IEP Today

I caught some kind of icky cold that's been going around and have been out of it since last Monday. Monday and Tuesday I took some sick time and slept but I still felt awful when I went back on Wednesday. I used up most of my sick time when Brenna was diagnosed so I didn't have the hours and I had to get the preparations finished for two work thingies that were going on Saturday. I carried Clorox wipes with me everywhere and wiped down phones, knobs, and computer keyboards after touching them.

I was so stressed out about work last week and so fuzzy that I forgot to go over the IEP stuff. I keep a red (Therin's favorite color) binder with everything related to IEP from the first note I got from the Preschool to pamphlets and articles on autism. I can't even remember why we're having an IEP. Therin's teacher called on Thursday evening but by the time I got home I figured it was too late to call her -- and now I'm remember it's 5 a.m. of IEP day and waaaay to early to call. Oh well, I have time to stop & chat with her when I drop Therin off.

Wish me luck! I'll be perusing the red binder until it's time to wake up the kids . . .

Postcard from School

Mrs. L sent Therin a postcard with a special message just for him. I just love his teacher! I have been reminding him that school will start again soon and trying (with various amounts of success) to give him homework during the break so that his routine is continued, at least a little bit. I think that this postcard is a gentle, yet fun, way to remind him about school. Mind you, I'm sure she does this for every student but it is especially helpful for Therin.

Routine is so important for him. Even breaking routine for something fun can disrupt his equallibrium. Today, my friend Sam, took Therin & her nephew to the movie "Happy Feet". She came and picked him up and they had a great time. During dinner he started throwing mini tantrums. Brenna plays with a dinosaur on her dinner plate mushing pasta sauce all over it and herself. He screams, "NO TOYS AT THE DINNER TABLE! I WISH SHE WOULD NOT PLAY WITH THAT RIGHT NOW! MAKE HER PUT IT DOWN!" Rowan starts to tell a story and he starts screaming "That's not REAL! Stop TALKING!" I am almost positive it's because of the excitement today at the movies and the eminent arrival of the start of school. I wish that enjoyable things wouldn't disturb him so much.

Break routine to do something fun? Or will you just end up tearing your hair out and scrambling to find fun things to do with cranky kids? MileMasterSarah asked the same questions a couple of days ago. She was thinking about New Year's Eve. All of these routine problems connect back to generalization(which MileMasterSarah also wrote about -- thanks for jumstarting my brain Sarah).

People with autism have a difficult time taking knowledge and applying it in new situations. Each year is a brand new school year. Therin doesn't apply last years knowledge of classroom routines to the new class. To him it's a different room, a different desk, a different teacher, he doesn't immediately see the pattern Bell, Desk, Recess, Desk, Lunch, Desk, Recess, Desk, Home - he focuses on all the little differences in the middle. But it's more than just focusing on the little things. Generalization takes a certain mindset. Most of us take for granted that when you know how to swim that you will be able to swim in the ocean, lake, and reservoir as well as a pool. But if you are autistic you may need to have it explained to you that it is O.K. to swim in an inside pool, an outdoor pool, the lake, the ocean, ect. Around here there is a big water safety program geared toward keeping kids out of canals. We live in an agricultural area so there are many canals criss-crossing the Central Valley going right through towns (looking so inviting durin 104 degree weather). Splasher the Frog comes out to the schools and along with a helper teaches kids about not swimming in canals and other water safety tips. I have to tell Therin that the water safety tips apply to all bodies of water. I don't have to worry about him then concluding that if you can never swim in a canal you can never swim in a pool. When we have talks like these I try and think out loud and model generalizing verbally. Is it working? Who knows. Only time will tell. Do these examples make sense? I'll let you be the judge of that.

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Bath & site change time. I know it's kinda late for a site change but . . . the sooner we start the sooner it's done.

Insert Primal Scream Here- Prepare for incoherent rant

AHAHHHHhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Really does not cover my frustration today. I spent 2 hours in an IEP getting the reports from several people: autism specialist, OT (occupational therapist), PE Teacher, and some other behavioralist(?). Anyhow. I thought that from these reports would come something concrete about getting Therin an aide for at least part of the day. We all agreed that the teacher is overwhelmed by his behavior I don't see how changing his behavior plan and bringing in YET ANOTHER PERSON is going to help. Isn't it more expensive to be using all these people? Wouldn't it be more cost effective for him to have a shadow, aide, person to whack him upside the head and say YO Quit it that boy doesn't want a hug! He needs all this stuff and I can't be at school to do this for him (and when it comes to PE I rather suck myself. When there are behavior issues and other things going on around here my first instinct is not to teach the boy how to dribble a basketball - that important lesson has slipped through the cracks but no more!). His poor teacher was on the verge of tears. Therin has good weeks and bad weeks and the good ones are pretty good but the bad ones really make her want to tear her hair out. It has been that way for ALL HIS OTHER TEACHERS. I am so not going to give up! No child left behind my ass. He will be left behind if he doesn't have an aide and if he doesn't get an aid sooner rather than later than he will be ostsracized by the kids around him. Although, a blogger I know mentioned that her relative was shunned by many growing up and that it really turned out to be a good thing- he was recently diagnosed as an adult with an ASD. . . BUT I still want to do my part to make sure that he has every advantage I can give him. So I fucked up genetically, I can fix it. Oh, what came out of the IEP is this: Therin will continue to be pulled out of his class 2-3 times for Reading Resource and Social Skills group. He will be pulled out 2 more times for Adaptive PE, and he was going to be pulled out for the OT & autism but we worked it out that the OT will help the autism specialist and that she will come durning a break time to help him interact with other children and work on appropriate playground behaviors and maybe use the appropriate playground behaivors/games to help with his OT issues. For example: He'll be getting help with playing with a ball from PE - at recess he will be shown how to use a ball to interact with other children and when he feels the need for deep pressure stimulation, instead of exuberantly grabbing and hugging another child without permission he will hug the ball instead. Something funny I found out in the IEP is that Therin would prefer to organize his paperwork by lining it up on the floor - poor kid comes by it honestly. Out of sight -out of mind for me too. I try so damn hard to be organized and it really doesn't work very well most of the time. Sigh. I guess the IEP really turned out alright but I was under the impression that this was going to address the need for an aide not drag it out. Too bad education is all about the money instead of all about the kids.