My 4 year old nonverbal autisitic son fell and hit his head on the gym floor and I didn't receive a phone call (Kenosha: homes)

[dimples2683]

Hi. I'm new to this website and need some advice. I have a 4 year old nonverbal severe autistic son. He goes to a public school in Kenosha WI. Last Monday when my husband picked up my son from school he had a LARGE red black and blue goose egg on his forehead and a scratch on his cheek on the opposite side of his face. The teacher explained that during gym class that day he bumped into another child (the other child didn't fall) and my son fell and didn't "brace" himself and smacked his head on the gym floor. She said they tried to put an ice pack on his head for 5 minutes but he resisted and they gave up. I NEVER RECEIVED A PHONE CALL!! We were only notified when we picked him up. I called his doctor and she told me the symptoms of a concussion and to just watch him over the next couple of days and if he displayed any of the symptoms to bring him to the E.R. My husband brought my son to school the next day and expressed how upset I was that they didn't call me immediately. They said- ok next time we will call. You have to remember my son cannot tell me if something is wrong or how he is feeling. After a few days my son was acting differently and sleeping 4 hours longer at night than usual. So after some advice I called CPS and informed them of the incident- my name-my sons name and the schools name. They told me to go to the E.R. So I bring him to the E.R. and after a cat scan the doctor concluded he had a head contusion and a mild concussion. (no fractures or bleeding thank god). I would like some opinions as to not receiving an immediate phone call when my special needs child was injured.

[jzeig104]

I worked for special ed director for a school district for 11 years. This should not have happened. Since they are so casual, I would insist on a WRITTEN agreement regarding when and where you want to be contacted and under what circumstances, and have it put right in his IEP, with the signature of his teacher(s) and the school principal. You can call a special IEP meeting for an amendment like this. You do not have to wait until his next scheduled IEP meeting.

The nurses office also should have seen him and written up an incident report which would go to a couple of levels of administration. Separately, in the nurses office records, there should be something recorded regarding your wishes in the case of an incident like this. You will need to take the initiative, once again, on this, as they seem to be very lax.

If you can do this in a non combative way, all the better, to get better cooperation in the future.

PS Cute kid but I would caution you on putting your childs photo on the internet.

Good luck!

[yousah]

Yes, not only should they have called, but incorporate these instructions into his IEP. We ended up homeschooling our special needs daughter after the realization that things like this happen more often than people would like to think it does.

[ccjarider]

What is the problem? Sounds like kid is ok.
What is a phone call supposed to do??

Since you asked what you should do:
Call school and apologize for making big deal out of nothing.
Kids fall down - it happens.

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

What is the problem? Sounds like kid is ok.
What is a phone call supposed to do??

Since you asked what you should do:
Call school and apologize for making big deal out of nothing.
Kids fall down - it happens.

This was my first reaction, but after thinking it over, given his special needs, the parents should have been contacted right away so they could decided whether to take him to the doctor immediately. She is right, a non-verbal, autistic child can't tell you if they area experiencing symptoms of a more serious injury. Now if the child had just fallen and scrapped his hands and knees, telling the parents after school would be fine, but this involved a direct blow to the head.

[ElizaTeal]

You should have been notified immediately. That is quite a knot he has on his head. I would have taken the CAT scan results to the school.