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We live in FL. We came from OH. My son has moderate autism. In June of this year we delivered the IEP to the district office. They decided to place him in a classroom that refuses to follow the IEP. He is supposed to be mainstreamed with an aide in a first grade classroom. The past 6 weeks, the reports from school about behaviors are increasingly negative. We have provided the district with the name of his therapist, the name of his former teacher, the name of his aides, and the names of his doctors. We have coordinated communication, the school district, thus far refuses to call any of these resources.
My son has begun to regress considerably since starting school. He has stopped talking, except to make requests. He spends his afternoons after school in the backyard, pacing back and forth talking to himself. He has all negative reports from school all the time. He swears, he hits, he bites, etc. He does NOT do things like this at home, or in any other theraputic or academic setting.
After 6 weeks of school, and much stalling, they are finally letting him go into a mainstream classroom with an aide. The negative reports are continuing. Every day the teacher says, "it was a good day, but..." After speaking to a friend of mine whose son is a little higher functioning, I have decided to pull him from the district. Basically, this lady's son was not talking, and she placed him in a private school in the area. 1 1/2 years later, he is ready to go into a typical classroom AT grade level. Now, I'm not expecting my son to be at grade level, because he is lower functioning, but I would like him to eventually return to a school with typical children and be able to function.
The school has a 2-6 week waiting list, so if for some reason, the mainstreaming works, I can pull him off the list. I, unfortunately, don't feel it's going to work, because the teachers haven't listened to our advice, they won't call his therapists, and he just doesn't seem happy in the current classroom. Do you think I made the right move, even though it is a step backwards (in a self-contained classroom)?
I know nothing about autism, but after reading the circumstances you presented, I agree you made the right decision. We must be advocates for our children when the "system" let's us down.
Could some of his behavior issues just be adjusting to the move? The handful of autistic children I know are happiest in a highly regimented routine. Wouldn't a new school, even the best one there is, interrupt that routine?
OMG, I could have told you from the very beginning that putting him in a public school in Florida would not turn out well. The public school system in Florida is TERRIBLE, especially when compared to the North, and the state lags when it comes to education, especially progressive education. In fact, the state's nickname is "Floriduh."
I have counseled every Florida parent to put their children into private school, especially those with autism. Public schools provide the bare minimum and only what is required by law, mostly b/c if they do anything outside of or above and beyond an IEP, they can be sued.
So, in short, yes, you made the right decision. Don't look back.
Could some of his behavior issues just be adjusting to the move? The handful of autistic children I know are happiest in a highly regimented routine. Wouldn't a new school, even the best one there is, interrupt that routine?
We have moved 4 times in the last 4 years. Each time there has been a slight regression. But never like this, and most of the teachers seem to know what they are doing with regards to my child's autism. For instance, he swears, at his last two schools, the teachers pulled him into the library, while the specialist talked to the typical students in his class about ignoring the swear words, and how the swear words weren't to be repeated. Many of the typical classmates like him a lot (at least in the other schools). In this school, I told them to just explain to the other students that he swears, but they want to punitively punish him. Which is not what you do with a child with autism. So they punitively punish him (time outs), he starts escalating the behavior, and I get a negative report.
The situation is stressful, he is a sensory seeker, recently he started to masturbate in class. So the teacher makes him wear belted pants. Well, they want to him to go to gym class. Gym class is in the afternoon, my son is heat sensitive. They had him in gym class in 90 degree heat with a 100 degree heat index IN PANTS. He started to tantrum and ask to go in. The teacher's aide says no, so he starts to hit her. I get a negative report.
I would chalk the regression up to the move if the behaviors were universal all the way around, but the move regression ended several weeks ago at home. He has minimal behaviors in ABA therapy (group therapy), OT, Speech, or any of his other non-school therapies and activities. At school however, the behaviors are horrible.
He is performing fine for everyone else, BUT the school district.
If you're set on staying in Florida despite knowing the situation there (bare minimum and nothing more), then this sounds like the best scenario until you can move to a state that offers more services. Your son is not functioning well in the current set-up and it only makes sense to try something else and see if he does better there.
Thank-you, I have no doubts after today that we will be pulling him from the public school.
He had pink eye on Monday, and I kept home from school and administered drops. Yesterday was a so-so day, he had a few tantrums here and there but no big deal. Today, the teacher said he complained all day that his eyes hurt (ok, why no call?). So he started banging his head on his desk, hard (again, why no call?). Then he started to complain that he could not see out of his eye (AGAIN WTF ARE YOU THINKING CALL ME?). The teacher said he did this to "get out of doing something he didn't want to do." I called his doctor, was informed that I needed to get him to the ER ASAP. I took him to the ER and my son may have a concussion. The teacher has a notebook and documented everything in the notebook. I'm considering filing a lawsuit against the district. I showed the notebook to the hospital staff, and they are going to call CPS on the staff...
Public schools provide the bare minimum and only what is required by law, mostly b/c if they do anything outside of or above and beyond an IEP, they can be sued.
So, in short, yes, you made the right decision. Don't look back.
OMG, that's a horror story! (and they pick on Missouri schools.) It sounds like they're not even meeting the minimum standards by law. If his IEP says they have to have an aide, then legally they have to provide an aide.
Here is a website that will provide very good articles about your rights and there is bound to be something that applies to your situation--the law says that if the school district you're in can't provide for his IEP, then they have to pay for his education in a district that can. Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy You have a very good case. Oh, and document, document, document.
BTW, I work in a very good school in a good district and we have a great program, but I've often thought that if I had a special needs child, I'd homeschool him/her. As good as we are, we simply can't provide the individualized attention that they need b/c there are so many of them and they are all so different. We do what we can, but we're stretched out way thin and the budget cuts have taken their toll.
ok im gonna address this again..you said your child is hitting biting or whatnot ..i understand he is autistic but he still needs to be shown that his is not correct. Alot of children that i have seen that are autistic are not that way. Second, you say he is touching himself..i find that to be disturbing and im wanting to know where did he learn all this stuff from. I think that you should rethink your parent strategies because he is obviously being coddled and spoiled, and who did he learn all the masturbation and cussing from? It all starts at home...
As for who to sue..are you kidding? Maybe the teacher couldnt stop and drop what she was doing to handle your child but remember she also has a classroom to run and she has more than one student in that class. She obviously communicated with you as soon as possible and that is still not good enough for you. You also were not there in the classroom when he did this. You are willing to crucify the professional who can speak for a child that cannot just because he is yours. Thats not right. The notebook is to document what your child is doing and it is to protect the teacher from parents who overreact which is just like this situation. The hospital can do whatever it wants...but cps is not going to investigate a teacher..they will however..investigate you..
ok im gonna address this again..you said your child is hitting biting or whatnot ..i understand he is autistic but he still needs to be shown that his is not correct. Alot of children that i have seen that are autistic are not that way. Second, you say he is touching himself..i find that to be disturbing and im wanting to know where did he learn all this stuff from. I think that you should rethink your parent strategies because he is obviously being coddled and spoiled, and who did he learn all the masturbation and cussing from? It all starts at home...
As for who to sue..are you kidding? Maybe the teacher couldnt stop and drop what she was doing to handle your child but remember she also has a classroom to run and she has more than one student in that class. She obviously communicated with you as soon as possible and that is still not good enough for you. You also were not there in the classroom when he did this. You are willing to crucify the professional who can speak for a child that cannot just because he is yours. Thats not right. The notebook is to document what your child is doing and it is to protect the teacher from parents who overreact which is just like this situation. The hospital can do whatever it wants...but cps is not going to investigate a teacher..they will however..investigate you..
You need to go back to school or reread your child development information...
First off, my child is not coddled or spoiled. None of these behaviors are tolerated or accepted at home. He does not masturbate at home, he rarely bangs his head at home, he does not swear at home. These behaviors have recently manifested themselves at school. I have successfully extinguished all behaviors at therapy and at home, but I cannot get rid of behaviors when the school administration refuses to even listen to his therapists and doctors with regard to treating the behaviors. With the latest incident it's increasingly obvious that this school is not equipped to handle my son. The private school was available to me free of cost when I first enrolled him at the school, IF they had told me that there was no one there TRAINED to handle an autistic child, my kid would have gone to the private school before all of this happened.
Masturbation in Young Children - Page 1 | DrGreene.com
Children typically begin masturbating at 2-3 years of age, which is a little bit younger than where my child is functionally. The difference between a typical child and an moderately-to-severely autistic child is that a typical child has impulse control and is able to understand that it's not socially acceptable to play with themselves in public. Unfortunately, an autistic child tends to be hypersensitive, especially if they are sensory seeker. Which includes hypersexuality.
The teacher is a special needs teacher, if a child is banging his head 10-15 times on a desk, it is what my tax dollars for to help that student. If a child is having a different medical condition, a person is expected to intervene. This person is a specialist, she is trained in restraining holds. His IEP states that he is to be put in a hold if he has a tantrum severe enough to cause self injurious behavior.
Furthermore, yes a doctor can report a school for neglect, just as he can report a parent for neglect. Unfortunately, for this teacher SHE WROTE IT IN THE PARENT COMMUNICATION JOURNAL WHAT HAPPENED. I showed him the journal, the doctor said that the teacher was negligent in not reporting the incident as soon as it happened. I have been investigated by CPS on several occasions, it's quite normal when you have a child like mine. They will/have come to talk to me. If they show up, I will show them the journal. I have never hit my children, I never spanked my children, I have nothing to hide. Schools and teachers are just as likely to be investigated as anyone else.
If continue to harass me Texas69, I will report you.
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