Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Boy, another Update.

We had the meeting with The Boy's school about his kindergarten class room. At this point he will be going to the LRC or Learning Resource Center. There are more adults in that class room, so when a child needs one on one attention they are more likely to be able to get it. It will also be easier for the OT, if there is one involved with him, to visit him in class. It seems to be noise that is his biggest problem right now, so fewer students will also cut down on potential noise in the class room. We do know and understand that even a small number of kids can make huge amounts of noise, so it isn't perfect but probably the best we can do and still keep him in a classroom with other kids. (The Boy wants to GO to school, he wants to be with other kids, and riding the bus is one of his favorite things.)

The OT will be seeing him soon, they want it taken care of before school is out so he can start with everything in place. We are still thinking that he has SID/SPD (Sensory Integration Disorder/Sensory Processing Disorder) mainly because of the problems he has with sounds. He did make a big step forward yesterday, however. We decided to cut his hair, usually this causes screaming and thrashing unless we cut it when he was sleeping. Yesterday he did say that he didn't want his hair cut, but then he sat fairly still and didn't cry or anything until the very last. He said that "It's getting to be too much!" and covered his ears. We quickly finished and talked to him. Thank goodness he is more able to explain what is happening to him! He said that he could "hold it" for a little while, but that the sound and vibration got to be too much. (We were using clippers, scissors are a problem too and take longer.) He says that it's kind of like it hurts, but not really. It's almost scary, but not really. It's just "Too much".

Now we need to focus on finding ways for him to work around the problems he is having. How to walk away when it's getting to be too much. How NOT to hit when someone hurts him, or pushes things too far. It won't be easy, so much of the play I've observed with the boys in the class is rough, loud, and intentionally rude both physically and verbally. It doesn't take long for things to get to be too much. We have to figure out how to modify The Boy's reaction, to these kinds of things. To everyone around him it appears that he is over reacting, to him he's taken all he can and he has to do something to make it stop. Lashing out will usually do that, where talking or asking them to stop won't. He doesn't want to go tell the Teacher, because he doesn't think that's right. There isn't any place he can go to get away either.

Most of the boys he is having problems with also hit, and push. They step on each others toes, and lay down on top of each other. They push and lean on each other, put their legs or arms on each other and other children, The Boy does these some of things too, because he thinks it's fun, because the other boys think it's fun. He leans against other children, he puts his arms or legs on other children. He does these things at the wrong times, with the wrong children, and since he isn't the bully type that some of the others are, he gets a loud reaction that gets the teachers attention and gets him in trouble.

I hate to say anything negative about The Boy's Teacher and her assistants. They are good people and are doing as well as they can, I think. However there are things they should be doing differently, not just to keep The Boy out of trouble, but to keep other kids from getting in trouble as well. The problems happen mostly during free play. During that time, there are usually 2 adults watching the 18 or so kids. One of them might be reading or doing an art project with a few kids, the other will be involved with a few more playing or reading or something. Leaving several children basically unsupervised. Needless to say it's usually the 3 or 4 boys who like to play rough with each other and with others who are left to their own devices. These boys push and hit and trip each other. They are often the ones that The Boy has hit, usually because they hit him first. I just think that one of the official adults should be watching the whole class in general, observing what is happening, and stopping the rough behavior before someone gets hurt. I did mention it at a meeting with the Home Educator, who said he would suggest it to them, however I have been in the class room and nothing has changed. Oh well, there are only a few days, about 22 including weekends and holidays, left until school is out for the summer. I hope his Kindergarten class room will work better for him

No comments: