from rooms which are short to begin with. Children who have 1:1 para's mandated on their IEP's do not have them. I used to beat my brains out trying to satisfy each child's needs in conjunction with the advice of OT/PT/ST staff, but it was close to impossible as I am but one human being, and I was only a Teacher Assistant, so it wasn't as if anyone took anything I said seriously. Instead I stretched myself thin and suffered physically all for $9.70 an hour. I know, money shouldn't be an issue right, but do you really think that is fair? Any staff member will tell you that they feel that no thought goes into child placement, or staff placement for that matter. It's like everyone's names gets put into hats and pulled out and this is the class, and this is the staff. Your son is not the only child in the school to be placed incorrectly, it has happened with may other children as well. As far as the children who are physically aggressive go, well you may not feel that they have the right to the same education as your son but they do, unfortunately there are other issues beyond staff control that cause these behaviors. Unfortunately, this is the case in most schools, just keep taking more students in and don't give any real thought as to how you have to shuffle kids around to accommodate them. I think you have every right to be frustrated, but you are misdirecting your frustration at the staff who work very hard and suffer abuse administration and that is who you should be frustrated with, the administration who makes the decisions on classroom placement without even asking the opinion of the staff who work with the kids every day, administration who offers no guidance or support to the teachers or assistants. My advice, the Rebecca school (no I don't work there). ABA is not right for every child, the DIR/Floortime model may be more appropriate.
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