World of Autism

I don’t know where the time goes; here it is September again!

Lucas has begun the school year with several changes, including a new classroom with some new kids, at a new location (a local college).  He also has a new daily schedule and a new bus route.

That’s a LOT of new things for ANY kid to absorb!

In addition to the above changes, we’ve also had to address some ‘issues’ already this year, so I thought I’d share how we met some of these challenges.  I’ll need to spend a few days sharing this, so bear with me and check back!

The meeting - In response to an e-mail I sent Lucas’ teacher about some of the new things this year, the school scheduled a meeting between my husband and I, Lucas’ teacher, the school principal and the school district’s head of special education.  I also invited Lucas’ caseworker from the DE Division of Developmental Disabilities, who had expressed an interest in keeping up with his education. 

What we took - When my husband Alan and I met with the school regarding these issues, we took the following things with us:

• Lucas’ IEP.
• Copies of the appropriate sections of the law (IDEA and Delaware state special education law).
• A tape recorder, so that we had a complete record of what was said.

Issue #1, the bus - Instead of riding a special ed bus this with an aide on it (like he’s done every year he’s attended school), this year the school wanted Lucas to ride public transportation!

This is done to all the kids in this classroom, in the interests of “fostering independence”.  Granted, it would be a “Paratransit” bus.  In Delaware, that means it picks up and drops off “door to door”.

But there would be strangers on the bus, and there would be no aide of any kind to help Lucas.  Among other issues (like “stranger danger” and who would assist him if there’s an accident), sometimes something as simple as a person making noises he doesn’t like can send Lucas through the roof. 

While we all want to think nothing would ever happen to our kids, it’s THE CHILD and THE FAMILY who get to deal with the aftermath of something going wrong! 

Of course, with Lucas being 19 and an adult in the eyes of the law, who knows what would happen if there was any trouble on the bus, and he reacted badly to it! (Head banging, screaming, arrest, handcuffs, jail, worse??!!)

Solution - We asked to see the data showing that the school had educated Lucas about “Stranger Danger”, and had trained him to behave appropriately and react correctly if there was an accident, etc.

Our asking to see that data reminded the school that they had neither prepared him to ride public transportation, nor did they have any proof that he was capable of riding it successfully.  (I suspect it may have also reminded them that if anything happened to my kid on that bus, the district would be held accountable.)

Lucas will be riding a school bus this year, with an aide.  He’s allowed to ride public transportation only with a school staff member in attendance. 

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are kids in his classroom who are more than able to safely ride public transportation.  But Lucas, who still tends to walk into the street without looking both ways, may NEVER be able to successfully navigate it without an aide. 

Next up, the issue of NO GYM CLASS OR SPECIAL OLYMPICS.

Tags: Daily life //