Christian got hurt at school again!

[minkydog]

I'm not sure what's going on. Two weeks ago Christian darted out in front of a swing(occupied) which clocked him and threw him hard to the ground. That resulted in a sprained& bruised hip and badly sprained knee. He spent 5 days in a wheelchair.

Yesterday we got a call from the sped teacher--Christian fell again. Walking, lost his balance and careened right into the white board, face first. This happened FAST right in front of the teacher, 2 para-pros, a speech therapist and an RN. They treated him with ice--no serious cuts or altered consciousness. He's handling it well. I guess the black eye gives him street cred.

Today the teacher commented that they really need an extra aide in the classroom. She feels very badly that Christian has gotten hurt twice in the last month. I don't have any feelings that there is neglect going on. But I agree with them, he probably needs someone dedicated to assisting him. He is a very active young man with no understanding of danger or his own safety.

Christian is a strapping, tall severely mentally handicapped/autistic 14yo. He takes a lot of seizure medicine and it lately has made him off-balance and drowsy. He's routinely taking a 1-2hr nap at school (*at 14!) We tried backing off one of his meds, which threw him into the Grandaddy of all Seizures. So changing the meds isn't an option. Christian is going through a growth spurt right now--he has grown at least 4 inches since April and he is now as tall as DH (which is a lot taller than me!) I'm thinking that his rapid growth may be a factor as well.

I'm not sure what we need to do. My gut is telling me that we might need to call an IEP meeting to address his safety needs. I think the teacher is going to talk to the admins, but I sense that we probably need to do that as well. With cut-backs in everything, I don't know how they're going to get additional help in there. I mean, they already have 4 people in there all the time, taking care of 6 kids. Christian is BY FAR the most active.

 

[LJC1861]

If it were me, I would call an IEP meeting ASAP. Even if they cannot put another aide in the classroom, the meeting will draw attention to your concerns and they can possibly re-structure the aides that they already have so one can be dedicated to Christian.

I am an administrator in a group home and I work with teenagers with severe autism and behavioral challenges. We have a great staff to resident ratio and there are times when we need to look at how are staff are working with our kids to give one of them more one on one attention.

I hope that Christian, and you can get the help that you need to keep him safe at school.

Linda

 

[littleteapot]

I'm just curious how would more staff have prevented these problems. I assume you want him to have the freedom to move around.

I don't know how having another aide would prevent him from stumbling in the classroom or getting knocked over on the playground unless the staff member's job was to keep him confined.

 

[LJC1861]

We often keep a staff member within arms reach if we know that there could be some stumbling/falling/bruising issues not to restrict the child, but to assist if necessary to prevent injury. We find that it is "best practice" provide this type of assistance to avoid more complicated situations. For example, we have one young lady who has a seizure disorder and when she has a seizure of a certain length she receives a prn medication that could make her wobbly on her feet for awhile. When she receives this medication one of our staff members stays within arms reach just to be there if she needs help. She is still able to do anything that she is able to do, and her movements are not restricted in any way....she just has a "buddy" for awhile.

Linda

 

[golfgal]

It is not uncommon for 14 year olds to be clumsy-especially if they have grown a lot lately. Walk around any 8th grade class and watch the boys trip over their own feet on a regular basis. Add this to Christian's meds or whatever and I think you are going to find this a fairly common occurrence. I think the IEP change is probably a good idea, at least for a while.

It wouldn't hurt to get his ears checked, just in case he has some fluid in his ears-allergy season and all.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I feel bad that your boy keeps getting hurt. Poor kid!

It can't hurt to have a meeting to discuss the possibility of a private aide, but I hate to say that in our districts, they're trying very hard to eliminate private aides because of the cost. Simply put, times are hard, and most districts are under a lot of pressure to keep costs down.

 

[tw1nsmom]

You need to call a meeting and emphasize that your DS needs an individual aide due to safety issues. IMO the teacher was asking you to do this in a round-a-bout way. School will often tell teachers that there's a moratorium on new staff and basically "don't ask". She may feel that it would jeopardize her employment if she's the one to make the request. However, if it comes from a parent and the words need and safety are used, it will hold more weight. I would trust the teacher who is in the daily environment with your son to know that another aide is needed. You just have to be the one to request it.

 

[minkydog]

Thanks ya'll. I knew you'd have some good suggestions. We're not trying to curtail Christian's activity. On the contrary, we're trying to keep him walking as much as we can. People who have his particular syndrome often lose their ability to walk during puberty, if they ever walked at all(*very few do.)

There are 6 extremely mentally handicapped children in his class. All of them are severely or profoundly handicapped. Five have seizures, 3 are autistic, 3 are in wheelchairs. They keep their teacher and paras hopping all day long. What makes it difficult is that Christian is very active. He tries to leave the classroom several times a day(he's what they call a runner.) So they constantly have one eye on him,but they aren't always within arms reach if they're changing a diaper or doing therapy on a child. They have an alarm on the door so he doesn't get very far when he escapes. I know it must drive them crazy. He's so quick!

I think on Monday I will call the Sped lead teacher and request an IEP meeting. Even if they can't do anything with the classroom ratio, we'll be on record as having identified a problem and suggested a solution. Truly, we don't want special treatment. We just want to keep Christian safe. Whether his falls are just caused by being 14 or by meds or by big shoes, I think there just needs to be another set of hands nearby.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I can understand your issue. I teach sped. My kids are not as severe, but I do have kids with some serious behavior and two runners. At one point I had two adults to eight kids and it wasn't enough. We had many problems with one child who bit me on a pretty much daily basis. What helped us was to have the life skills teachers in the district come in and observe. Literally every single suggestion revolved around a third adult in the classroom. Our district, like others cut back on paras this year because the reassessment of land values (after the budget was made) totally screwed us over.

We were able to use the suggestion to put in for another para, and after several students from a middle school moved away, we got a para that became available. It has been a godsend! I have been able to make one of my paras a one on one with the child who is the most likely to run (and highest needs). The teacher sounds like they are doing everything they can with the adults they have, but another adult may be needed, or at least some kind of plan in place.

Call that meeting. I find that the administration is more likely to listen to parents than they are to us.