bus aide responsibilites | Autism PDD

Okay, at my last IEp I pushed for an aide on her bus....and got it !!

She is on small bus.....about 4-5 kids....ALL are ASD.....Erin was having a few issues of head banging and general irritaion. So now I have an aide.....and I feel let down.....

The aide doesn't even sit with Erin....sits with another boy....doesn't greet Erin, doesn't seem to interact at all. I get on the bus with her, I put her in car seat....aide and bus driver are chit-chatting the whole time !

The boy she IS with.....does a lot of shouting out, etc....and every time he does, she says "what do you want ? what's wrong with you ?" It doesn't seem as though she has ANY training what-so-ever......so now what ??

Should I be expecting more from her ? I'd love to hear from those who have a bus aide and what the aide "does"...thanks all !!

I would call another IEP meeting and come up with some expectations of the aide, or if they say that there are expectations already, then they should show them to you and she should be held accountable to someone.

I can't help there...we tried to get an aide for Mason because of his seizures and they wouldn't let us...so no bus for him in the beginning...once his seizures settled we did start the bus and because of health problems they allowed him to be the last picked up and the first dropped off...maybe 5 min on bus!

But I would maybe just very friendly remind her of how she could be helping your DD while on the bus...start asking regularily how this went or that went, to make sure she is giving good answers to what happened...if nothing changes I might call around and see if you can't find out what experience she has, if any and what you can do about all of it.

emerald_52139279.4717592593jeeze, i remember having a buss aid, what a waste of tax payer $$ she did nothing! At first it was some young lady, she sounded similar to the 1 u asked for and got, she does nothing and all she does is talk to the buss driver, her job is to keep the bus under control so the driver can watch the road, she did, as i recall take turns sitting with people, looked kinda random tho, i was pretty good on the bus i sat quiety.

Later we had an older women, we refered to as 'grandma' she was very sweet, and i feel the kids were better behaved out of respect for this nice old lady. She sat with me more then once, and we taked for a bit, but on occasion things could get outa hand like a fight or whatever, and their was little this poor old women could do.

I think its great hiring older people, but bus aids need to be able to keep order, stop fights and be able to isolate and prvent problems b4 they start. Unfortunatly every bus aid i have had was basicly someone that had no experience in this sort of thing and served only as a body on the bus, i doubt they r even trained in basic emergency care like CPR.GET RID OF THIS AIDE! Talk to your SPED director, and get another IEP asap, and get the aide to BE AN AIDE!

I'm sorry your having a hard time. I introduce myself to the driver and aid/monitor and tell them about my son, so all bases are covered. That way there is no accuse or reasons being given to not have known about his need and interaction with them. If mistreatment or anything else happens that needs to be addressed-go to that person and if it doesn't work then contact school transportation and say--do we need to have a meeting???? Believe me that will get their attention! They definetly don't like those.

Hope this helps you and hope it gets better!

JOY

Is the bus equipped with a camera? I know all the buses where I grew up all had cameras installed. If it does, I think first thing I'd do is request to view it. I like to think the best of people, so maybe she's not helping with your DD because you're there?

If you can review the tapes and see the aide doing nothing, I'd definitely call a new IEP to set some ground rules for the aide. If the aide can't follow those, then ask for a new aide..

Thank you everyone.....

Autumn......I'm with you....when it was first brought up at IEP....surprisingly the SPED director suggested one of the classroom aides do the job....that would be GREAT...but I knew there was very little chance of that actually happening. Right now we are in summer session and the aides are NOT working anyways....but even during regular school year, I hardly see the aides jumping at this.

Woodsman...I HAVE Grandma !! LOL How did you know ??? these kids are all young elemenatary, pretty small....but even so, I think she is NO match for them !

Thanks again all.....sigghh.....I was so happy because I felt like I had won a victory to get the aide.....now I have to go and complain that the aide isn't aiding !!

I'll just add it to my list of IEP issues I rejected.......

allisa, This sucks for you and your DD, I don't know why people take these positions if they don't want to interact with the children. Makes me so mad. I have no advise just want you to know I am thinking about you and your DD, and I think you should keep on trying to get the services your DD deserves. Good Luck to you. Remember do it writing so you have a paper trail. Write to the bus company and tell them what you are seeing. and file a complaint., if you feel that is needed. Maybe you should have some other family member wait for the bus and see if the aid gets her off and on the bus for a day or two and ask the aid how was DD bus ride today? was she happy on the bus that kind of thing. Just thinking of some way to get across to the aid how important her job really is.

Well, before calling Sped or the bus company, I figured the appropriate thing to do woauld be to talk to the aide.....so I did this morning. I asked her why she never sits with Erin even though she is ASSIGNED to her, why she never greets her has ANY interaction with her and why I am the one getting her on & off the bus ?

She got kind of mad and said she thought I LIKED to put Erin in her seat....." not my fault, I thought you liked it that way" Now don't get me wrong....I can certainly put my daughter in her own car seat....but then WHAT exactly is the function of the PAID bus monitor ??

I told her I had to fight to get Erin an aide and I think she is no different postion than she was last year. She needs to understand that you are her cargiver when on the bus and how else will she know that unless you put her in her seat, do her straps, sit with her and TALK to her !!

Well.....bus came home in afternoon.....guess what....NOTHING changed.....NOT sitting next to her ( even though driver kindly moved her seat ) NO attmept to get Erin out of seat.....and IGNORED me....looked straight ahead.....

I did the WRONG thing....I should have stood at the curb and WAITED for her to bring Erin to me....but I was too angry.....I just climbed up, got her off and called sped and the bus company.

Makes me want to shout "FORGET IT, I'LL DO EVERYTHING MYSELF" and I hate that feeling.

Anyone have any more suggestions on how to fix this....or should I just scrap it ?

allisa39282.7703009259

Well, you confronted the aid and things didn't change--I would call school bus transportation and complain. Then have a meeting! This will get their attention.

Good LucK!!