Q about taking the school bus

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-09-2005
Q about taking the school bus
10
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 12:00am

As we are moving north of Atlanta from maryland Liam will begin 1st grade Aug 1st and I have to make some decisions about how he gets to and from school.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 1:03am

Well, I would still bus him at least at first but that is one of those personal decisions.

Here in CA it isn't really an option. We have very little to no public school bussing so it is up to the parents to provide transport. THere are school busses for elementary for a fee(not middle or high) and they are huge, overcrowded and with only the 1 driver. The bus stops have probably 30+ kids at them and you have to get up and to get your kid to a bus stop anyway so it really doesn't help all that much.

There is always special education bussing if he would qualify for that. If his disability will cause significant problems on the regular bus (for instance his safety, is overwhelming, he may get lost) then he may be able to get that to your local school if the district provides bussing to the local school. That may be an option.

Last year I finally had Cait take the bus (special ed bus to middle school and home). The morning was a disaster. To get to school that started at 7:30 the bus was picking her up at 6:15. She just could not get herself transitioned into her day by 6:15 and was having meltdowns every morning. So I finally got to where I drove her across town every morning for school with all 4, went home and finished getting Mike and Emily ready and dropped them off around 8:10, then went home again with Dave and dropped him at K at 9:15. So I do feel your pain. I am looking forward to next year as the schedule is much better and I can do all my different drops in one trip.

As far as regular bus and a 1st grader with AS or anyspecial needs, I will tell you that not only did I drop my kids, I parked and walked them all the way into school. I tried not doing it but often things would happen. There just wasn't enough supervision in the morning at the schools to make sure kids get where they should. Most NT kids can handle it and have the problem solving skills but our AS kids may not.

BTW as old as 4th grade and 5th grade Cait was "misplaced" at school when she would wander off and they couldn't find her on occasion. This year (4th grade) due to school meltdowns and other such situations was the first year I let Mike walk in alone (with his sister). Emily has been walking to the line alone since beginning or mid 1st grade. I would kiss her good bye and walk Mike to class and hand him off to his aide. In 1st grade he didn't have an aide but I had to drop him with his teacher and pick him up at the classroom. The times I didn't he would get overwhelmed and lost. Once I tried to let him go out to meet me and he was down on the mainstreet when I got there (I was stuck in traffic). Other times he was supposed to cross with the guard and wait in the fenced "cage area" and he kept crossing against the guard and right in front of cars without noticing them. I didn't know this until it had happened a number of times and a teacher told me about it because it kept scaring her. After that I met him at the classroom.

I don't say these things to scare you. Yes our kids do need to be independent some day but they will take longer to will likely take longer to get there than typical peers.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 7:56am

Dear Dee,

Malcolm took the special ed bus from the time he was 3 years old and had no trouble. I guess it so depends on the system. The thing that would worry me about a mainstream bus is that they usually don't also have a matron, just the driver and that would not be enough coverage for my ease of mind, esp. because kids can be so mean and sneaky. The small bus is fine, in our case well looked after, and riding the bus has been a great way to socialize. Although sometimes Malcolm likes to listen to his headsets -- but not in a long time. This morning he high-fived his pals as he got on bus, sat down and as I was waving him off, he was SO not noticing as they started into WHATEVER they were talking about...

Sara
ilovemalcolm

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 8:21am

That's a tough one. Sylvia takes the bus to school, but it's a spec ed bus, so there's an aide who gets them on and off, straps them into their booster seats, etc. The teacher meets them at the door of the bus, so there's no worries. I don't know how a mainstream bus would work. Could you include something in his IEP about the bus -- about making sure someone is there to make sure he doesn't get lost, etc.?

Jennifer

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2005
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 9:46am

Just my 2 cents and it is as someone else said a personal choice ,but if there was another option I would not use the bus. My ds is 9 and did ride the bus for awhile, but near the end of the school year I decided to only have him ride in the morning (when kids are too tired to be bullies!) and I just picked him up from school - for his safety and for my peace of mind. When there was a substitute driver (happens a lot) my son was let off on the wrong street - luckily he knew his way home but geeezzz.. A bus load of loud, often mean and unruly kids with only one adult supervising and that adult is trying to drive the bus doesn't make for a safe experience for most Aspie kids.

As someone else said not trying to scare you, but the bus can be a precarious place for a lot of kids -unless there is some supervision, but how many school districts have $$ for that? Hopefully you can get a spec. ed bus.
Good Luck
Jane

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 10:16am

To clarify, you do mean the regular school bus right?

My kids have taken the special ed bus on occasion when they weren't at our neighborhood school. They didn't take it when at the neighborhood school because I have to drive the other kids anyway so not a big deal. The special ed bus works out OK most of the time.

My concern in 1st grade would be a general ed bus.

Renee

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 10:54am

Like Liam, Vaughn (8 yr old) is in reg mainstream ed with an IEP. He has taken the regular school bus for both 1st and 2nd grade. The bus driver is a nice lady and is aware of his aspergers. Our driver is going to school to be a special ed teacher, so she does know about the social difficulties that AS kids can have. She always kept an eye on him......always tried to make sure he was near the front of the bus so she could do so. She would tell me if there were any issues. Luckily, there were no major problems on the bus. Next year, he is going to a new school and he will be one of the youngest on the bus (buses 3rd thru 5th graders)......I am going to have her (luckily same bus driver) keep an eye on him and if there are any bullies, I know she will handle it or if it gets really bad, I'll start driving him.

So I guess my two pennies are to check out the bus driver - if he/she seems nice - let them know about Liam - explain some of the social difficulties he has. If they seem receptive, give the bus a try......you can always decided to drive him later if it doesn't seem to be going well.

Good luck,
Christie

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Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 07-05-2006 - 12:37pm

I live in GA and the only experience I have had with busing has been through the special ed office.

Susan, mom to Sam 11 and Connor 9
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2001
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:18am
Each child is different, but Bobby has done really well on the bus.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-07-2004
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 9:39pm
Peronally, I won't have my son ride the bus. He just isn't ready for that. First off, it would be so loud and that would cause him anxiety. He is so niave that I just wouldn't want him with the older kids. It is a shame as the bus picks up at my driveway.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Mon, 07-10-2006 - 3:32am

I'm in CA, and our district has no bussing. I drive my 8 yo Aspie to school and walk him to wear he needs to be. I also meet him at his classroom in the afternoons.

Excuse me for a moment while I go into a "back in my day" rant. When I was a sixth grader (Maryland, late-70's), I was one of two "safety patrols" on the bus, and I remember how it was on the bus. The kids stood in line, and when the bus arrived, they got on single file, quietly, and sat down. There was no pushing or shoving. Our job was to get get the kids loaded onto the bus, from front to back, and then shout, "Quiet Down!" if talking got too loud. We took our job seriously, and the kids just naturally respected our "authority." Okay, so once we got off the bus in the afternoon, Jimmy Brunsell would bully me because of my big feet...but on the bus everyone behaved. No one even considered yelling or being rowdy. Or if they did, I sure didn't know about it. I vaguely recall the bus driver, old white-haired Myrtle Whip, stopping the bus on the side of the road and telling the kids to settle down or she wouldn't take us home. I'm not sure if that's a real memory or not, but we all had the general sense that Mrs. Whip was not a woman to be crossed. Kids of today would walk all over her, I'm sure. No respect.

I don't know what it is that changed. Nowadays it's expected that classrooms and busses will be noisy and chaotic. I took some classes at the local community college a while back, and was amazed that recent high school graduates have not learned, for instance, that classrooms and libraries are meant to be QUIET places. When did they stop teaching basic library etiquette in schools?

Okay, I'll stop. In a nutshell, I'd probably be okay sending my NT child to school on a bus in 1978, and maybe even my Aspie, although I'd want to pick meet him at the busstop. Today, no way.

Evelyn