Don't ever let anyone tell you that children diagnosed with Autism are incapable of empathy. It just isn't true!!!
Barney is again on a downward spiral at school. He had six incident-free weeks in a row between December and early February and the TEAM decided to back off his rewards a bit. Unfortunately his aide interpreted this to mean she could relax and that was the wrong thing to do. He's been in trouble 3 out of the last 4 days. When he gets in trouble, he becomes anxious; when he's anxious he looses his abililty to control his impulses; when he looses impulse control be becomes physically aggressive. Physical aggression lands him in seclusion and results in an in school suspension. Yep, that's where he was Wednesday and Thursday of last week, and again today.
Last night when I was putting Barney to bed we had our nightly chat about his day. I told him I was sad because he was spending so much time alone. That it hurt me to see him in trouble so often and that I felt like I was failing him as a Mom because I couldn't figure out a way to make things better for him. He told me, "It's not your fault Mommy! You are the best Mommy ever, its school who is doing something wrong." Then he gave me a huge hug and the tears ran down my face. If that wasn't an act of empathy, I don't know what is.
Last night I posted a question on Confessions on an Asperger's Mom's facebook page and the response from the community was overwhelming. We need to make some significant changes for my son. I don't know exactly what or when, but change is definitely in the air.
This morning I was awakened at 6:23am by a gentle kiss on my cheek and a softly whispered, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mommy" in my ear. He gets it!!! He knew I was hurting and worried about him and he reacted appropriately; empathy at its finest. He's spending Valentine's Day in suspension but was able to put my feelings ahead of his. Its not going to be the best Valentine's Day of my life, but I'm going to hold on to the warmth of his love all day.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
T-9 to Disney
We are taking the boys to Disney World for the second time in less than 2 weeks. I sometimes cannot believe we are doing this, but there is a method to our madness.
Before becoming a Special Needs Mom, I imagined taking my children to Disney once, just as my parents had taken my brother and me. I thought of the "happiest place on earth" as man made, lacking culture and a huge advertisement to get parents to buy Disney products for their offspring. Yes, it is all those things, but for a family like ours, it is a place we can all enjoy ourselves. A place where Barney's issues don't feel quite so overwhelming and we can just be a family on vacation.
Disney has historically worked hard to accommodate special needs families. They don't just think about the child with special needs, they are sensitive to siblings and other family members as well. They want everyone in the family to have a wonderful time. When a parent or child is in a wheelchair, extra help boarding rides is an obvious need. Autism is an invisible condition (most of the time) but families touched by ASD are given the same assistance as those with any visible disability. Shorter lines and quiet, less crowded spaces to wait make all the difference for us.
We have somewhat altered our plans, having learned from our mistakes the first time around.
Travel: We booked a direct flight; more expensive but a necessity. Barney is OK when we initially set off on adventures, excitement helps. We bring headphones (planes are very loud), his favorite snacks, ipad, games, books and novel toys for the airport and on the plane and usually we can get through without a meltdown. Switching planes with a long layover or a mad dash to the other end of the airport because of a too short layover is asking for it. Been there, done that, not worth it!!!
Lodging: This time we are staying on property. Again, more expensive but well worth the money. When a hotel says they are 4 miles from Disney, that means the edge of the property. The Disney World property is huge!! Last trip we stayed 5 miles away and the hotel provided transportation to the park. Sounded good. What we did not know was each bus ride would take AN HOUR. The shuttle looped through three different hotels and stopped at Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Most mornings Barney needed a break as soon as we got off the bus. This trip we are staying in a Disney Condo near the Magic Kingdom. It has a small kitchen so we will have breakfast in our P.J.'s just like we do at home when we are on vacation. We can walk to the Magic Kingdom, take a short Monorail ride to Epcot and only have to board a bus for Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney or Animal Kingdom. We are also close enough for Barney and I to return to our room in the middle of the afternoon if he needs some down time. This change in lodgings should be a huge improvement.
Dining: First visit I was afraid to commit to dinner plans. I had no idea what condition Barney would be in by the end of the day. At home, 4:30-bedtime is hell on the worst days, but never easy even on the best days. Unfortunately I aggravated this situation because without reservations we had long waits every night. I made reservations this time. Eating on schedule makes all the difference when trying to keep Barney regulated. We have dinner seating for 5:45 or 6 pm each evening. No guess work, no long wait. I am very hopeful that this change will improve our evenings significantly.
We are starting to become increasingly excited about our trip. Here's hoping it lives up to our expectations and then some.
Before becoming a Special Needs Mom, I imagined taking my children to Disney once, just as my parents had taken my brother and me. I thought of the "happiest place on earth" as man made, lacking culture and a huge advertisement to get parents to buy Disney products for their offspring. Yes, it is all those things, but for a family like ours, it is a place we can all enjoy ourselves. A place where Barney's issues don't feel quite so overwhelming and we can just be a family on vacation.
Disney has historically worked hard to accommodate special needs families. They don't just think about the child with special needs, they are sensitive to siblings and other family members as well. They want everyone in the family to have a wonderful time. When a parent or child is in a wheelchair, extra help boarding rides is an obvious need. Autism is an invisible condition (most of the time) but families touched by ASD are given the same assistance as those with any visible disability. Shorter lines and quiet, less crowded spaces to wait make all the difference for us.
We have somewhat altered our plans, having learned from our mistakes the first time around.
Travel: We booked a direct flight; more expensive but a necessity. Barney is OK when we initially set off on adventures, excitement helps. We bring headphones (planes are very loud), his favorite snacks, ipad, games, books and novel toys for the airport and on the plane and usually we can get through without a meltdown. Switching planes with a long layover or a mad dash to the other end of the airport because of a too short layover is asking for it. Been there, done that, not worth it!!!
Lodging: This time we are staying on property. Again, more expensive but well worth the money. When a hotel says they are 4 miles from Disney, that means the edge of the property. The Disney World property is huge!! Last trip we stayed 5 miles away and the hotel provided transportation to the park. Sounded good. What we did not know was each bus ride would take AN HOUR. The shuttle looped through three different hotels and stopped at Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Most mornings Barney needed a break as soon as we got off the bus. This trip we are staying in a Disney Condo near the Magic Kingdom. It has a small kitchen so we will have breakfast in our P.J.'s just like we do at home when we are on vacation. We can walk to the Magic Kingdom, take a short Monorail ride to Epcot and only have to board a bus for Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney or Animal Kingdom. We are also close enough for Barney and I to return to our room in the middle of the afternoon if he needs some down time. This change in lodgings should be a huge improvement.
Dining: First visit I was afraid to commit to dinner plans. I had no idea what condition Barney would be in by the end of the day. At home, 4:30-bedtime is hell on the worst days, but never easy even on the best days. Unfortunately I aggravated this situation because without reservations we had long waits every night. I made reservations this time. Eating on schedule makes all the difference when trying to keep Barney regulated. We have dinner seating for 5:45 or 6 pm each evening. No guess work, no long wait. I am very hopeful that this change will improve our evenings significantly.
We are starting to become increasingly excited about our trip. Here's hoping it lives up to our expectations and then some.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Water, Water Everywhere
I should have bought stock in Bounty paper towels long ago.
Barney has loved experimenting with liquids since early toddler hood. It started innocently enough when I bought him a floating stove top and cooking utensils for the bathtub. I was tired of him dumping the dog's water dish multiple times a day. He also constantly grabbed for any beverage container within reach at home, and anywhere else we happened to be: playgroup, the park, Starbucks, it didn't make a difference to him. In an attempt to be a creative problem solver, I figured encouraging his pouring and mixing tendencies in the tub each evening would decrease his need for this behavior outside of the tub. Hah!
The bathtub full of cups, pitchers, bowls, pots and spoons inspired Barney to find new and more exciting liquids to pour and mix. All of my cleaning supplies and toxic liquids were safely out of reach even before Barney was born, having childproofed for his older brother 18 months earlier. Henry liked to splash but it never occurred to him to explore any of the other bottles and tubes in the bathroom.
Whenever the house got too quiet I knew to check the bathroom. If I reacted quickly enough I would find him mixing toothpaste, mouthwash and shampoo in a drinking cup with his brother's toothbrush. His intelligence has never been in question. He had already figured out that a soapy toothbrush tasted yucky so after one bad experience he never again used his own. If I happened to be distracted by a phone call or my older child and hesitated before finding him, the experimentation would have escalated to the sink or toilet. I can't even begin to imagine to money we have spent replacing shampoo, conditioner, lotions, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc.
I understood that Barney's behavior was fulfilling a sensory need as well as being an outlet for his natural curiosity. When the weather was warm enough, we do after all live in New England, I indulged lots of water play outside. We had a water table on the deck, a wading pool, sprinkler, hose with a kids firefighter attachment, sprayers, water balloons, splash balls and anything else I could think of. I let him play and play as long as he wanted and it worked. That is, until the temperature dropped enough for it to be uncomfortable to be soaking wet outside. Cold weather always brings with it a significant increase in bathroom play.
Last weekend however, he took things to a whole new level. His latest thing is indoor water balloons. I have been as patient as possible and have allowed this play in the bathroom. He fills the balloon in the sink and explodes it in the tub, the bathroom gets really wet but I can deal with it. On Sunday morning while I was in the shower (and my husband was supposed to be paying attention, cough-cough) Barney filled up a water balloon and decided that he wanted to see how long it would take for the water to drain out from a pin hole. Since he didn't want to wait alone in the bathroom he brought the balloon into the kitchen. Daddy is not nearly as tolerant as I am and Barney did not want to be yelled at so he hid his slowly leaking balloon. He hid it behind MY LAPTOP!!!!!
I came into the kitchen relaxed and freshly showered and found a flood. My computer and all the paperwork on the counter surrounding it (prescriptions, applications, bills, etc.) were soaked and sitting in a puddle of water. I am usually a calm, even tempered person but I lost it! There is only so much I can take!!!
Barney has loved experimenting with liquids since early toddler hood. It started innocently enough when I bought him a floating stove top and cooking utensils for the bathtub. I was tired of him dumping the dog's water dish multiple times a day. He also constantly grabbed for any beverage container within reach at home, and anywhere else we happened to be: playgroup, the park, Starbucks, it didn't make a difference to him. In an attempt to be a creative problem solver, I figured encouraging his pouring and mixing tendencies in the tub each evening would decrease his need for this behavior outside of the tub. Hah!
The bathtub full of cups, pitchers, bowls, pots and spoons inspired Barney to find new and more exciting liquids to pour and mix. All of my cleaning supplies and toxic liquids were safely out of reach even before Barney was born, having childproofed for his older brother 18 months earlier. Henry liked to splash but it never occurred to him to explore any of the other bottles and tubes in the bathroom.
Whenever the house got too quiet I knew to check the bathroom. If I reacted quickly enough I would find him mixing toothpaste, mouthwash and shampoo in a drinking cup with his brother's toothbrush. His intelligence has never been in question. He had already figured out that a soapy toothbrush tasted yucky so after one bad experience he never again used his own. If I happened to be distracted by a phone call or my older child and hesitated before finding him, the experimentation would have escalated to the sink or toilet. I can't even begin to imagine to money we have spent replacing shampoo, conditioner, lotions, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc.
I understood that Barney's behavior was fulfilling a sensory need as well as being an outlet for his natural curiosity. When the weather was warm enough, we do after all live in New England, I indulged lots of water play outside. We had a water table on the deck, a wading pool, sprinkler, hose with a kids firefighter attachment, sprayers, water balloons, splash balls and anything else I could think of. I let him play and play as long as he wanted and it worked. That is, until the temperature dropped enough for it to be uncomfortable to be soaking wet outside. Cold weather always brings with it a significant increase in bathroom play.
Last weekend however, he took things to a whole new level. His latest thing is indoor water balloons. I have been as patient as possible and have allowed this play in the bathroom. He fills the balloon in the sink and explodes it in the tub, the bathroom gets really wet but I can deal with it. On Sunday morning while I was in the shower (and my husband was supposed to be paying attention, cough-cough) Barney filled up a water balloon and decided that he wanted to see how long it would take for the water to drain out from a pin hole. Since he didn't want to wait alone in the bathroom he brought the balloon into the kitchen. Daddy is not nearly as tolerant as I am and Barney did not want to be yelled at so he hid his slowly leaking balloon. He hid it behind MY LAPTOP!!!!!
I came into the kitchen relaxed and freshly showered and found a flood. My computer and all the paperwork on the counter surrounding it (prescriptions, applications, bills, etc.) were soaked and sitting in a puddle of water. I am usually a calm, even tempered person but I lost it! There is only so much I can take!!!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Pokemon, Lego & Percy Jackson
What are your child's special interests? This question I am so often asked by the professionals makes me want to laugh.
I think back to Barney's very first evaluation done by the early intervention team when he was 2.5. The team had just diagnosed him with Sensory Processing Disorder and a delay in pragmatic language. Given my own teaching experience and M.Ed. in SPED, the pragmatics issue set off warning bells. So I asked them, "Is this what Asperger's looks like in toddlers?" I was assured in no uncertain terms that he had such a wide range of interests and abilities he could not possibly be on the spectrum. Looking around our playroom they identified the play kitchen, train table (Thomas, of course), Duplo building toys, stuffed animals, puzzles, variety of books and games that Barney enjoyed with equal enthusiasm. I was told that when they go into a house and see only one theme reflected ( Barney, Elmo, Thomas, etc.) that's an indication of spectrum behavior, but I didn't need to worry. Barney loved fire trucks, The Backyardigans, making block towers, cooking pretend food, numbers and letters, being read to and the color green.
I was relieved. I threw myself into learning everything I could about SPD. The Out of Sync Child became my bible and we turned our basement into a sensory gym. We had a plastic slide in the yard which I cleaned up and brought inside. We got a mini-trampoline, a hoppity ball, a scooter board, a cheap exercise ball and gave him the space to run, jump, crash and fill his sensory needs. He was only 2 and everything I read told me I had until his 5th birthday to change his brain patterns and dammit, that's what I was going to do!
Despite the intensive OT, both at home and privately with a therapist, Barney's problems did not go away. They changed, some things becoming easier for him and other things harder. In preschool he crashed into anything and everything, knocking over block buildings, dumping baskets of toys, and pushing kids out of his way even at the top of the slide. At 4, it was recommended that we take him for a full Neuro-Psych evaluation. Of course there was a long waiting list and it took about 7 months to get in.
The Neuro-Psych results indicated a superior IQ, serious sensory issues, attentional issues, ocd tendencies and generalized anxiety. I asked the team, where does he fall on the autism spectrum? Huh? They were shocked by my question! Parents don't ask for spectrum a diagnosis! Once again I was told that Barney had deficits but his strengths were so broad and well rounded that they had no indication that he was on the spectrum.
At that point in time he loved pirates, Little Einsteins, reading anything he could get his hands on, singing and putting on shows, catching bugs and the color green. His classmates were into Super Heroes which wasn't his thing so he asked me to take him to the library so he could check out some books and teach himself enough back story to participate in the games at school. The evaluators told me that spectrum kids don't do things like that. Again I felt relief. When I presented the Neuro-Psych report at the Kindergarten transition meeting I proudly stated, "He's NOT Autistic."
Today Barney still loves to read and be read to. In school he's reading Harry Potter in his free time, currently on Goblet of Fire. At home he's reading Percy Jackson and just started The Last Olympian. He loves to build with Lego and is working on his Ninjago collection. He collects Pokemon cards, favors Pokemon ds games and can rattle off facts ad nauseum. In his free time he's teaching himself square roots and long division. Over the weekend he built a catapult out of wood, just for fun. He's also teaching himself to play the drums. Guess what? This is what Autism looks like in our house. Oh, and he still loves the color green.
I think back to Barney's very first evaluation done by the early intervention team when he was 2.5. The team had just diagnosed him with Sensory Processing Disorder and a delay in pragmatic language. Given my own teaching experience and M.Ed. in SPED, the pragmatics issue set off warning bells. So I asked them, "Is this what Asperger's looks like in toddlers?" I was assured in no uncertain terms that he had such a wide range of interests and abilities he could not possibly be on the spectrum. Looking around our playroom they identified the play kitchen, train table (Thomas, of course), Duplo building toys, stuffed animals, puzzles, variety of books and games that Barney enjoyed with equal enthusiasm. I was told that when they go into a house and see only one theme reflected ( Barney, Elmo, Thomas, etc.) that's an indication of spectrum behavior, but I didn't need to worry. Barney loved fire trucks, The Backyardigans, making block towers, cooking pretend food, numbers and letters, being read to and the color green.
I was relieved. I threw myself into learning everything I could about SPD. The Out of Sync Child became my bible and we turned our basement into a sensory gym. We had a plastic slide in the yard which I cleaned up and brought inside. We got a mini-trampoline, a hoppity ball, a scooter board, a cheap exercise ball and gave him the space to run, jump, crash and fill his sensory needs. He was only 2 and everything I read told me I had until his 5th birthday to change his brain patterns and dammit, that's what I was going to do!
Despite the intensive OT, both at home and privately with a therapist, Barney's problems did not go away. They changed, some things becoming easier for him and other things harder. In preschool he crashed into anything and everything, knocking over block buildings, dumping baskets of toys, and pushing kids out of his way even at the top of the slide. At 4, it was recommended that we take him for a full Neuro-Psych evaluation. Of course there was a long waiting list and it took about 7 months to get in.
The Neuro-Psych results indicated a superior IQ, serious sensory issues, attentional issues, ocd tendencies and generalized anxiety. I asked the team, where does he fall on the autism spectrum? Huh? They were shocked by my question! Parents don't ask for spectrum a diagnosis! Once again I was told that Barney had deficits but his strengths were so broad and well rounded that they had no indication that he was on the spectrum.
At that point in time he loved pirates, Little Einsteins, reading anything he could get his hands on, singing and putting on shows, catching bugs and the color green. His classmates were into Super Heroes which wasn't his thing so he asked me to take him to the library so he could check out some books and teach himself enough back story to participate in the games at school. The evaluators told me that spectrum kids don't do things like that. Again I felt relief. When I presented the Neuro-Psych report at the Kindergarten transition meeting I proudly stated, "He's NOT Autistic."
Today Barney still loves to read and be read to. In school he's reading Harry Potter in his free time, currently on Goblet of Fire. At home he's reading Percy Jackson and just started The Last Olympian. He loves to build with Lego and is working on his Ninjago collection. He collects Pokemon cards, favors Pokemon ds games and can rattle off facts ad nauseum. In his free time he's teaching himself square roots and long division. Over the weekend he built a catapult out of wood, just for fun. He's also teaching himself to play the drums. Guess what? This is what Autism looks like in our house. Oh, and he still loves the color green.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tired
So tired today. And everyday for awhile now. I promised myself I would get back to blogging in the new year but here it is January 12 and it has been weeks since I posted anything. I wanted my writing to be witty or informative, or entertaining at the very least. Can't find the words for that right now.
Barney isn't sleeping well. He wakes up at dark o'thirty so disregulated that if I do not leap out of bed at the first sound of his voice, disaster strikes. In a matter of seconds he turns on the blindingly bright hall light. He heads first to his brother's room where he pulls off all Henry's blankets then dismantles every surface and shelf in one fell swoop: stuffed animals, books, Lego creations, school projects and anything else in his path. Henry understandably yells at him. Not only has he been rudely awakened from a deep sleep but he is now freezing. We keep our house at 60 degrees over night and Barney wakes up well before the morning heat comes on.
Barney's next stop is our bed. He does not want anything to do with his father. He wants "MOMMY ONLY". He doesn't snuggle but lies on top of me and kicks or bangs his arms keeping his body in motion at all times. I try to hold him, give him the deep pressure he so badly craves but nothing is enough. If I loose my patience with him he leaps up and tears apart our bed, then runs screaming down the hall. He knows full well that he has enraged his father which terrifies him, but he cannot stop himself. He runs into his own room, slams the door, and rips apart his bedroom. When furniture hits the door no matter how little sleep I have had, I have no choice but to get up. It could be 6:30 or 6:00 or 5:30 or 5:00. Its always my job.
That's why I force myself to get up when I first hear him. And that's why I'm so tired I can't think straight.
Barney isn't sleeping well. He wakes up at dark o'thirty so disregulated that if I do not leap out of bed at the first sound of his voice, disaster strikes. In a matter of seconds he turns on the blindingly bright hall light. He heads first to his brother's room where he pulls off all Henry's blankets then dismantles every surface and shelf in one fell swoop: stuffed animals, books, Lego creations, school projects and anything else in his path. Henry understandably yells at him. Not only has he been rudely awakened from a deep sleep but he is now freezing. We keep our house at 60 degrees over night and Barney wakes up well before the morning heat comes on.
Barney's next stop is our bed. He does not want anything to do with his father. He wants "MOMMY ONLY". He doesn't snuggle but lies on top of me and kicks or bangs his arms keeping his body in motion at all times. I try to hold him, give him the deep pressure he so badly craves but nothing is enough. If I loose my patience with him he leaps up and tears apart our bed, then runs screaming down the hall. He knows full well that he has enraged his father which terrifies him, but he cannot stop himself. He runs into his own room, slams the door, and rips apart his bedroom. When furniture hits the door no matter how little sleep I have had, I have no choice but to get up. It could be 6:30 or 6:00 or 5:30 or 5:00. Its always my job.
That's why I force myself to get up when I first hear him. And that's why I'm so tired I can't think straight.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The Other Shoe
We had such high hopes for the new behavior plan Barney's school implemented on Monday. It worked like a charm for three days but despite careful planning, the team forgot to factor in Phys Ed.
Barney attends the largest elementary school in town. There are 4 or 5 classes at each grade level resulting in overcrowding. One of the consequences of this overcrowding is doubling up classes for Gym. Barney has Sensory Processing Disorder and is very sensitive to sound. We cannot easily take him to any of the warehouse type stores (Home Depot, COSTCO, Wal Mart, etc) without a meltdown. The vast space, echo, and crowds quickly put him into sensory overload. And what do a warehouse store and a school gym have in common? You got it: sensory overload for my boy.
Being the true Aspie that he is, Barney craves order and predictability. Thursday's gym class activity was a game of random order. Balls bouncing all over the gym while 44 second graders ran around making noise and my kid was already at maximum overload. When the whistle blew, anyone holding one of the 5 orange balls became a leader of the next round. Round 1, Barney didn't get a ball and he was OK. Round 2 and he didn't get a ball; his distress began to increase. Round 3 and no ball, he grabbed one out of another child's hand. He was put in time out for 5 minutes and returned to the game. Immediate repeat of round 3 behavior and he was removed from the gym. Upon removal he became physically aggressive.
As required by his behavior plan, any physical aggression towards another person lands him in a half-day, in school suspension. Is it just me or could this episode have been prevented if the staff had acknowledged his SPD and handled things differently? I feel like I am eternally waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Barney attends the largest elementary school in town. There are 4 or 5 classes at each grade level resulting in overcrowding. One of the consequences of this overcrowding is doubling up classes for Gym. Barney has Sensory Processing Disorder and is very sensitive to sound. We cannot easily take him to any of the warehouse type stores (Home Depot, COSTCO, Wal Mart, etc) without a meltdown. The vast space, echo, and crowds quickly put him into sensory overload. And what do a warehouse store and a school gym have in common? You got it: sensory overload for my boy.
Being the true Aspie that he is, Barney craves order and predictability. Thursday's gym class activity was a game of random order. Balls bouncing all over the gym while 44 second graders ran around making noise and my kid was already at maximum overload. When the whistle blew, anyone holding one of the 5 orange balls became a leader of the next round. Round 1, Barney didn't get a ball and he was OK. Round 2 and he didn't get a ball; his distress began to increase. Round 3 and no ball, he grabbed one out of another child's hand. He was put in time out for 5 minutes and returned to the game. Immediate repeat of round 3 behavior and he was removed from the gym. Upon removal he became physically aggressive.
As required by his behavior plan, any physical aggression towards another person lands him in a half-day, in school suspension. Is it just me or could this episode have been prevented if the staff had acknowledged his SPD and handled things differently? I feel like I am eternally waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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.
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.
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