I received another note from Jared’s service coordinator:
I wanted to let you know that from today on, Jared will be in Mrs. XXX’s (1st grade) class every day for math. I am in this class with him. This decision was made so that he could be in a team-taught classroom. He will still be in Mrs. YYY’s class for all other subjects. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
Here’s my response, mostly placed here so that I don’t lose it:
I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean in your letter. I’m certainly not an educator, so I don’t know what the advantages of a “team-taught classroom” are for Jared. What I do know is that while Jared deals with change better than many autistics, changes like this are usually accompanies by a certain amount of anxiety and stress for him. Considering that his assistant has been changed, does changing his math teacher, his math classroom, his method of instruction and his access to the break-time de-stressors in Mrs. YYY’s class make sense? Also what advantage do we hope to gain by using a team, considering that Jared has such a hard time dealing with more than one person at a time? And the biggest piece of information missing from your letter is why this change needs to take place. Is Jared doing poorly in math? I he doing so well that he needs more advanced lessons? Why is this change worth making him anxious all day? Please understand, I want to support you and the other members of his team, but I feel like your short note was a little too short. If you’d like to expand, you can reach me at…
They’re trying to turn me into one of those crazy parents who fights with the school about everything, they really are. I don’t want to be that guy that turns the IEP meeting into a shouting match. I don’t want to be the father that makes the teachers afraid that he’s lawyering up. I want to be the friendly, jovial parent that the teachers like almost as much as they like his son. But as Jared gets older, that might not be in the cards.
Google Video has an episode of the BBC show “Horizon” about Temple Grandin. They discuss the history of autism treatment and research, and the way it relates to her life and her work. Ms. Grandin, it should be pointed out, has a very singular experience as an autistic and one shouldn’t draw too many conclusions about other autistics from this movie. Still, it’s a good introduction to autism, not to mention cattle handling.
The part I like least is the title, “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow.” I’d have called it, “The Woman Who Can Think Like a Cow,” because that’s the point: her special abilities allow her to see things from an animal’s perspective, but she thinks like no one but herself.
Jared isn’t much like Temple. His chief emotion isn’t fear, though he doesn’t tolerate anxiety very well. Jared has issues with structure and socializing, but his sensory sensitivity is much lower than most autistics. He doesn’t mind loud sounds or bright lights, and while he likes deep pressure, he doesn’t mind light pressure at all.
So enjoy the movie, but remember that autistics are individuals, just like everyone else. And they certainly aren’t cattle.