Autism is not addressed enough in communities and the awareness of kids with autism is not where it should be. Public schools are not equipped to Handel kids on the spectrum that's why most of them are not in public schools and the ones that have a billion different hoops to jump through to make sure their kids are taken care of and getting the education they deserve. Let me give you an example. If a child is on the spectrum and has a meltdown at school the first thing that happens is the removal of all the students from the classroom for their safety, then another teacher is pulled out of class to watch all the students from the hot zone will call it. The teacher contacts principal and special ed teacher and any therapist needed to de-escalate the situation.  Once the child has been removed from the classroom and taken to a calm zone then they get the kids back in the classroom and get an all clear. The problem is as a mother you have just taught my child that if he gets mad its ok and he can move an entire classroom outside so he can act like a volcano.  You're also telling neuro typical kids that this person is dangerous. So now you made other kids want to isolate from our kids 100% of the time. Knowing Triggers in kids with ASD IS IMPORTANT!! This means that school systems need to change. Assult!  That's what she was yelling when I picked my triggered son up from school!  he is 9. please calm down.

 

More and More kids are being diagnosed with ASD. Why is this? We don’t yet know. What we do know is that schools are not prepared for these kids.  One outburst which was triggered by a teacher can cause a volcanic reaction in a child with ASD. Parents, teachers, and staff need to be trained to handle kids. ASD Triggers is one way to know a child and how to de fuse them. Medications are only a part of what helps my son. This year he is in 4^th grade and with the support of an entire team he has in place at school it has been his best year this far. It has been trial and error as well as training on the part of the school to handle my kids. My son's day starts at 630am, he wakes up has breakfast and tried not to talk to his sister who's a trigger. followed by taking a morning pill and getting dressed for school. he gets there at 5 to 8am. He waits in the office for his team member to come in and they hang out before he heads to class. once in his regular classroom he is there for about 1 1/2 hrs. then he has his therapies. At the start of the year, he was at school until 11:40 pm. Now he is there until 1pm. Working up to a full day. The sounds are a trigger, and he is supposed to wear his headphones but is self-conscious and is trying not to use them as much. So, the supports he has start at the entrance to the school. He also has supports throughout the day and without supports he would not make it on his own at a regular school. He gets to over stimulated. He even has friends in the office that know who and how he is. They are aware of triggers and how to defuse him.

 

Last year I decided to pull him out of school after an incident involving a professional and my then 9-year-old escalated due to what was said and how he understood it to mean. Taking him out and homeschooling helped develop his attitude and understanding of idioms and sarcastic speaking that many adults use as common language today. I encourage trash talking which we call poop talk so that my kids start to understand that people don’t mean what they say. Example: ITS RAINING CATS AND DOGS. To a kid on spectrum will take it very literal. The world will not change for our kids and that’s why we need to be the ones teaching them this type of language.

 

Some people in the circle you create for them will be people that you may have all their elementary school but what happens when they are in middle school? Will they have the same type of community to help? Maybe. You as the parents must make sure to plan that for them. You can’t just think because one school was awesome that they all are. Let’s face it there are still going to be bullish teachers and people in general that will not change. That’s fine but you don’t have to accept that either. Always talk to the teacher first. If things don’t change and get better than it’s time to change classrooms. If that doesn’t work then request a meeting with IEP coordinator and staff and get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Sometimes as parents with must get just as uncomfortable as our kids are so we can make a difference in their lives. We are not always going to be around, and my hope is that before my time my kids can stand up for each other and are able to function in society as good human beings.

All this is an opinion piece and my thoughts on the school system we are in. This is what it has come to for us. Not all will agree. That’s ok. Just one thought of what happened in my world.

 

DONT QUIT!!! YOU GOT THIS!!!Thank you for listening. Take care of yourself. Breath…were all doing the best we can as parents.

 

Anne Goehler