Taking the Lead

I realized just the other day that we have not had a team meeting at my son's school since mid-October, despite the fact that we had planned to meet every other month.

The Learning Support Teacher, who is the lead person on the IEP, is also supposed to review the forms so that emerging issues can be addressed right away. As I looked over the communication forms that have been coming home, I was quickly able to see some patterns that had developed.

The biggest issue is reports of arguing and sometimes being disrespectful, often when things don't go the way he thinks they should or the way he wants them to, i.e. changes in routine, not getting picked for something. It also looks like this comes up when he is having trouble following directions or thinks something is too hard.

These are pretty common responses for him, but what was very interesting is that the bulk of the difficulties were occurring in gym and music, while the notes from art and library were primarily positive.

In looking at the schedule, I found that the OT is at the school on art day and often sees him during that time, and the SLP is at the school on both art and library day. So both of these teachers have received a good amount of support in terms of education about Michael's autism and suggestions of strategies to work with him, while the gym and music teachers have had more limited contact with the other team members.

This morning I spoke with Michael's TSS, who has observed that he really likes both gym and music and that "not following directions" often seems to be more about not wanting to stop what he is doing because he is enjoying it so much. The transitions in both of these classes also require a change in physical activity level, such as sitting down to listen after playing instruments or running around the gym, whereas in art they may be switching from sitting and watching a video about an artist to sitting and drawing a picture.

I asked about whether advance warnings or extra time were being given for transitions (both in the IEP) and if the mini-schedules were not working for him (agreed upon at the last team meeting) and found out that the none of these things were being done in gym class!! And the music teacher does write down the mini schedule on the white board but she puts the board up at the front of the class because it was "too distracting" when he had it with him!!

What is most frustrating is that I have asked and asked that they work with the regular ed teachers so that they feel supported and have a level of confidence about using strategies that work with Michael. After all, most of these teachers will have him in their classes for the next 3-5 years.

I just think it doesn't have to be this hard. Most of these situations could be avoided or quickly defused by understanding why the supports are needed and how they will help. Yes, we need to keep working with Michael on social skills, but we also need to help all the teachers gain the skills they need to be successful in teaching him.

Trish can be found writing here at 5MFSN every Friday in addition to hosting Try This Tuesday. You can also find Trish blogging at Another Piece of the Puzzle and Autism Interrupted.