::sigh::

[nagaina_ryuuoh]

So. Callan has been back in school for...a little over a week, due to holidays. He's been riding the regular school bus in and, thus far, the school is provisionally pleased with his progress. They want to meet with us, of course, but that's to be expected. He's started his autism spectrum testing; he's had other testing; he's supposed to have an

Comments

[eyelid]

WTF? Is that even legal to do?

Is there some other school he could be in, where the system doesn't have it in for him?

[sethrak]

First, ::hugs::.

Second, OMFG. Whether he's on the spectrum or not (and my tentative conclusion from your posts over the last few years is that at most he might be high-functioning Asperger's or maaaayyyybbbe the kind of mild ADD that's scarcely distinguishable from a normal kid his age) there's no good damn reason for isolating him, and EVERY damn reason to NOT isolate him.

(Side note: This kind of shit was why I was nervous about taking Mark to the rural school district my in-laws are in, when we were considering having Tom leave the AF. Federal and state laws may mandate proper treatment of special needs children, but in practice, well, it varies widely.)

If he's on the spectrum, isolation will only harm him and make it harder to improve his social skills and eventual ability to integrate with society as an adult. If he's not, isolation will damage his development in other ways.

God fucking damn. I say we all take up a bail fund, because your inner Earl and /or inner Black Tyki need to come out.

Two bus trips! Two!!! They are

[thenakedcat]

Considering the severe behavior problems I saw go unaddressed for YEARS on the school bus and in the lunch room at school, Callan would have to be, like, shanking other kids with a modified spork to warrant this level of response. I agree with Sethra, this school is LOOKING for things to complain about. You need to be talking to the district, possibly even the county or state Board of Ed, because this is harassment. They are failing to address the biggest, most obvious, and most easily treated learning issue--Callan's lack of large-group socialization, which will likely go away with a little watchful waiting--in favor of searching for fantasy disorders and trying to paint you as an unfit mother. It has been ALL OF A WEEK. It is ENTIRELY possible that any difficulties they're seeing with riding the bus and calming down after lunch are just hyperactivity left over from the long summer break. Unless these problems persist well into the school year, his teachers and principal need to just take a chill pill, chalk it up to his being a very

[sethrak]

Considering the severe behavior problems I saw go unaddressed for YEARS on the school bus and in the lunch room at school, Callan would have to be, like, shanking other kids with a modified spork to warrant this level of response.

Seriously. I had to deal with shenanigans of that nature for years when I was still a bus-riding student, and none of the kids responsible got kicked off, or more than reprimanded half-heartedly.

My son, who is on the spectrum, took a lot longer than a week to adjust to the school bus when he started pre-school last fall - and no one from the school tried to get him removed. He still takes a little time to adjust when starting a new bus schedule; he has sensory issues, and issues with new places and new people. No one at the COS district or bus company is suggesting he stop getting bussed.

Makes me wonder what kind of hyper-brainwashed Stepford kids Callan's district is used to.

[innocent_man]

Hrm. The bus thing, I dunno. Two bad trips doesn't seem to me like it's time to throw in the towel just yet.

But the lunchroom...man. I don't have sensory issues per se, but the lunchroom in my school drives me nuts. I don't go in there if I can help it. And if ASD is the suspicion here, I can't say I'd be opposed to having Callan eat lunch elsewhere. One possibility might be to let him eat lunch in the lunchroom if he wants to, but give him the choice to go somewhere quiet if it gets too loud (and you can have them put that on his IEP, section 7, Accommodations).

[doctorcaligari]

Yeah, I can attest to the not-good results of publicly marking out a kid as "different," and then standing back to watch the self-fulfilling prophecy play out in a harassmentfest. That should be avoided as much as humanly possible