My Autism Insights

As I promised the district, I went to visit the class they’ve been trying to convince me to transfer Gus to.  I had spoken to the teacher at length last week.  On the positive side, she is very knowledgeable, has a diverse background, and we see eye to eye on many important topics like mainstreaming and homework.  But we also have some core philosophical differences, which could become a problem like the use of candy as a reinforcer.

I spent a good hour in the in the class.  At the moment, the class is quite small.  Next year it is expected to more than double in size.  Class size was always a concern of mine since it would be bigger than what Gus is accustomed to.  The room is set up to be very open, which I think would be very distracting for Gus, but she has a primarily behavioral outlook (Applied Behavioral Analysis background) and believes that his behavior would just have to be modified.  I don’t know that it is a) possible or b) totally desirable to do that in all instances.  There would be less sensory support for Gus as well, and there would be no internet capability.  So the learning program he’s using now would be out the window.

Academically, this class focuses on much more basic skills than what Gus needs, and there is very little emphasis on Social Studies or Science - his two favorite subjects.  She does have a very interesting take on Math instruction, which I plan to do some looking into.  Overall, I doubt his academic needs would be met, and he’d be bored stiff.

As much as I like the teacher, despite our differing opinions, I can’t see Gus succeeding or being happy in that class.  I’m going to bring him in next week (he’ll be out of school anyway) just to see what he thinks of the room.  But I’m about 99% sure that I’ll be fighting for him to stay in his current school next year.  Either that, or I become a home-schooler.

It seems there have been quite a few things to be thankful about this week, but I’ll stick to my usual 3:

1. I am thankful for the amazing weather we’ve had.  It’s been like springtime and I can see the difference in mood and energy level for all of us.  The fact that he just caught a cold will not dampen my glee and having a whole week of not having to wear 20 layers inside the house.

2. I am thankful that Gus received a People Respecting Others award at his quarterly assembly yesterday.  I thought it was an academic award, but I really like the fact that he got a reward for something more related to social skills.  It’s an awesome positive reinforcer.

3. I am thankful for the great conversation I had with the teacher of the class our district has been trying to get me to agree to send Gus to.  I’ll be visiting the class next week even though I doubt I’ll want him to move.  But I’m going in with an open mind.

I am also thankful that giving up sugar hasn’t killed me in the…one day I’ve been off it, but that’s a story for another blog!  Please share your gratitude below and have a great weekend!

  image by Andre Koehne

An illuminating conversation this evening reminded me that ‘the system,’ in other words, the school system, is really not to be trusted when it comes to what’s best for your special needs child.  Many parents either believe that their school district has their child’s best interest in mind, or they believe that they can’t reject whatever the district is trying to push at them.  Neither is true as I was reminded tonight.

I called to schedule a visit to the local school’s special needs class (the one I said no to last year) and the teacher called me back to set up a time.  We got into a very interesting dialog.  Actually, I quite liked her and if Gus ended up with her, it would probably be okay.  But I’m glad I spoke with her directly.  For one thing, last year after she’d evaluated Gus, she felt that he would not be a good fit for her class (she has since changed her opinion since the makeup of the group changed).  The district at last year’s annual review told me that the teacher did think he was a good fit.

You’re probably thinking, “That must have been an oversight or a misunderstanding.”  Perhaps, but it gets better.

When they emailed the teacher that I may be calling about paying a visit, they told the teacher that I was unhappy with his current program.  Now, it’s possible that they could have inferred that from, “I don’t want him to change schools,” but I’m not quite sure how.

They also neglected to tell the teacher how often he’s been bounced around over the past 3 years - she said that even if he is a good fit, he should stay put or he would just lose another year in re-adjusting to yet another change.  Did I mention I liked her?

So the moral of the story is: whenever possible, communicate with teachers and service providers directly because school districts might say whatever they have to in order to get you to go along with their agenda.