Unassisted in Hallwaysindependently but follow along 1/2 way back, chatting with other students casually. That way, my student was in view at all times but I was esentailly invisible to him. He felt independent and I felt comfortable knowing he was OK. It worked for us. This school has no security and anyone can walk in at any given time. The entrance door is about 200-300 feet away from the cafeteria. In this Swedish school they believe 'nothing will happen' but how can they be so certain?? Potential for distractions (will the child actually make it to the room or end up somewhere else, will the child become confused as there's so much audio/visual input from the environment), impulsivity (look, there's Mark, I'll go visit, etc.), safety (is the child prone to running if she begins to feel overwhelmed), bullying, etc., etc. Independence. We pushed for that with every student I worked with in the elementary autism program I used to teach in. We worked on fading out adult presence by paring our less independent students with another student from their class. Working on building in more natural supports like these throughout student's days is a huge step towards helping them to gain independence and in some cases, learn how to problem solve. I'd say I'd ask that my kid get transitional help until he knows the way and has a script who/how he could ask for help if he got lost . If he is a visual kid you could ask that he gets to take a map of the buiding along -my ds loved using those. But eventually I would want my kid to have that bit of independence. My son had a full time 1:1 last year and it decreased his independence and self help skills and really inhibited connecting with peers. In fact if he was anywhere without his aide kids would panic and call for adults - it seemed like they had gotten the message that my ds needs someone right there or terrible things would happen. I can't say that I thought that was helpful for him or his self-image. This year he has 1:1 as needed and he gets to be in the hallways by himself. He now does those things by himself and he feels pretty good about himself for it. If a problem comes up he will find someone to ask (or just stand there and scream till a teacher finds him:)). School seems to me to be one of the safer places practising independence. Hi, Can anyone give me some reasons why it would not be a good idea for a higher functioning child of age 7 to walk from the cafeteria past a hallway intersection, passed 5 classrooms and through 2 doors to go to her own classroom and put her clothes to go out to recess? All without help? I was thinking... what if the fire alarm goes off. Can anyone else give me any ideas that might be glaring? I think an aide should be present at this time of the day for my child. Thousand Thanks!
Wow, my oldest has a student who helps him in the halls etc. Are you in Sweden? I'm in Norway. Here it was no problem to get my kids an assistant. I would guess that your child walking out of the school would be more likely than someone walking into the school, but even so, if she's very trusting of strangers it is a valid point. Also, does your child understand traffic rules? Has your child ever wandered off? Injured other children? Sometimes it takes that kind of incident for the school to see the need for preventative measures. Panicking at the sound of a fire alarm would be of concern. Any sign of that during fire drills? Any problems with buttons and zippers that she would need assistance for? An ergotherapist could give you proof, if that would help your case. Good luck.
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