I needed a day to recover from Marcus's first week of high school. He started at Halpern Education Center on Wednesday, September 7. The first day went okay. He had trouble sneezing on people. Needless to say they didn't like it and it engendered grossed out kids. Then someone called him the "f" word (read a derogatory term for gay men). He hit the kid on the back of the head with a notebook. I got a call from the school, but they ended up leaving a message. I wasn't able to find out what happened to the kid who called him the name. I find that usually nothing happens to them.
Day two was a disaster. I was there in the morning for an intake meeting with the psychiatrist. Typical stuff. I saw Marcus and he seemed fine. Well... got a call just before I was walking in to teach my Thursday night class. I heard screaming in the background. Their story was that Marcus had run out of the building, tried to get back in by trying to smash a window. Other kids started to get upset. Some kids tried to attack him, he tried to attack them. He threw chairs and went after staff. He says someone said, "don't sit in that chair or you'll turn into a zombie" (talking about a chair Marcus had sneezed on). He lost it. He ran outside. He rationalized trying to break the window by saying they wouldn't let him back in the building otherwise.
Morris had to go pick him up because they refused to put him on the bus and he had to take him into school the next morning for a meeting. Oh, did I mention the one-to-one aide that Marcus is supposed to have according to his IEP quit the day before school so he didn't have one?! They were real sorry. Now I know it wasn't their fault, but they were still out of compliance and my son was taking the consequences. He had a one-to-one for a reason, clearly. I know Marcus can't behave like this and that we have to figure out a way to deal, but they have to follow the law too. And they have to deal with the teasing and name calling. He's been called the "f" word and the "n" word more times than I can count and so far, the name caller has had no consequences. Marcus feels like no one listens to him. I'd run out of the building too.
Day three went well thank goodness. Here's hoping to put together a string of these.
Day two was a disaster. I was there in the morning for an intake meeting with the psychiatrist. Typical stuff. I saw Marcus and he seemed fine. Well... got a call just before I was walking in to teach my Thursday night class. I heard screaming in the background. Their story was that Marcus had run out of the building, tried to get back in by trying to smash a window. Other kids started to get upset. Some kids tried to attack him, he tried to attack them. He threw chairs and went after staff. He says someone said, "don't sit in that chair or you'll turn into a zombie" (talking about a chair Marcus had sneezed on). He lost it. He ran outside. He rationalized trying to break the window by saying they wouldn't let him back in the building otherwise.
Morris had to go pick him up because they refused to put him on the bus and he had to take him into school the next morning for a meeting. Oh, did I mention the one-to-one aide that Marcus is supposed to have according to his IEP quit the day before school so he didn't have one?! They were real sorry. Now I know it wasn't their fault, but they were still out of compliance and my son was taking the consequences. He had a one-to-one for a reason, clearly. I know Marcus can't behave like this and that we have to figure out a way to deal, but they have to follow the law too. And they have to deal with the teasing and name calling. He's been called the "f" word and the "n" word more times than I can count and so far, the name caller has had no consequences. Marcus feels like no one listens to him. I'd run out of the building too.
Day three went well thank goodness. Here's hoping to put together a string of these.
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