A Series of Expected Events

One of Barney's special interests this academic year has been the books by Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events. There are 13 books in the series and Barney decided the first week of school that these books would be his independent reading material for second grade. Given how easy the class work is for him and how uncomfortable he is socially, he can easily polish off one chapter book per week reading during his extra time at school.

Barney spent more time outside of the classroom than in it during the month of September. His agitation regarding the "baby work" made it virtually impossible to control his outbursts.  In an attempt to protect Barney socially, he was removed from the classroom any time his behavior made the other students uncomfortable. As a result, he spent a good deal of time sitting in empty offices and conference rooms. The school administration finally figured out that if he was allowed to read, he calmed down much more quickly. They decided to let him read for 15-20 minutes before engaging him in conversation and it was successful.

In less than a week Barney had regaled the principal, assistant principal, SLP, adjustment counselor, BCBA, nurse, secretaries and anyone else who would listen with plot summaries and character lists from the Series of Unfortunate Events books. The whole school knew what Barney was reading and how passionately he felt about the books.

My husband and I met with the TEAM last Friday to discuss the plans for behavioral interventions. The decision had been made to implement a Michelle Garcia Winner social thinking type model of clearly stated expected behavior.  The plan was well thought out and clearly had taken time and effort from all members of his school team. I felt like they "got it" and were willing to do what it takes to make their school the right place for my kid. They titled the plan: A Series of Expected Events. I couldn't ask for more.