Victory at School!

Right now I am procrastinating about a million things. Besides the laundry and the dishes, I also "accidently" did not pick up a substitute teaching job today, or at least that is what I told my husband. What he would call lazy, I am calling redistribution of responsibilities. Today I also have to plan a drama program for a church arts retreat I am teaching to 1st through 6th graders this weekend. Should be interesting!

I enjoy doing the drama programs at our church. One, I love theatre-this gives me an outlet. Two, I have watched these kids grow not only physically, but emotionally. Some of them who were scared to get in front of people a year ago are now my divas. I have taught at least two kids in that group that are on the spectrum, and possibly a third, which is a crazy amount considering we are a small church. It is a beautiful thing to watch what music and theatre brings out in these kids!

Connor, for not understanding the emotions, is quite the thespian. The plays we do provide a safe outlet for him to experiment with emotions and volume control and facial expressions. Who would have thought that theatre would be such a handy tool for him!

Anyway, in other news...we also achieved a small victory on Monday. If you have read my other posts, you know of the teacher-trouble we have had with our Aspie. After contacting the principal with little initial luck, I proceeded to the next step in the chain of command which was a group for helping families with problems in the community and educational system. They told me to get Connor another IEP to use with that teacher. First of all: Band-Aid. Second of all, Not my son's problem. And third, the teacher made an inappropriate and insensitive comment which to a typical kid may not have been a major issue, but to Connor was devastating.

So, I moved on to the Special Education Coordinator for our school district and explained my concern. All I was looking for was to get the school some training, as my son was their first known Aspie, but certainly will not be the last if you look at the diagnosis rate. By 7:24PM, I had received an email from our principal detailing the steps they were taking to create a training presentation and deliver it to the teachers the very next day. Yay! Those teachers are going to hate me now! I don't care!

So we voted at the school yesterday and as we left who did we run into? The principal, the vice-principal and all the teachers involved in the training, one of which did not say hello. (Can you guess which one?) I thanked the principal, sure to get at least a dirty look but I did not. They replied that this was a good thing for them to do, and overall the encounter made me feel even better. Yay! Only one teacher hates me now! Still don't care!

That is not entirely true, I do care. My family is full of teachers, I understand the pressure. I could not do that job on a full time basis. Still, when your kids hurt, sometimes you have to get a little ugly. And I talked to my mother and cousin and other friends who are teachers who believed I was in the right. I was not asking for any form of disciplinary action against the teacher. All I wanted was for them to know how to deal with these kids who "seem so normal" but don't always see things "normally." And it looks like we succeeded. Yay!

Connor always asks me why he has to have Aspergers or has to be on this earth or has no friends, etc. Yesterday I got to tell him that maybe his first purpose is to help the Aspie students who will attend his school after him, so they don't have to struggle so much as he has had to struggle. For not understanding people so well, Connor has taught me a lot about them. From emotional security and experimentation through drama, to advocating for something you feel passionately about, to who cares what people think of you when what you are doing is right and important.

The drier just went off.....