Surviving the first week of Kindergarten
After several days of aggressive behaviors at drop off, this morning Hunter got out of the car and walked into school with his special ed teacher.
PRAISE GOD!
There were several factors that could have been responsible. Our ABA therapist recommended yesterday afternoon to stop pairing a tangible reward with good behavior. We had already transitioned to giving him the ipad, etc, randomly, so he wasn't used to the reward system that used to be motivating for him. After four days of knowing that he had new Cars waiting for him, he still hit and resisted going into school. On the other hand, extrinsic motivators were NOT working.
We had to get him intrinsically motivated to attend school.
Thursday night, we praised him multiple times for sweet speech, a great day at school, and decided that we would not prep him for the day in the morning. We would not talk about opening a new McQueen if he had a great day. We just gave him a McQueen because he asked.
This morning, Peter drove through the loop and pulled up to a new spot, so that Paige wouldn't have to see him get pulled into school. His teacher was waiting there with a picture of McQueen, Hunter had a McQueen shirt on (which wasn't what I picked out for him, but he insisted on wearing it today- divine intervention)- and they bonded with the similarity of the pictures. He had his Omega 3 gummies in his hand. He got out of the car and walked into the building and straight into his classroom.
He did it!!!
We had our ARD today at 12:30 to discuss his transfer (from private school to public school), where the staff at the school would present data and talk about future planning.
I am not sure why I was so nervous. I think it will always be weird for me, sitting on the parent side of the table when I used to be on the staff side.
I am the one who used to tell the parents we were doing everything possible for their child.
I was giving my all to help recover their son.
And now I was depending on all of those smiling faces to deliver the same message.
There were nine educators, therapists, and specialists who greeted us at the table. And even though I have used the word "Autism" a million times when talking about Hunter, it still put a pit in my stomach and choked me up when the diagnostician said, "We are here today to talk about programming for Hunter. He qualifies as a student with Autism."
Not exactly what I pictured when I was that speech path offering proposed goals ten years ago.
But every answer each professional gave to our questions, every concern noted, every minute written in the document...Hunter's best interest was at heart. Truly.
I think so many give up on the school systems because us special needs parents have to fight for so much. We fight daily insurance battles, we fight for normalcy, we fight for services...and so we are constantly in the "fight mode" However, today we walked in ready to partner with the school. He has a long school career ahead of him, and I'm kind of over fighting for things.
We did, however, reiterate what an intelligent boy Hunter is and we don't want him pacified this year just to avoid behavior. If the whole class is being assessed, we want him assessed. If everyone else is expected to cut a project, he needs to do the same. We never want his disability to affect his ability- for he has amazing potential. We want him pushed- if he was any other neurotypical child in the classroom with a high IQ, they would send him to GT or increase the workload.
He needs to be challenged.
His classroom teacher was so cute today- with every response, we just adored her more and more. She said he has already corrected her in the classroom (for misreading a word), points out things that she has never noticed before (like if the page in a book matches the cover), and actually said that she would prefer for him not to be pulled out of the classroom.
It was the best response I could have ever asked for. I have always believed that these young children should NOT be pulled out of kindergarten- there is so much room for growth and he needs to be around typical peers.
I put a joke on his lunchbox everyday- I try and give him a little "material" to work with to start up conversations with the other kids. I asked him what his joke was today and he repeated it to me. He said he told all his friends and his teacher, too. He was picked by a friend to play a game in the hallway. He walked in line with his class to every outing today, and their schedule was different yet again.
He is trying...and that is all we can ask.
My wise, younger friend (wink, Brynn) sent me this quote today-
"I see children as kites. You spend a lifetime to get them off the ground. You run with them until you're both breathless. They crash and you add a longer tail. You patch and you concept. Adjust and teach. You watch them lifted by the wind and assure them that someday they will fly."
This is his year.
He has shown unbelievable compliance this round of IVIG, his overall demeanor is pleasant, and he is smiling so much more.
He isn't just going to fly..he is going to soar.
PRAISE GOD!
There were several factors that could have been responsible. Our ABA therapist recommended yesterday afternoon to stop pairing a tangible reward with good behavior. We had already transitioned to giving him the ipad, etc, randomly, so he wasn't used to the reward system that used to be motivating for him. After four days of knowing that he had new Cars waiting for him, he still hit and resisted going into school. On the other hand, extrinsic motivators were NOT working.
We had to get him intrinsically motivated to attend school.
Thursday night, we praised him multiple times for sweet speech, a great day at school, and decided that we would not prep him for the day in the morning. We would not talk about opening a new McQueen if he had a great day. We just gave him a McQueen because he asked.
This morning, Peter drove through the loop and pulled up to a new spot, so that Paige wouldn't have to see him get pulled into school. His teacher was waiting there with a picture of McQueen, Hunter had a McQueen shirt on (which wasn't what I picked out for him, but he insisted on wearing it today- divine intervention)- and they bonded with the similarity of the pictures. He had his Omega 3 gummies in his hand. He got out of the car and walked into the building and straight into his classroom.
He did it!!!
We had our ARD today at 12:30 to discuss his transfer (from private school to public school), where the staff at the school would present data and talk about future planning.
I am not sure why I was so nervous. I think it will always be weird for me, sitting on the parent side of the table when I used to be on the staff side.
I am the one who used to tell the parents we were doing everything possible for their child.
I was giving my all to help recover their son.
And now I was depending on all of those smiling faces to deliver the same message.
There were nine educators, therapists, and specialists who greeted us at the table. And even though I have used the word "Autism" a million times when talking about Hunter, it still put a pit in my stomach and choked me up when the diagnostician said, "We are here today to talk about programming for Hunter. He qualifies as a student with Autism."
Not exactly what I pictured when I was that speech path offering proposed goals ten years ago.
But every answer each professional gave to our questions, every concern noted, every minute written in the document...Hunter's best interest was at heart. Truly.
I think so many give up on the school systems because us special needs parents have to fight for so much. We fight daily insurance battles, we fight for normalcy, we fight for services...and so we are constantly in the "fight mode" However, today we walked in ready to partner with the school. He has a long school career ahead of him, and I'm kind of over fighting for things.
We did, however, reiterate what an intelligent boy Hunter is and we don't want him pacified this year just to avoid behavior. If the whole class is being assessed, we want him assessed. If everyone else is expected to cut a project, he needs to do the same. We never want his disability to affect his ability- for he has amazing potential. We want him pushed- if he was any other neurotypical child in the classroom with a high IQ, they would send him to GT or increase the workload.
He needs to be challenged.
His classroom teacher was so cute today- with every response, we just adored her more and more. She said he has already corrected her in the classroom (for misreading a word), points out things that she has never noticed before (like if the page in a book matches the cover), and actually said that she would prefer for him not to be pulled out of the classroom.
It was the best response I could have ever asked for. I have always believed that these young children should NOT be pulled out of kindergarten- there is so much room for growth and he needs to be around typical peers.
I put a joke on his lunchbox everyday- I try and give him a little "material" to work with to start up conversations with the other kids. I asked him what his joke was today and he repeated it to me. He said he told all his friends and his teacher, too. He was picked by a friend to play a game in the hallway. He walked in line with his class to every outing today, and their schedule was different yet again.
He is trying...and that is all we can ask.
My wise, younger friend (wink, Brynn) sent me this quote today-
"I see children as kites. You spend a lifetime to get them off the ground. You run with them until you're both breathless. They crash and you add a longer tail. You patch and you concept. Adjust and teach. You watch them lifted by the wind and assure them that someday they will fly."
This is his year.
He has shown unbelievable compliance this round of IVIG, his overall demeanor is pleasant, and he is smiling so much more.
He isn't just going to fly..he is going to soar.
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