He has responded very positively to the idea of having a safe person to talk with if there is a problem and I am going to talk with the charter school about it on Monday.
An idea, in case it may help: You may wish to think of a model conversation for the "safe person" to engage in with your son. In other words, what are your expectations... what works well with your son... what might the safe person use as a guide...?
- Would an ideal be just listening?
- Possibly active listening, in which the listener may re-phrase what they heard into questions, seeking clarification, affirming, and presenting other possible viewpoints/interpretations?
- Possibly helping introduce words regarding emotions, strength of emotions across a continuum, shades of meaning?
- Possibly suggest viable courses of action your son may take when presented with a similar situation in the future?
- Possibly help him remove emotion from his descriptions and describe a situation factually and impartially?
It seems there needs to be coaching or guidance toward a desired positive outcome... learning support of a life skill in communicating (with intensity
), so the meetings are more than negative rant, and provide a sense of moving forward.
Logistically, how would safe-person meetings work? For example, how would your son notify the teacher he is leaving the classroom or group for an approved "conference" or meeting with the safe person? Is a backup person needed in the event the safe person is unavailable? Would you like a report when he has had a meeting? Etc.
