I'm feeling emotionally disturbed

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Registered: 03-27-2003
I'm feeling emotionally disturbed
Fri, 11-04-2005 - 12:58pm

LOL....seriously though......trying to figure out how to help DS in school is driving us bonkers - his teacher especially.

First of all, Sam is great at home. He has his days (nights get harder more often.) But all in all, if I whip out that timer and stay calm, he gets his stuff done without much fuss. Halloween was ok and he even did great at his first dentist appt this week!!!

We had our IEP meeting and Sam is getting OT 1 a week and Speech 2x.....what I wanted but didn't expect. There was no discussion of a behavior plan. I tried bringing up the subject but his teacher left so fast and didn't seem to impressed with my suggestions to use some kind of reinforcement for desired behavior. I also got a very cold reaction to my checklist thingy so I know what is going on in class. I don't think she realized that I was trying to make something easy for her to fill out and send in weekly.

Any hoo..the day after Halloween wasn't so great. He supposedly bit 3 kids at recess and tried to bite another in line for lunch....ho hum. So, I've written a letter to have the Team reconvene to figure this out. There was some talk at the IEP about placing Sam in the Sp. Ed class across the hall. Sam would be the 18th kid (rather than 24th) and a permanent assistant is present. His current teacher is fed up by the whole thing. She knows nothing about AS and doesn't seem willing to learn. I sent her a very short letter of introduction at the beginning of the year mainly describing his diet (no dyes....etc he's on Feingold.) I attached it to a free Feingold calendar that had some info about the program in it. After the IEP, I highlighted a bunch of stuff in Tony Attwood's AS book so she'd have something quick she could read to get some more idea about what's going on. She said something like, "oh....I already got the info you sent at the beginning of the year, but thanks this is helpful." Apparently she never even glanced at the calendar because then she'd know that it was about Feingold.....not AS!!! ARghh!! I don' feel like I'm inundating the woman with info; I can tell she's frustrated by the situation. She has 3 other kids in her class on IEPs and no assistant. I thought some insight into Sam's brain might help clear things up a bit, but I guess she's not really interested in changing anything she does to help him and make things easier for her!

I'm not sure how to address my concerns with her lack of flexibility. I know she feels like she's doing all she can. I guess I'll see what comes of the next meeting. I felt a bit brushed off at the last one, so this time I'll be a bit more forward about what I'd like to see happen. It's hard to go in without backup and with my 7 mos old in tow. Maybe I'll get DH to take the day off so there are two of us.

Chrystee

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