He's actually decided to leave twice, that we know of. They are claiming it didn't happen, or that they don't remember it happening late last year, and they're blaming the after-school programme staff for the recent one despite the fact the programme staff found him/knew he was missing, and they... didn't.
I've decided to avoid the word "wandering" from now on. At the recent IEP meeting they said that he's not wandering around staring off into space at recess, he's playing, sometimes with other kids even. I said, no, I mean like that time he was looking for his after school programme and no-one knew where he was, or the time he walked himself home because he didn't recognize/notice his babysitter and didn't really care. And they kinda just looked at me blankly and said "But he's not wandering."
The definition of 'wandering' issue was bugging me last night, your comment about avoiding the word "Bored," and the general sense I've been having that they're reading for keywords rather than meaning... Yeah. I'm getting some ideas on how to proceed here.
The school is definitely complaining to us that our son does not 'deserve' resources others need more... yesterday she told me "you must feel so grateful you're not dealing with the kind of things other parents with autistic kids do." Which I found a bit... distasteful.
My gut is that they don't know HOW to do this and the principle is setting up roadblocks which makes it even harder. When the VP suggested a "safety plan," the principle shut it down, saying those are for kids who wander OFTEN. Uh... erm... uh...
Since the ONLY accommodations we are seeking are active confirmation of all staff hand-offs and washroom reminders... I feel like we're really just not taking that much away from others...
I'm trying not to feel it... but it *feels* like the principle simply dislikes us & shuts down every possibility.
And you're 100% correct. It's right to teach him to pay attention to context, and to choose the right form of an answer... It really is just a general expression of frustration.... What bugs me most is she clearly didn't clue in that 2 squared = 2+2. She didn't tell him to change the form of his answer, she told him he was wrong. And she told me he's a show-off and she's trying to correct that... by shutting him down when he's ahead. And she's told me 100 times how "average" he is, academically, and is trying REALLY hard to frame all accommodations as accommodations for low intelligence/learning disability. She admits he's "Smart," but she uses the word with a colour more like "Smart-ass," or "obnoxious," she uses it in the same sentence as saying he's academically average (but knows more math than she does).
Ok, now I'm just venting. I feel like I kinda need to vent, though... just... ignore those bits...
-Mich.
