The Final Letter: When the school fails to effectively discipline my son’s bully

I picked up the boys from school on Monday afternoon and just prior to them walking out, I was greeted by who I think is the interventionist. It hadn't occurred to me that she would be a resource. She was quite upset and apologetic about what's been happening to Elliott.  Having just learned about it, she has assured me it will be dealt with swiftly on Tuesday morning. Why she's just now hearing about this if just one of the many questions I have.  It's not that I don't believe her. She's very genuine and frankly, the reaction she had to this is what everyone's reaction should have been all along.   Having said that, I won't let up until I know this has been put to bed.  In the…

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The letter I sent to my son’s teacher about him being bullied at school

In the ongoing issue of Elliott being bullied by a kid in his class, I sent the below message to his teachers after learning that these things are still happening.   I have great respect for these teachers and I know their job is not easy. At the same time, it's their responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those in their care.  I've spoken to the school several times about this issue and it remains a problem. I wanted to make myself heard and ensure that I got my point across without losing my cool...  I don't understand why they have to witness something they know is happening, in order to do anything meaningful about it....  I'm disturbed to learn that xxxxxxx is still a problem.  Elliott says…

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A very important Elliott update 

​This week has been focused on the kid at school who's bullying Elliott. We spoke to his teachers and the principal but if today was any indication of how this is going to play out, we're going to have a problem.  While at Dr. Pattie's tonight, we spoke with Elliott about this and learned that there were more issues with this kid at school today.  Apparently, aside from smacking Elliott on the back thoughout the day, he's also throwing pencils at him during class as well. Elliott was hit in the leg today and when he told his teachers, they basically said they didn't see it happen, so they can't do anything about it.   Was Elliott hurt by the pencil? No he wasn't,  but is that really the point? …

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My son is being bullied at school and here’s what we did about it

It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm just going to jump right into things tonight.  Lizze and I met with Elliott's teachers this morning in regards to our suspicion that Elliott might be getting bullied at school. We were concerned but didn't want to jump the gun because it was possible that Elliott was misinterpreting what was happening.   We just needed to get our facts straight before deciding how best to handle this. As it turns out, Elliott is indeed being bullied by a kid in his class. It was also the same kid we had suspected as well. What we hadn't prepared for were the teachers to know already about it.  That part caught me off guard because I had assumed if there was a problem, they would…

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We suspect our son with #Autism is being bullied at school and here’s how we’re handling it

We've spent a bit of time speaking with Elliott this weekend. It would be fair to say this has been a rough couple of days for him. It's pretty obvious that something is upsetting him but getting to the bottom of what that is can be tricky. Elliott will list things that bother him but they aren't necessarily what's bothering him. Does that make sense? Long story short, while we were discussing going to the after school program in December, Elliott mentioned that he's getting picked on at school. This wouldn't be the first time we've heard this but it's really the first time that I'm beginning to suspect that there's more going on than we are aware of. Elliott's a really sensitive kid and so he can take an otherwise innocuous comment…

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This is how we were able to work though our first tummy ache of the new school year 

I didn't sleep long or well last night.  I'm too stressed out and worried aboit a great many things but right now, Gavin's at the very top of the list.  I actually slept for about 3 hours last night and was awoken by a little Emmett John  who wasn't feeling well. The before school tummy aches have returned.  It was one of those mornings where Emmett had a tummy ache and didn't want to go to school. In fairness, he's got a lot of sinus drainage and I think that's what's upsetting his tummy.   We tried everything to convince him to go, short of dragging him out kicking and screaming.   We felt it best that not push him at this point but instead take the approach I took…

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We have a very difficult decision to make about the education of our two little boys with #Autism

Lizze and I have been discussing something that makes me incredibly uncomfortable. While this is something I really don't even want to think about, as parents, I don't think we have much of a choice. The topic of concern is whether or not the boys are in the right school. I don't like this conversation because the idea of even thinking about moving the boys to a new school is something that terrifies me.  At the same time however, I've become more and more concerned that a move may be necessary. Let me say that I really like the staff and the school as a whole. I would recommend it to people who have kids that struggle in the public school system. The concern for us lies in whether or…

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A major update about Elliott and homework 

First of all, I hate the idea of homework in general.  There's so much research out that that proves homework doesn't improve test scores at all.  I'm even less supportive of giving homework to kids with special needs.  There's several sides to this coin but the biggest things are pretty solid arguments in my book.   Frankly, I can see this from both sides and here's why.   I want my kids to reach whatever their potential is. I want them to be prepared for the real world, so they can function within to the best of their abilities. This requires that my kids be held to a reasonable standard.  Homework is something that they won't be able to escape in high school or college and practicing now is a…

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