School and Law Enforcement | Autism PDD
My 8 y/o has always struggled some with aggressive behavior, but the past three months it has increased. One of his therapists suggested that I read "The Explosive Child," and after reading it and deciding to give it a try, much of the aggression we were having at home seems to have subsided. We still have minor incidents, but nothing like before.
However, his teacher has not read the book and does not want to consider giving the ideas suggested a try even though they seem to be working at home. My son's behavior is still a major issue at school, I almost wonder if its even more so because there is no consistency between school and home.
Last Tuesday, he was being disruptive in calendar time and when one of the aides tried to take his hand and remove him from the room, he kicked her. That started him off on a downward spiral and by the time they called me to come at 2:00 he had kicked her once, spit at another another aide, and hit and kicked the teacher while she was escorting him to the office. When I got there to pick him up, the principal talked to him about his behavior and told him that he needed to go home for the day, but that Wednesday would be a new day. I brought him home, and though I don't generally believe that consequences do much to change his behavior, I did make an effort to restrict a couple of his favorite activies because he'd been sent home early.
Wednesday, he came home just beside himself upset; insisting that he was a failure and could never go to school again. I found a note from his teacher saying that she had made him spend over half of the day sitting out in the hallway because of his behavior the day before and that he had had to start the day on a warning on the behavior chart because of the day before's behavior. After being told that the next day would be a new day, I could see why my little black and white thinker was so upset. The more times I read the teacher's note, the more upset I became too.
As it turned out, he stayed home from school sick on Thursday and Friday. Okay, he probably wasn't that sick, but I needed a break from dealing with the school. So today, I wrote the teacher a letter letting her know how upset he had been and also that I especially did not approve of using isolation as a consequence (she had even forced him to eat breakfast all by himself in the hallway). I also mentioned that on that particular day there had been no mention of physical activity or sensory diet being used at all and since he craves deep pressure and movement those things are critical if you want him to be in control of himself. I ended by suggesting that we needed to focus more on teaching him the skills he needs to avoid having aggressive outbursts and meltdowns in the first place; rather than spending so much time determining appropriate consequences.
Here response is what brings me here...
She insists that isolating him in the hallway is the only way she can protect the other children and staff. Now, I can see that for perhaps a few minutes immediately following an incident while he's calming down; but clear the next day when he's been in control of himself for hours?!
Here final statement was that based on his behavior on Tuesday, she should have called law enforcement to deal with him because that's the type of intervention she feels his behavior calls for. My son may be 8 y/o, but his developmental age is roughly 4 1/2. I have a hard time seeing brining in law enforcement as a useful or even appropriate strategy. It makes me sick to my stomach that she would even suggest that. Since my son has a tendancy to wander, I want him to know that the police can help him if he should get lost, not be fearful of them.
The teacher and most of the school staff all act as if his behavior and aggression is completely willful and that he is purely choosing to act out. Its like they completely disregard that most of his behavior is related to his PDD and anxiety issues.
I'm so tired of struggling with them over every single thing, that I once again find myself pondering the option of homeschooling. But I know he needs the social interaction of school too... so I'm really at a loss.
How do I respond to her note? Better still, how do I work with them to focus on helping him learn the skills he needs to minimize aggression and meltdowns in the first place?
Any advice is greatly appreciated... sorry this got so long.
Julie
Clearly, this placement is inappropriate. The teacher knows exactly zero about autism. Ask that a functional behavioral assessment be performed by a qualified person and that that person create a behavior intervention plan that all school personnel follow. In fact, get the BIP into his IEP. I know that The Explosive Child recommends against behavior modification. However, it'll probably be a cold day in Hades before most school districts implement the techniques used in this book. They take patience and individualizing that is really not seen in most schools. A BIP is a MUCH better alternative than what's happening now. A teacher who is actually FEEDING INTO his issues. If I were you, I'd see if the IEP Team would approve a consult from a BCBA for school issues.
Also, search this site for the many FBA and BIP suggestions already posted.
Immediately make a written request for a functional behavior assessmentto be conducted by the school to determing the function of the
aggressive behavior. Once this is completed they need to write a
behavior intervention plan to proactively address the fuction and reduce
the behavior. Once the plan is attached to the IEP they are legally
required to use what is in it to address your child's behavior, and cannot
randomly decide to do things like "call the police".
And if you don't get immediate help from the school district, call a lawyer. Better to pay for a lawyer to help get a GOOD IEP for your child than to have to pay for one in front of a judge to keep the boy out of the modern-day version of reform school. This is not joke. In our post-9/11 world, autistic behavior is seen as threatening and small children are often dragged away from their schools in handcuffs. Get this straight, legally, right now.
PS -- And GET HIM OUT OF THAT CLASS. No BIP is ever going to change this teacher's attitude. Get him out of her line of fire.
No consequences. Heavy up on the rewards for good behavior. Serious aggression is often only helped with meds. Meds only control uncontrollable behaviors, though, so a BIP has to be in place to help teach the child to control the controllable things. Negatives oftentimes backfire. Even mild negatives. Many of what we consider negatives are seen as positive by autistic kids, particularly isolation techniques. I'd ask the school district to get a BCBA involved. A teacher cannot do an FBA and also teach a class. A good FBA involves detailed observation. A person can't teach and observe at the same time. And a BIP is worthless without an FBA. The FBA will discover the REASON for the behavior. And knowing the reason will drive the way the BIP is written. Also, rewards have to be TRULY rewarding. Sometimes kids will work really hard to have "stim time," for example. Harder than for standard rewards. I knew of a boy whose name was Joe but obsessed about the name Bill. He wanted to be called Bill. His reward was that, if he achieved his behavior goals, the teacher and class called him Bill. If not, he was called Joe. An great example of the reward being tailored to the child. I would not trust this teacher to come up with a good behavior plan.
A teacher cannot call the police. The school district does. I would speak with the principal about this. Call the principal's office and ask for an appt. to speak with him. Don't say why. For the initial meeting, you don't want anyone else there. You just want to present the situation to the principal, get his personal take and get the policy of the school. Get that policy in writing. It's not a "policy" if it's not written down. If a child is subject to serious discipline, like suspension, expulsion or the police, a Manifestation Determination hearing MUST take place. It is an IEP meeting at which the team determines if the misbehavior is a manifestation of the child's disability. If it is, he cannot be punished for it. By law. However, lots of damage can already have been done by that time. I would definitely talk to the Director of Spec. Ed. about other possible placements. Sounds as though your son may have outgrown this class. Call an IEP meeting and ask that a consultant be brought in. A BCBA. The point will be for the BCBA to do the FBA and develop the BIP. Also, to give you and the District an idea of whether or not this is any longer an appropriate placement.
As far as going to the police ahead of time is concerned, I'm not sure that will do any good, but it might be useful to find out how much training they have in autism (some police have a lot) and to give them a heads-up. I'd wait until I spoke with the school district administrators, though. They might tell you that the teacher is full of bull and they will NOT call the police simply because she can't control her own student.
Lyn- He is in a Life Skills class, they have about nine students and there is the teacher plus three full time aides. He doesn't have a 1:1 and this district pretty much has an unspoken policy against allowing 1:1 support.
He has been in the same class, with the same staff, since Kindergarten and we have never had significant problems until this year. The IEP process was a nightmare, but was finally resolved to my satisfaction after the Director of SpEd got involved. For some reason, the teacher always does IEPs in the Fall and BIPs in February-April. His last BIP was done in February 06; the teacher was supposed to be reviewing and making changes and we were supposed to meet in January. Now, here we are in March and she is still making excuses to put off the meeting.
I am seriously considering the possibility of trying to get him moved to a different school within the district, though I wonder if things would really be that much different. Hopefully, I can get permission to check out the other possibilities this week or next.
In the meantime, do you think it would be wise for my husband and I to go talk with the local police just to let them know about our son and his behavior? Also, any ideas for how else the teacher might give consequences for his aggressive behavior besides isolating him for hours at a time?
When you mentioned possibly deciding to move your son, it occurred to me that that is what the current school wants you to do. To be in the type of classroom he is in and to have the teacher still handle things so poorly means two things. One, it's the wrong school for him, and two, they may be trying to pressure you to pull him out because they don't want to deal.
It should be obviously to the school that the current BIP is ineffective. Calling the police is not a part of it, nor is being isolated in the hallway for hours, right? So the school is not following the current BIP, and their actions do not provide an appropriate education for your child. Come to think of it, you may want to request to convene an IEP meeting to discuss its effectiveness and the current placement as well as the effectiveness of the BIP.
I agree w/ Maria1. The fact that she said that - which BTW I would've taken as a threat - doesn't say much for her behavior in the class and towards the learning of your child. Sitting in the hall is not educating or disciplining for that matter. 5 minutes to calm down and then back at it is what is in our crisis prevention part of the IEP. I would get him out of that class. I would call an IEP meeting and include the ESE Director for the SB if possible...that's what I'm doing.
Schools have a way of getting rid of their problems. If law enforcement gets envolved it can take your child away, if charges are filed. Please get a handle on the school situation ASAP and pull your child out until the dust settles if you have to. You do need to change placement, until then keep the ball in your court.
Copyright Autism-PDD.net