Shari
IsItFridayYet?
I was going to title this "score one for the home team", but its really a victory for difficult child. I'm not sure how you classify this kind of "victory", either. I just got someone "in the know" to tell the school that suspending difficult child isn't and won't work.
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The meeting this morning went off without a hitch.
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There were 14 people in attendance: principal, school counselor, mainstream teacher, sped teacher, sped director, our county case worker, in-home therapist, myself, both grandma's (paternal grandma is former employee of SD), 3 people from the support team at the univeristy, and the MD/PHD who heads that department and oversees the support team.
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The MD/PHD was there early and apparently did some talking to the principal, because the principal, who up to this point had not been able to see why suspending difficult child is not being proactive, really led the meeting. MD/PHD said they really need to not react to difficult child's "threats", and they can do that because they have more than sufficient evidence that the threat is idle, it a mechanism of his disability when he is doing it, and he can not act on it. She said he will probably up the ante for a bit, but if they can find a way to ignore it, she beleives it will stop. She really pushed them to find a single "safe spot" in the building for difficult child, as his "safe spot" to this point was not always the same depending on the time of day. She also had a lot of suggestions, like using a colored flashcard to signal difficult child that he's either doing a great job or is slipping off a little without calling attention to it, having me or someone who handles difficult child well go to school with him for a few days and watch the paras and hopefully be able to see when difficult child's getting off track so we can teach the paras how to "read" him, maybe having shortened days if we aren't able to give the para's any pointers, etc. This group was a real asset today.
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There was a lot of really good discussion and we will have a draft of a plan in place by Monday morning and either myself or my brother will be going to school with difficult child next week to sit in the back of the room and watch the paras and difficult child and hopefully will be able to help them see signs earlier that difficult child is losing it so they can stop his behavior before it ever even starts.
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I have to give the school credit, they ARE trying. They just don't know what to do, either. And I certainly can't blame them for that. After 7 years, I don't know what to do with him a lot of times, either.
***
The meeting this morning went off without a hitch.
***
There were 14 people in attendance: principal, school counselor, mainstream teacher, sped teacher, sped director, our county case worker, in-home therapist, myself, both grandma's (paternal grandma is former employee of SD), 3 people from the support team at the univeristy, and the MD/PHD who heads that department and oversees the support team.
***
The MD/PHD was there early and apparently did some talking to the principal, because the principal, who up to this point had not been able to see why suspending difficult child is not being proactive, really led the meeting. MD/PHD said they really need to not react to difficult child's "threats", and they can do that because they have more than sufficient evidence that the threat is idle, it a mechanism of his disability when he is doing it, and he can not act on it. She said he will probably up the ante for a bit, but if they can find a way to ignore it, she beleives it will stop. She really pushed them to find a single "safe spot" in the building for difficult child, as his "safe spot" to this point was not always the same depending on the time of day. She also had a lot of suggestions, like using a colored flashcard to signal difficult child that he's either doing a great job or is slipping off a little without calling attention to it, having me or someone who handles difficult child well go to school with him for a few days and watch the paras and hopefully be able to see when difficult child's getting off track so we can teach the paras how to "read" him, maybe having shortened days if we aren't able to give the para's any pointers, etc. This group was a real asset today.
***
There was a lot of really good discussion and we will have a draft of a plan in place by Monday morning and either myself or my brother will be going to school with difficult child next week to sit in the back of the room and watch the paras and difficult child and hopefully will be able to help them see signs earlier that difficult child is losing it so they can stop his behavior before it ever even starts.
***
I have to give the school credit, they ARE trying. They just don't know what to do, either. And I certainly can't blame them for that. After 7 years, I don't know what to do with him a lot of times, either.