Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This was part of the OP's original post....Am I misunderstanding something?? These are more than behavioral issues....
Original OP
"Last year I was a substitute special education teacher's aide for several weeks while the school district was trying to find someone to accept the position as a 1 to 1 aide with an extremely difficult to handle student with autism, mental retardation and other problems. I returned to sub aide again for several weeks when the person hired quit after a week. After the new person hired quit after a couple of weeks I was again hired as the substitute 1 to 1 aide for this student until they could find a third person to take the job. The only reason that I kept coming back was that I felt sorry for the special education teacher, other classroom aides and other special education students as they were getting hit, kicked, pushed, etc on a daily basis.
The special education teacher documented everything and followed all the procedures and didn't get any help and assistance. After a while the teacher LITERALLY BEGGED the psychologist and director of special education to observe the student as he was exceptionally complex and difficult to teach and she wanted help. Meanwhile, everyone involved with this student, special education bus drivers, aides, therapists, peers etc. were getting bruised and battered on a regular basis. This went on for almost 9 months.......
To clarify. In my opinion, to strip naked in your classroom, throw your diaper at the principal , grab poop from your bottom all while laughing and giggling while the adults try to avoid being hit is more behavioral than cognitive.
Although, he has has some cognitive difficulties what I meant was that he did those things (strip, throw poop, etc) ON PURPOSE (behavioral) not because he is so cognitive delayed that he did not understand what he was doing or so cognitive delayed that he couldn't prevent it. He has been in this classroom for over a full year and although he always had behavior problems (hitting, pushing, kicking) during the entire 2010-2011 school he only once stripped and urinated and pooped on the floor and ironically it was in the principal's conference room/office.
Hmmm, he seems to be cognitively aware enough to understand that the principal and the teacher are the bosses/authority figures ---he never even once threw poop at his teacher's aides even when they/we were changing poopy diapers (which is very, very often)..
If he wants to, he can talk in sentences, say the alphabet, count to 2O, do activities on the smartboard, play games on a computer, use a TV remote(at home), enjoy looking at books, identify his name and a few other words and many, many other things that are usually above the level of an infant/toddler who may "play with his poop" or have an accident on the floor while naked. Thus, those things that he does are "behavioral" and not due to his cognitive level.
Last edited by germaine2626; 10-08-2012 at 10:00 PM..
Update: The principal told the teacher this morning before school that she (the principal) was absolutely fed up with this student's behavior * and that the school shouldn't have to put up with it day after day. The principal told the teacher that she was calling the Director of Special Ed. and the health dept (because of the health hazard of poop all over).
As soon as the student was asked to work this morning he stripped and put poop all over the walls of his area. The principal suspended him for the rest of the day and for all day tomorrow.
Maybe this will be a turning point and we will get appropriate support for him or he will be moved to a more appropriate placement. Thank you for your suggestions.
* this made us think that it is Central Office/Administration that is causing the problems in getting needed support/supplies/assistance/training for working with this student.
Any resources to help Mom with behavior mod at home?
The teacher has offered on numerous occasions to work with Mom on home activities. Also, my city has many, many autism related services. The big problem is that Mom is still in denial that her son has significant problems and needs extra help.
My thoughts are that Mom thinks of him as an over-sized preschooler (at 80 plus pounds quite an over-sized preschooler) and his "pre-schooler type behaviors" are something that he will grow out of naturally. Although both the records and Mom are a little unclear it appears that she didn't attempt to enroll him into kindergarten until he was 7 years old and did not attempt to get him into any early intervention or early childhood programs before that time. That is one of the reasons why I think that she believes that he will "grow out of" his behavior problems and cognitive delays.
To all of you at C-D, thanks again for helping me by giving suggestions and letting me vent. I'll update when something significant happens.
Someone needs to educate this Mom, she may be causing more harm than good out of ignorance. A few days in the classroom may help....or at least some video or audio of the destructive behaviors may enlighten her. Regardless, hopefully you all will get the needed help and resources now, including this child. Thanks for updating, all the best to you all. And Thanks too for yours and the other teachers dedication to children!
This student really likes Michael Jackson. The classroom teacher uses a Michael Jackson picture book as a special treat when he follows directions and finishes his work. She had the wonderful idea of creating a social story/book about Michael J. and this student. It is called Michael Jackson and (student name) Wear Clothes in School. Each page has a photograph of MJ and a photo of the student with a short line like "MJ is happy when (student name) wears clothes in the classroom".
It worked very well. There was only one incident of stripping, etc on Thursday and very little poop being thrown.
Today we decided to add something else. I brought in MJ costume accessories. In addition to reading the social story he was able to put on the MJ hat, wig, sunglasses and a sequined glove after he finished his work (as long as all of his clothes were on). The teacher also allowed him to wear the sequined glove while he was working.
He had a perfect day, no stripping, no BM being thrown, no urinating on the carpet, no attacking teachers or aides, no running out of the classroom! It was just one day but perhaps it is the start of a new successful period in his school experience.
This student really likes Michael Jackson. The classroom teacher uses a Michael Jackson picture book as a special treat when he follows directions and finishes his work. She had the wonderful idea of creating a social story/book about Michael J. and this student. It is called Michael Jackson and (student name)Wear Clothes in School. Each page has a photograph of MJ and a photo of the student with a short line like "MJ is happy when (student name) wears clothes in the classroom".
It worked very well. There was only one incident of stripping, etc on Thursday and very little poop being thrown.
Today we decided to add something else. I brought in MJ costume accessories. In addition to reading the social story he was able to put on the MJ hat, wig, sunglasses and a sequined glove after he finished his work (as long as all of his clothes were on). The teacher also allowed him to wear the sequined glove while he was working.
He had a perfect day, no stripping, no BM being thrown, no urinating on the carpet, no attacking teachers or aides, no running out of the classroom! It was just one day but perhaps it is the start of a new successful period in his school experience.
Michael Jackson may have worn clothes in school all day but (student name) stripped naked twice.
He threw his diaper but luckily it was only wet.
But, overall he had a pretty good day.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
