Meeting with teacher went well:) | Autism PDD

Shelley, I'm glad it went so well.  I was really upset when I read your post about Sarah getting yelled at.

I went into 1st grade with Mason with my defensiveness at an all time high.  Last year was sooooo horrible I went into his new school this year ready to not take any crap!  Luckily this year has been so much better for us.  We actually have teachers that understand autism and it's been wonderful.  I wish I could keep them every year.  I know down the road we will be back to battling because my 2 older boys have gone through the school and I already know specific teachers that are going to be a problem.  But I'm going to be ready when the time comes!!  Sometimes it's the teacher's ignorance that's the problem, we just have to hope that they will be willing to learn when the time comes, unlike last year where the teacher thought she already knew how to handle "difficult children."

I was worried about the principal at this new school, but so far he has kind of stepped back and is letting the teachers and us lead the way!  I'm soooo happy for that, I just hope it continues through the next 5 years!

Anyway, I hope it continues to get better for you and Sarah.  You are doing such a great job advocating for your dd!!!  Great job!

Great News!  Thanks for the update.  I was wondering how it went.  It is always a great feeling when you prepare for a battle and find out none is needed.

ttfn

Thanks!

At first when she started school last year I was all for her getting a teacher that she liked and felt everything else would fall in place..now I am all about the teacher being educated in autism first..it is so hard to be struggling to get others  on the same page the whole year constantly informing them what is autism and what is not~this teacher assumed wrongly that Sarah understood perfectly and by her not engaging was due to her personality which is both right and wrong and she needs to be able to look at the whole picture and tell the difference. I hope it gets better since the meeting..crossing my fingers:)

Great to hear that it went well. I admire you and wish I had worked that hard to get teachers to understand when Zach was Sarah's age. He appeared so nt at school that they just didn't get it. I'm getting good at it now, better late than never. You should be so proud of yourself! Great job!

That is wonderful Shelley. Glad she was so open.You go girl.  That is wonderful.  As a teacher I am always thrilled when parents are willing to tell me about thier children. It really does make my job easier and much more productive for the child. 

I am glad that you were able to do this and that she was so receptive to talking, some teachers aren't and it is a real shame.

I had my annual Intro to autism" talk to my dd teacher this year since the school put it on me to do so. 

I took all of Sarah's ABA notebooks to give her an idea of where she came from as far as speech, eye contact and attending to people..then I explained how no matter how nt she can appear she will have days of zoning out or low expressive language..since they see everything in the arena of "academic need" I kept referring to her needing to be able to verbalize what she comprehends now and that just being able to read a book is not good enough.she has to be able to explain what she has read. The teacher was open and awed to all I had to say and is wanting to address her issues more of what she needs since she now knows how freaking hard we worked to get her this far... I also caught the school counselor in the hall and we had a sit down in her office about forming a social class for her to engage more with peers..she is going to work on it and let me know what she can come up with. I am so proud of myself...the first 10 minutes I was so nervous and stuttering really bad but kept focusing why I was there and remembering the issues Sarah needs help in and it kept me focused. I was also able to let the teacher know that on days when Sarah is not as engaged to get in her space and have her look at her and give her clear verbal instructions and dont leave until Sarah gives back verbal feedback that she understood and even if Sarah nods to her that it doesnt mean she actually heard her or understands what she is to be doing.

It is hard to convey your childs needs without getting the teacher on the defense..thank goodness it didnt happen:) I feel much better now and wished I had done this at the beginning of school.  I was told that most parents never even bother with talking to the teacher at all so I was happy to be brave enough to do it and so glad its over with!

I sent her some great links from this board someone posted for classroom teaching tips for autistic kids and she was very appreciative (wished I knew who posted them?)

We are our kids advocates and once you get started it gets better...I waited till the end of year last year to have this talk with teacher..so I am getting a little better:)

Keep fighting the good fight!

I still feel it is almost impossible to get teachers on the same page as me..it is a delicate balance because you want your child to get help but dont want teachers to not have lower expectiations of them either on the days they can do what is expected...I am just so glad Sarah can tell me things now when last year is was like pulling teeth to get her to talk about her day!

Glad it went well.  Hope more teachers are as open and receptive.

Concernedpa.

Glad that she was open for suggestions and that she appreciated all the
infomation. Teachers truely have no idea how hard our kids have worked to
be where they are now. Good for you Shelley for speaking up.

ShellyR... KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK!!! 

This will surely help make Sarah's school life much more enjoyable with the teachers being in the know about her....

As Shelly put it, WE ARE OUR KID's ADVOCATE... We do that here at the start of every school year. I make it a point to see EVERY subject teacher when he/she first steps into the class at the beginning of the academic year. My 8 yr old Daniel is in Grade 2  going Grade 3 next year. More so the class teacher, as she sees him more in the week as she teaches more subjects to the class. When the teachers are "on our side", or at least understand the situation, then it makes it easier to face up to issues if and when they crop up in the year. 

I'm glad the meeting went well.  I know how that "walking on eggshells" feeling, thinking the teacher is going to feel insulted or go on the defensive or think we parents are know-it-alls. 

I try to get the school to schedule a meeting at the end of the school year, with any new teachers my son will have, plus a meeting where my son gets to see his new classroom right before school starts, plus a meeting a couple weeks into school to talk about how the transition went.  Luckily, the school sees the benefit and has always said yes to these meetings.

 

That's wonderful news Shelley, that the meeting went so well and that Sarah is able to tell you what goes on during her day. I'm still working on that with Quinn he doesn't always tell me because he thinks I will get mad at him. I just keep telling him that it's okay to tell me things and that I want to hear about his day.
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