altie's Autisable

School Trying to Sweep Autistic Child 'Under the Rug'

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:50:39 GMT

By Fran Alt

My little guy Sky is a gifted, autistic six-year-old. He can read at a third grade level and his math knowledge is above average for his age.

Sky's mainstream and special ed teachers are unhappy with his behaviors . They want him in a different school where there is a self contained autistic class.

Our Sky already knows how to act autistic, we want to change these behaviors not increase them. SkyGuy is a mimic – that is part of how he learns. (You know, like echolalia.)

Think about that. Put our little mime with normal children and (hopefully) he'll act in a normal (or near normal) manner. Put him in an autistic class and he will pick up even more autistic idiosyncracies.

I don't think any autistic child should be in a classroom with only other autists!

Sigh. Then there are Sky's behavior problems.

Our impulsive SkyGuy is also ADHD and OCD.

He has odd behaviors and does not always comply with his teachers’ wishes.

Lately Sky has been spitting and yesterday he pushed a classmate into a puddle. He was suspended last week for the spitting and now today, for the pushing! Imagine, suspended twice at the age of six!! Where is this going?

Moving Sky out of his current classes is best for the teachers because they have so many other children to tend. I get that! I agree, controlling and redirecting Sky often requires one-on-one attention, which creates a stressful situation for his already overburdened teachers. (His first grade teacher has 24 other children in the room.)

However, we want an IEP that is best for Skyler, not his teachers. Getting help for the teachers is the school district's problem.

A one-on-one staff to follow our Sky around in a normal school situation, sounds ideal to me. The school says Sky's condition does not warrant that. (What they really mean is they don't want to pay for the extra staff.)

So this is where we are, sitting on the brim of a Zakh Price fiasco. (Zakh is the eleven-year-old autistic boy in Little Rock Arkansas, charged with a felony for defending himself.)

How many of you have faced this dilemma? Is this a FAPE issue? How do we get the help we need?

Little Boy Lost

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:34:37 GMT

Sky is a flight risk in the autistic diagnoses realm. These kids will take off in a heartbeat.

The other day we were leaving Chic-fil-A. I put Sky's coat on and Papa went to get some more drink.

I turned and Sky was gone.

I glanced in the small play area - no Sky.

Panic set in as I looked out the window!

Yes. He was outside!

In the dark.

Alone.

No fear.

No sense of danger about traffic.

I ran out the door and down the sidewalk calling his name.

Begging him to stop.

He never looked back.

He was in his 'deaf zone' - walking ahead, stepping-on-and-off the curb, scaring me to death! As he neared the roadway, I saw headlights coming from the drive-thru.

I ran faster, screaming for him to stop.

Suddenly, Sky saw our van and turned back toward it.

Relief. I knew he would head for the door near his car seat.

I scolded him as I put him in the car.

Wasted words.

There was no one there to hear me.

Autistic children are often lost in the tunnel of their own existence.

Fran Alt

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:32:09 GMT

Hi everyone! I'm Fran. My husband Fred and I have spent the last six years raising our autistic great grandson. Fred's 72 and I'm on the doorstep of 70! Our little guy, Sky is six!!
Drop me a comment or just say, "Hello!"