Hi ladies
I have a son who has asd among other diagnoses. We have always had problems with school as he can be very violent. He doesn’t have an intellectual disability so can not attend a special school. He homeschooled for 3 terms of last year as it just got to hard with the amount of people his actions effect and the effect on him. He did well and his behaviour changed but he was lonely and needed more interactions. We sent him back this year we live in a small town and have only been here a bit over a year. first term things we’re pretty good we didn’t have to many issues but this term is a different story and children and teachers are getting hurt quiet a bit. I’m just at a loss as to what to do. I can’t keep sending him and seeing teachers emotional or kids frightened but I want my son to have an education. Just advice of anyone who has been in this position and what you may have done ect.
Child’s behaviour at school
Child’s behaviour at school
Posted in:
Education
9 Replies
We did a combination of school and home based learning. He went to school until morning tea. Then I picked him up at recess with some school work to do at home. Behaviour incidents went way down and he got some social interactions etc.
But to be honest small towns suck for our kids. There just isn’t the services, and choice we have in the city. If my son missed school he could access other social events.
I’d also reconsider total homeschool as the better option with social interactions being in extra curricular activities such as scouts. Interactions are shorter and so less likely for things to go off the rails.
He was going shorter times last term but felt like he was missing out and wanted to be there more so we have been increasing his hours. He went well first term but not this term. Definitely hard in a small town small school and word gets around to which doesn’t help him.
As an #actuallyautistic adult, I would suggest finding out what his triggers are and why he's acting out like this. He's not being violent because he's a bad kid, it sounds like the environment is overwhelming for him and he reacts by lashing out. What accommodations do they have in place for him? Is he allowed sensory breaks and time to process transitions? Extra time to complete his work? Or is he just neurotypical-passing enough that they forget that his brain processes information differently to others and they expect him to keep up?
He needs an IEP, accommodations for the areas he is struggling with and support throughout the day.
I would suggest seeking the advice of other Autistic adults. An excellent group on Facebook is Autism Inclusivity which is a group for parents to ask advice of Autistic Adults to assist their children. You are right, your son deserves an education but he also deserves the support he requires to manage the areas where he needs assistance.
The school are trying really hard to be accommodating and he has funding for an aid. He can react quiet bad to things u may not even see as an issue but I definitely know it’s a build up and over load then a small thing will be seen to set him off but it’s a build up of more than that. He’s definitely not a bad kid his a lovely boy and so kind but his emotions get the better of him. While the school is doing so much I wonder if being a small school they r not equip to cope as well.
You're exactly right - these meltdowns aren't because of one small thing but a build up of a bunch of small things and he manages to keep it together until he has that one thing that overloads him and he loses it. Getting a handle on what he really struggles with and easing those burdens will help a lot.
This is why he has an aid. They remove him and work through the small things before ut gets to a buildup.
Sure some kids can go off in the 2 minutes the aid isnt looking, but with behaviours this frequent there needs to be a plan in place.
Some children are shadowed their entire day. Lunch at the unit, play in a small space led by a teacher, walked back to class, supported in class.
The aide only works till lunch time and is only funded for 15hrs so this makes it tricky sometimes it’s once they have gone home. At his old school was bigger and had funds to have someone with him all day even outside. Current school are doing supported lunch/recess tho.
Thats good. So hes got help and that part of the day goes well and you can see where it goes wrong. The school can come up with a plan for him to be able to stay in class for that time, thats what the support teachers role is.
If he has an aide for 15 hours a week I would shorten the hours again to fit in with the aides hours. 3 hours a day. At this stage behaviour is priority, he won't learn anything anyway until his behaviour is under control. Ask the school to come up with an intensive plan to help.