Are Children with Autism Singled Out?

This is a follow-up to an incident that occurred at my child’s school a week ago.

What was the incident?

In a nutshell…

My son attempted to charge his phone during a non-designed time in a math testing room. He was about to take a math test, and the co-teacher told him he could not plug in his phone.

My son protested and got surly.

But, then he complied. He put away his phone and began to take his math test.

In the middle of taking his test, the co-teacher interrupted him by handing him a referral warning. The co-teacher ordered by son to stop his test and take his warning to the office.

My son refused to go. He did not understand what was happening to him. He was in the middle of taking his math test, and that “other thing” was over (in his head, anyway).

My son had a meltdown. Getting security was discussed.

My son finally complied and went to the office. He talked with his counselor.

Later that day, he apologized to the head math teacher. He wanted to apologize to the co-teacher but couldn’t find him.

What’s the follow up?

Well, the assistant principal wanted to have a meeting so all of us (minus my son) could sit down and discuss what happened. It was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

My son did fine over the weekend, however, he did mention that he felt an adult had overstepped his “adulting.”

We believed the same thing.

On Tuesday, we got a phone call from the assistant principal. It was a “follow up/just checking in with you” phone call. Really, it was a “we don’t want to move forward on this meeting” phone call.

Why not

The “incident” was a “one out,” would not be on our son’s record, and Friday was “one of those days.” It was all over. All of us had the weekend to “settle down.”

What did he really want to say?

That he didn’t say?

In OUR OPINION, the meeting was being cancelled because, well, the teacher made a very poor decision.

Our son had a meltdown because of this poor decision.

AND, I also found out during this phone call that this co-teacher…Is a special education teacher!

Wow! That piece of information was very intriguing.

So, it was a special education teacher whose decision it was to hand my son the referral notice during the middle of taking his test?

A child with autism?

One with an IEP that states, “…has an obsession with charging his phone?”

And, this teacher was in our son’s IEP!

Yes, he was properly enforcing the IEP when he asked our son to put his phone away. But, the reaction he got initially was NOT typical. It was a reaction from a child with autism. A child who obsesses on the battery life of his phone.

His reaction to the teacher was not okay. We are hoping as parents that those types of reactions someday go away forever.

But, a second mistake was made that day by a professional, not by the fifteen-year-old.

And, we believe the school knew it, and DIDN’T want to be confronted by it.

What happened?

My husband and I agreed to cancel the meeting.

However, I had to say my peace to the assistant principal before agreeing to cancel. “The parents of ….believe that this meltdown was provoked by the co-teacher. He should not have interrupted our son, and (turns out) he should have known better. This co-teacher overreacted and did not handle situation well.”

The assistant principal said he agreed. He probably didn’t one hundred percent agree, but he (sort of) had to. He knew the co-teacher made a mistake and they did want it to go away.

So, hopefully, it goes away. Forever.

Are there any changes?

Yes. We have informed the school that our son must go the school testing room for all of his tests, and not to a co-teacher’s room. Sorry, but that didn’t work out too well for our son.

Are Children with Autism Singled Out? – Part Two

kimkaplan

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