Make sure you record as many of his idiosyncrasies asa possible for the next teacher. Have a meeting, Demand DAILY communication. It will force the teacher to organize her thoughts and ask you questions (liek why he is throwing his chocolate milk!). DAILY.
Seriously, You're Going to Love this Kid is a GREAT book to give or lend a teacher, and it is not such a bad read.
Probably the teacher was overwhelmed and there is no autism coach to turn to. But ... STILL.
Glad he is OUTTA THERE.
Communication is the key !!!
We started out each school year by approaching EVERY teacher that teaches my boy (he's in 2nd year Elementary Sch/Primary School here in Malaysia). Being in a mainstream school means that there will be kids AND adults who have NO IDEA what autism is and NO TRAINING on how to deal with their idiosyncracies.
It was tough in Year 1, last year. Other kids will "innocently" take Daniel's ruler, pencil, eraser or even books and "forget" to return back. Imagine how our autistic child will react when they lose something !!! So I had to literally tell off some of these kids last year. Then, when they accepted Daniel for who he is, the boy who walks around in class, things got better. My being in the school EVERY SINGLE DAY before break and before dismissal helped a lot.
This year, things are getting better. His classmates watch out for him more. They don't "take" his things anymore. And I have become part of the class coz my face is a regular feature each day... I know it may be impossible to do what I do here, in your school setting... but my being in the PTA eventually "validated" my presence. I put up my case in the PTA AGM early this year. And as usual, a vocal parent is seen as a good spokesman and I was duly "elected" to the committee.
So, ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT from you as a parent in whatever and however way is vital to a happy school life... at least for now before my boy hits puberty... then other problems will set in...
p.s. YES, it can also be an expensive affair. I used to stock up spares of the ruler/eraser/pencils/sharpeners that my boy uses so that I can replace them and "pacify" him. It's better this year... where he can at least listen to reason and not make a fuss till we get home... I'll say, "Papa will get for you later." If it doesn't work... then I give a date... "OK, Papa will get for you on Friday 13 July". That usually works and it also buys me some time...
My son mouths and sometimes eats things. When it is time to color, his school gets out the crayons, and at home, I get the gritty BMs with the rainbow of colors he used!!! It is discusting! So I went out and bought the markers we use in home ABA. Is it just me, or am I the only one with common sense? When my kid eats something inappropriate, is it too much to ask to brainstorm a better way? I am sick of being the smart one, because it is expensive at times, and I am not the one with a degree. Anyone have similar experiences? My problem came with Mason's teacher expecting him to do things like the other kids...they would have snack time that included chocolate milk...well Mason is very obsessive about the way the carton has to look when it's opened...he doesn't like it ripped too far and when he tries to open it, it opens too far...this would turn into a daily meltdown with many days the chocolate milk flying across the room...after about 3 weeks of this his teacher finally contacted me about it and told me what was happening...my suggestion...OPEN THE MILK FOR HIM!! Her response was he needs to learn how to do this on his own...I told her honestly what difference does it make if he doesn't ever learn to open his chocolate milk?? The learning that he was losing out on because he would have hours of meltdowns because of this is worse than him never learning to open his milk...the school argued and argued me on this...saying they can't possibly open everyone's chocolate milk, etc...I explained over and over that he is special needs, meaning he needs SPECIAL attention and help in certain areas...they didn't have a problem zipping his jacket, putting his shoes on, and in the beginning of the year, changing his pull-up because he was not potty trained, but they couldn't open a simple milk for him?!?! I finally went to the director of special needs and explained the situation, and honestly I think she was shocked at what was going on! They eventually started opening his milk for him...but this was 2 months into the school year...my son lost out on hours and hours of learning because they couldn't open his milk and it resulted in daily time-outs and meltdowns. After the milk incident though, it became his shoes and zipping his jacket...they had it in their head that there was a certain time period that they would help the children do certain things and as soon as that time came they wanted to stop helping Mason with those things too! It turned into monthly meetings of me, the director of special needs and his teacher, because the only way I could get his teacher to help him was with the director saying she had too! I am so glad the school year is over and hoping this isn't how it's going to be the rest of his school years! Sorry this ended up being a vent on my part...school has been out for a month and it still just gets me going!!!! Anyway, if you have talked to his teacher on many accounts with no luck I suggest going over their heads, like I had to. I believe in communication and trying to work it out first, but you can only take so much!! Good luck!
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