-Katie-`s poll Show results | Hide results

-Katie- (12 days ago)
Thank you for the advice on my poll about Hunter. We have a meeting set up for the 12th and I am asking for everyone to be there. His teacher, his aide, the principal, the school`s director or special education, the school psychologist, superintendent and I will so be bringing a local parent mentor, his psychology assistant that he sees weekly in counseling and his occupational therapist that he sees weekly. I am fighting this to the end and I want this off of his record!

nutnut (12 days ago)
its excessive. being an aid she should be trained and anticipate issues here and there, and correct them in the school. suspending a 5yr old autistic child isnt going to teach him not to push. my daughter couldnt handle her head being touched for the longest time, so they worked with her on those things. you would think the aid would know her job. anyhow, you should let them know you dont agree with the suspension since there are other ways to correct the issue so that your child will learn from it and maybe not do it again. with that said, they have to meet the needs of your child. they have to make modifications when warranted, and if you dont agree with what they are doing, you have the right to `appeal` it. it just really irks me they didnt work with him on this and choose to just suspend. its seems a bit much. and a chance they just lost to actually teach him a coping skill. i would definatly be at the school with the letter in hand to discuss the matter. other modifications may need to be made in his IEP. talk to the school, request a meeting. good luck!

tto (12.1 days ago)
I teach in a school. And they usually try to match the consequence to the offense. However, given his issues, they need to make sure he understands what he did wrong. I don`t think suspension is appropriate. Maybe in school suspension AT MOST. I don`t think a child understands suspension- it`s a free day at home. You as the parent truly have all the power. If you are being reasonable and still don`t agree with the consequence, keep climbing the ladder: principal, superintendent, board of education. Don`t skip ranks because they will tell you to deal with the one before, before getting involved.

shesxchaotic (12.3 days ago)
Umm holy excessive! My brother is on the autism spectrum and 7 years old. I`ve worked with kids on the spectrum. It`s expected that sometimes it could be physical. I taught gymnastics based fitness classes and we had a class just for kids with autism in it. There were 17 kids in it and 2 teachers. I mean I`d get punched or pushed all the time! That`s when the parent comes in and talks to the child off to the side and then the class resumes. Geez! Suspension!!! Insaneee

brendalee (12.4 days ago)
That is such BS!!! I mean...A) Hes FIVE, B) He has a disorder C) How the hell can a FIVE YEAR OLD `almost` make a grown adult fall over from pushing them? I would def. fight it, that is so stupid.

christinaswar (12.4 days ago)
FIGHT THAT MAMA! I used to be an aide for preschool and kinder children with Autism and have FAR worse done to me than getting pushed!

nuggetlovin (12.5 days ago)
I think it`s crazy!! For one he`s 5, and for 2 he is autistic. It comes with the territory, and even though I do believe he needs to have some consequence, I feel that suspending him is uncalled for. Good luck!

luvbeingamom (12.5 days ago)
I do believe the suspension was a bit excessive. If he has an aid, she should be there to aid and tend to his unique needs, including giving him the space he needs when he is feeling overwhelmed. With that said, most schools now do have a zero tolerance policy and if a special needs child is going to be a part of the general population they need to follow all the same rules. though i think like, far to much in the schools these days, the `zero tolerance` and many other things are there attempt to be PC/fair/whatever tends to be taken to far. i think that is what happened in that case. However, unless you are going to fight the county and change that rule for everyone, i think the punishment is fair in the sense that if any other child did the same thing this would be the punishment.

noliemom08 (12.5 days ago)
Suspension for a 5 year old? He would learn more from the situation with a conversation as to why he shouldn`t push someone. Discipline they are giving him does not seem age appropriate! How close was the aid standing?

xela (12.5 days ago)
suspension is way to harsh, fight it for sure:)

lb71 (12.5 days ago)
My DH & I just talked about this as a what-if scenario, and we both feel that if the aide is not there to help him with behavior issues then what IS she there for? She should have talked to him discreetly about how & why pushing her was not OK, and suggested other ways for him to deal with his discomfort as juels suggests. Does this school have a `no tolerance` policy or something? I`d still give the school the chance to explain the situation and why they felt this was an appropriate response, but from the info you posted, suspension seems way too harsh. The intention of any school should be to TEACH, not to punish; and this sounds like it could have been a teachable moment. Good luck!

RobinG (12.5 days ago)
My son Hunter is autistic and I know how it can happen. I guess what bothers me is that the aid/therapist should have a good understanding of how it can be for ASD children. Is she an aid or does she specialize in AS? If she doesnt specialize in AS I would change that to someone who does. I would also go to the board and argue it. They are probably going by the no tollerance thing all schools do now (did you know that if a child gets punched and the other child defends themself and punches back to stop the attack they too get suspended because any hitting isnt allowed even in 100% self defence?) It is taken over board at times. I would take this chance to educate the principle on his AS too ~ clearly they dont get it. But coming from a mom of an ASD child, many dont and assume it is just bad behavior and often it is more sensory related and has nothing to do with behavior or is behavior escalated to a knew level and ASD driven. I think he should have gotten some form a discipline since he did do it and part of learning to cope is knowing right from wrong and he needs to learn other forms of venting when he feels challanged and cant handle it. (Hunter will stim now instead). If he pushed that hard my guess is he expressed his dislike to her being so close and she didnt respond to his need for more space which set him off and that IMO means she is no less guilty and needs to know her limitations. Children with ASD/AS cant adapt the same as others and while it is important they learn these skills it is also important that those around them are educated and understand when they need to compromise and adapt too to make them more comfortable. If he expressed his concern of her standing so close I see no reason why she couldnt have move some. Stand firm and go to principle. We dont expect our kids to get special treatment for no reasons and just cause but we do expect that in situations that warrant a slight modification they get it, the same as any other child with special needs would get. A warning would have been sufficiant. ((hugs))

brooklyn143 (12.6 days ago)
hes so young still and they know of his situation obviously! but i think it could of been handled almost in the same matter w/out a suspension...a meeting and trying to bring up the rules or accomplish a way that will lessen this happening is fine but im not sure about suspension at 5 years old!

-Katie- (12.9 days ago)
Thank you for the support! I think at 5 it`s just crazy to suspend for pushing let alone a child that has obvious and well known social issues. Thank you again.

juels101 (12.9 days ago)
No kid should push... But can`t you just say, `pushing isn`t polite, use your words.` instead rather than suspending him!!? That is pretty overboard for something sooo minor, I would certainly bring it up!

Holly28 (12.9 days ago)
That is absurd!!! None of the children I have worked with would ever have this happen in this situation. If he was older and had more awareness of his actions than maybe but at his age and level NEVER! Fight it girl, fight it!!!



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