Turns out that the district rep's carefully worded statement to me did not actually mean Leelo could not go to school, but rather that his current classroom situation is untenable due to his behavioral issues and that we need to come up with both short term and long term solutions. The rep had mentioned to me that "some parents do choose to do home study," which, since I so desperately want Leelo out of that class, took to mean he was supposed to stay home. I should have asked more pointedly for clarification, I guess, but I have a hard time doing so when I'm trying not to let the person on the other end of the line know that I'm crying like a pussy. I wish I wasn't such a suck and a blabbermouth, but really do appreciate all the support you've expressed.
And we should all still be aghast, because it turns out that Leelo is beating on his aide to the point where she is bruised and the district is providing he with "protective gear." Since Leelo does not behave that way at home with me or with Therapists L or Y, the only logical conclusion is that his classroom environment is completely inappropriate and is driving him fucking nuts.
Leelo's aggression towards his aide is what upsets me the most. Even though she was the one who sought intervention from the district, she really does care about Leelo; she specifically does not want to be reassigned, and she does want to learn how best to support Leelo in the class. She has the innate skills and talent to succeed, were she and Leelo in a more suitable environment. But I don't see how can she succeed with Leelo in that class, with that teacher. And I still don't understand how Leelo's classroom behavior could have reached that crisis point without me being aware of it.
Short term solution: Leelo's going back to school tomorrow with lots of extra staff support, and then we have an IEP on Tuesday. During which we intend to agitate for a different placement. And to which we hope to bring an advocate. Signora Blog has kindly volunteered to do "IEP Homework" with me tomorrow night so that I can pull out the big guns should we need to do so. I hope we don't need to do so.
My preoccupation with Leelo's predicament was temporarily shunted aside by a wonderful distraction: a hot date with Seymour to see Gilberto Gil in concert. My soul was purified and set at ease, especially when Mr. Gil invoked the spirit of Bob Marley and his Three Little Birds.
Then I got home to an email from Iz's teacher saying that Iz had two serious behavioral incidents at school today. In both the morning and the afternoon, she got pissed off at students who were merely sitting where she wanted to sit. In both cases she harassed the students, both verbally and physically (pushing and/or pulling them), and refused to let it go or stop harassing the students during and after staff intervention. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. This is a big WTF.
Iz is having a rough time at home, as Leelo currently stalks and attacks her whenever he gets the chance, despite our best efforts to keep them separate. But this is not an excuse, because her behavior is not excusable. I need to talk to her, and to Seymour about her, as this kind of behavior could lead to serious, documentable social and disciplinary problems. We don't need any more of those in this family.
Technorati Tags: autism, autistic, blabbermouths, IEP, Iz, Leelo, parenting, special education, third grade
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.