A Good First Impression

It went really well. She actually specializes in children with autism. There is a nonverbal child with autism in his class. She talked about not fitting the kids into the class, but fitting the class to the kids. She talked about nurturing their special abilities and catching them up with anything they are behind on, but letting them take the lead. Her class room is very structured, but there is free time. She's prepared for children like Jamie who might get over stimulated. She has a large trash can (that's never been used for trash of course) that is wrapped in carpet for children who might need a few minutes in some small space to calm themselves. She has a corner that's just for children to get away if they are over stimulated. It has a swing for kids that might need to rock to calm down. There is a big cushioned chair for children that need to be separated for any reason. It's kind of like a time out chair, but it's not a punishment. For example, if a child were acting up during an activity, she would allow the child to sit in the chair until he/she is ready to participate. She says children are never left in the chair for more than three minutes. It really sounds as if he's in the best possible classroom for his needs.

The bus has child safety seats with 5 point harnesses. I told her that I was concerned about his height and weight. Some of you may know that we had a very difficult time finding a car seat to accommodate him. She assured me that they had seats that would adjust to any child. On top of the driver there are 2 aides on the bus.

I can visit the school any time I want, announced or unannounced. I can bring treats if I want. I can join him for lunch or spend the whole day. She said that the only time she would suggest to parent that they should not visit was if the child wasn't coping with the parent visiting very well. Then she would discuss this with the parent. Usually, this is a temporary problem and that when the child is well acclimated to the class would no longer be an issue.

She said she would give me his class schedule. I would know what he did every day. There's a folder that goes back and forth to home and school called the communication folder. In that she will keep me updated on him and that I can do the same. She said it's even for the smallest things, like if he didn't sleep well the night before I can leave a note so that the teacher will know what's going on if he's especially cranky that day.

She came in and gave him two books. One of them was a Curious George book. He had a different one and when he saw it he had to run and get his to show her. He started pulling lots of books. That definitely got them off to the right start. She had some paperwork I needed to fill out and we had Jamie play on the computer while we handled the paperwork part of the visit and she answered my questions. Then she took pictures of Jamie and a few of us as a family for his record. Then she sat in the floor and read books with him and I got some pics and a little mpeg video of the two of them together. I was really impressed with their rapport. It's a little unusual for Jamie to develop a quick rapport like that. I'm very pleased.

This week Matthew is on vacation and we'll be driving Jamie to school. He will start riding the bus on Monday.