Thursday, April 20, 2006
The School System
I approached my next door neighbour who happened to be the special ed teacher at the elementary school and asked her how I could get help for my boys.
Their behaviours were getting extreme.
They wouldn't be bathed.
Changing and washing them was a battle that I had come to dread.
They would kick and bite and slap.
They did like water if it came from the hose outside and we bought a paddling pool and set it up for them.
I took to taking shampoo outside and putting it on their heads, rubbing it when they got close enough to me and letting the sprinkler wash it off.
You tend to become quite creative when you need to.
My neighbour put me in touch with West River who deals with setting up special ed programs.
They put us under the care of the speech therapist at the school.
She had had very limited exposure to Autistic children.
The boys would not sit in a chair and a weighted sandbag was used to hold them in place for a couple of minutes at a time.
Nathan, the oldest, would scream at regular intervals.
The principal said that he didn't even have to come down the hall to see if the boys were there, he would just listen.
They were assigned a para educator each.
They would go to the school for a couple of hours at a time.
Meetings were frequent.
Nothing much of what I said was taken into regard.
They decided that they would make a classroom out of a little changing room by the stage.
It had no windows, but, they informed me that no distractive influences were better for the children.
It was at this time that my sons became known as the boys in the cupboard that screamed.
I would finish work, drive home and attend meetings.
I was becoming frustrated that they ignored any suggestions that I had.
I was grateful that I was getting some help though so, and I thought that maybe they knew better than me how to help my boys.
Finally, I changed my job and moved to a closer location.
It was still 70 miles away, but, it meant that I could come home daily and keep a closer eye on what was going on.
My fourth child had been born.
Another girl.
Throughout all this, my husband had refused to acknowledge that the boys had Autism which made it difficult to obtain help.
He was reluctant to bring in outsiders to assist us.
I started researching even more as I knew there had to be a better way.
I called neurologists all over this country and in others who assured me there was no cure for Autism.
So, I decided to go holistic.
Their behaviours were getting extreme.
They wouldn't be bathed.
Changing and washing them was a battle that I had come to dread.
They would kick and bite and slap.
They did like water if it came from the hose outside and we bought a paddling pool and set it up for them.
I took to taking shampoo outside and putting it on their heads, rubbing it when they got close enough to me and letting the sprinkler wash it off.
You tend to become quite creative when you need to.
My neighbour put me in touch with West River who deals with setting up special ed programs.
They put us under the care of the speech therapist at the school.
She had had very limited exposure to Autistic children.
The boys would not sit in a chair and a weighted sandbag was used to hold them in place for a couple of minutes at a time.
Nathan, the oldest, would scream at regular intervals.
The principal said that he didn't even have to come down the hall to see if the boys were there, he would just listen.
They were assigned a para educator each.
They would go to the school for a couple of hours at a time.
Meetings were frequent.
Nothing much of what I said was taken into regard.
They decided that they would make a classroom out of a little changing room by the stage.
It had no windows, but, they informed me that no distractive influences were better for the children.
It was at this time that my sons became known as the boys in the cupboard that screamed.
I would finish work, drive home and attend meetings.
I was becoming frustrated that they ignored any suggestions that I had.
I was grateful that I was getting some help though so, and I thought that maybe they knew better than me how to help my boys.
Finally, I changed my job and moved to a closer location.
It was still 70 miles away, but, it meant that I could come home daily and keep a closer eye on what was going on.
My fourth child had been born.
Another girl.
Throughout all this, my husband had refused to acknowledge that the boys had Autism which made it difficult to obtain help.
He was reluctant to bring in outsiders to assist us.
I started researching even more as I knew there had to be a better way.
I called neurologists all over this country and in others who assured me there was no cure for Autism.
So, I decided to go holistic.
# posted by donna mason @ 4:57 AM 
