Honeybunches orientation at the middle school went okay, although he was
very overstimulated and anxious. First, they all went into the larger
auditorium for a presentation where they met some teachers and learned a
bit about the school. He was overstimulated and anxious. He would not
stop biting his fingers. He sat back away from the other children,
which is where he wanted to be. After that, we went to a regular 7th
grade class which I didn't even understand him going to, but that's how
they did it. "When is lunch time" is a question he asked several times.
He spent most of the time staring at posters on the wall. He's used to
having morning snack, which they don't even really do there (Although
certain teachers accommodate). His belly is used to having one. Lunch is
early though, at 10:40. At lunch, he went up with me, got his tray and
food. Then he chose to sit at a table all alone with just us. When he
was done eating, he was a bit confused about the process to clear the
trays so I asked staff to clarify things again for him. Then we went to
sit back down for a minute or two before he decided it was "Too many
kids... Too many kids... Too Too many kids". I took him out in the
hallway. I can see lunch becoming an issue. It's more than just his
current elementary school that feed into the middle school. Two other
towns schools do as well which makes it more overstimulating. From
there, we went to the class where he'll have reading and math. He did
okay in there. Besides finding the sign out sheet interesting and
fiddling with the door, he conversed with one of the teachers which was
awesome. He refused to sit and stood up the whole time looking around
the class. Then we went to Mrs. C's room, who will be his teacher next
year. We learned that a boy J who used to try to be his friend that was
in his 3-4th grade class will be in Mrs. C's too. (Although I remember
them feeding off eachother's behaviors a bit too and J riling
Honeybunches up.) She'll have 4-5 7th graders she said. He enjoyed
playing with some play money he found on a desk. He organized it all
with J. From there, I took him to meet the nurse since he'll be seeing
her every day to take his noontime med. Then his current teacher said I
could bring him home, since they were going to another assembly in an
even smaller auditorium. We both figured that would be too much for him,
especially since he just barely handled the one this morning in a
larger one. The school was hot, with no air conditioning. Ugh. I told
Honeybunches we'd come up with a plan for lunch. I might have him try
it for the 1st week-and-a-half since we have his yearly review in the
2nd week of school. I told him, if he can't handle it he can go tell the
Dean or the pastor at the church next to our house who is also a
neighbor a few houses down and who works at the school doing various
jobs including recess duty that "It's too many kids" and they'd help him
come up with ideas. Although overstimulated and anxious, he did a good
job controlling his body and using his words. Oh yeah, we'll have to
find him another coping skill to use when he's anxious. He bites his
nails and fingers bloody sometimes, so at his current school the teacher
gives him chewing gum. There's no gum allowed at the middle school.
I emailed the SpEd Director and IEP Chairperson. This is some of what I wrote:
"... Orientation went okay today. He seemed very anxious and overstimulated, but did a good job using his words. In the auditorium this morning, he chose to sit behind all the other children and not with them. I want to make sure this is an option for the 1st day of school assembly (And future mandatory assemblies) if that's what he chooses to do. Honestly, I don't think he gets much out of those type of assemblies. He spent much of the time biting his fingers (Anxiety), looking at the floor and closing his eyes a bit (Not tired, trying to zone out from the world, which sometimes happens when he is overstimulated). For important pieces of information, it would be best if he could have things presented to him in a much smaller group instead. Speaking of anxiety, when he begins chewing his fingers, Mr. M has let him have chewing gum. I learned today that chewing gum is not allowed at (Middle School). We'll have to find something else for him to do when anxious so he does not chew his fingers bloody.
A bigger concern I have is lunch time. He went up through the line, got his tray and picked a table alone to sit at. He tolerated it for a few minutes, but then when he was done eating he said it was "Too many kids... Too too many kids..." I took him out into the hall. Lunch accommodations is something we might want to consider as we see how things go in the first couple weeks of school. I told him until we come up with another plan, he could go tell (Dean) or (Lunch worker, who is also a neighbor and a pastor at the church next to our house) that it's too noisy or too many kids and they could help him come up with ideas. Even if he seems to tolerate lunch okay, if his afternoons get rough it may be from overstimulation at lunch time. I guess we will just wait and see, but I wanted you aware that's an area he may need additional accommodations thought about. I know the difference, where today's lunch was 40 minutes and on regular days it will only be 20-something minutes. With it being a shorter time, maybe he'd be able to tolerate it better. It took him a long time to be able to tolerate lunches at (Elementary School). At (Middle School) it's even more children from the other elementary schools. Even with there being a lot of room in the cafeteria, it seemed to be too overstimulating for him.
Changing for gym is another concern. He can change and dress himself, but sometimes needs help getting his shoes back on or at minimum tying them. Are shoes that tie mandatory? I am wondering if sneakers with those elastic stretch lasces that do not tie like these:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kiwi-No-Tie-Curly-Shoelaces-White/25289317
or something like these would be acceptable:
http://www.locklaces.com/lock-laces/
I am glad that we have his annual review in the beginning of September.
That'll be a good time to discuss these and any other concerns that may
come up.
As for the last scheduled visit to (Middle School), if we did
plan another one (Which he's interested in doing), I think he might be
more focused in the morning. With the previous tours, he voiced to me
that he liked them because he could come home early. I think that he
rushed through things and was more focused on getting to come home early
than he was on things happening at (Middle School). I think if we planned a trip
earlier in the day if possible and had him go to (Elementary School) when it was
done then he may be more focused. I don't know if that would mess up
his day at (Elementary School) though.
I hope that in planning his UAs and
Gym/Health classes, you'll place him in the smallest groups possible.
Also for UAs please keep his getting overstimulated and sensory needs in
mind. (For example, noisy classes such as band and music would not be
good options for him.)
I thought I'd update with these concerns that presented today.
Thanks,
------
PS: Next year I'm going on a mission to find a way to get more middle
and high school parent's involved with the SEPAC. I am thinking maybe we
could have a poster and table with pamphlets I could make set up at
Parent's Night. There has to be other ways to get the word out to those
parents too, which I hope we can work as a team to find."
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