What can I ask the school to do when my son has a meltdown?

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School starts next thur, in a week. Last year my aspie had meltdowns when things changed, when they had to do rehearsals in the cafeteria for a music program and when basically, he couldn't handle teasing or failure.

They FINALLY gave him a 504 last may after fighting for it for a year. So this year, I need to add to this. NOt much was done/written on the 504 last may btw.

What should I ask them to do when he has a meltdown? A bean bag corner? A weighted Vest? I don't know what to ask, and if you knew my SD, their not about to offer suggestions.

Also he has alot of anxiety (which I know add's to the picture) and I had trouble getting him to school or out of the car to go to school last year. Any advice on that? The school would just be fine with me being sarb'd. I don't want to be sarb'd AGAIN (with my older HFA son).

He's going into 3rd grade.

Lainie

I want to also add, thank you Aurea (sp?) because I read where you gave your child straws to help with the chewing. My son chews his shirt sleeves, collars and hands constantly. I was looking for a chewy necklace online but I could only find "girly" type of necklaces. You know the kind that are bright flourescent orange, pink and such.

How come they can't make them with an army man pattern or something??? LOL.

I plan to see if the straws help him.

My son also has TS, which can be extreme at times, in fact so much that it gets confusing between the difference between TS and Asperger's....

Lainie

I am going through some similar stuff with my 8 yr old having meltdowns.

First, I'd say that the school need to understand the meltdown process - that it is an autistic meltdown triggered by something, and not bad behaviour. My son has a bean bag. At home he likes being under a blanket. I would say use anything that your son finds helpful at home. Also, it helps if there is a room handy that he can go to.

I would also try and work on intervention stuff to prevent a meltdown. I am currently working with teachers and resource staff to map the stages of a meltdown with my son, so that the teacher can begin picking the signs of agitation and acceleration. For my son, he is taken off the path of a meltdown by distraction - often into areas of special interests. We are aiming at reducing the frequency of meltdowns, rather than eliminating them completely. Make sure they know his triggers too, so that they can eliminate them as much as possible.

One thing that might help with the anxiety is timetabling some time out of class doing individual work. This can be done in another class, under the supervision of another teacher. They are doing this for my son (he goes around three classes during the day), and it seems to take the intensity out of school for him. I guess it depends on how much the school is willing to make education meet your son's needs, as opposed to trying to squeeze him into an NT mold. All the best.

have faith. it's possible that your son will have a better teacher this year. when our daughter finally got a 504 after much fighting, we were sadly disappointed by the teacher's inability/unwillingness to follow it..............fast forward to the next school year, and we couldn't be any happier. the teacher worked very hard with daughter and we've seen some terrific results!

ultimately, you need to assess how much the new teacher knows about ASDs. even if the teacher doesn't understand much, i agree with annie2 in saying that one of the most important things for the teacher to understand is that a meltdown is NOT bad behavior

The best thing to do for meltdowns is prevention. My daughter has had an aide in school since kindergarden. The aide basically serves as a bufffer, and an interpreter between my daughter and NT, NT to daughter. They also help with organizing and a bunch of other things.

Now, AS people tend to do really well with routine, and any transition or change to that routine can create anxiety and lead to meltdown for those that are sensitive to such things.

Changes and transitions should be prepared for ahead of time. If there is going to be a disruption, let the child know and give them as much time as possible, days even to prepare for the change. This is written in my daughter's IEP. They need to know this is not a behavior issue, this is a response to stress. Your child can not control this response, but it can be reduced and he can learn to control it if taught coping strategies. Often the arguement can be that they don't have the time to deal with each child's individual needs, that's where the aide comes in. If they don't have the time, then you can suggest they provide an aide for your child to help manage some of these issues.

Be careful that it doesn't become about controlling behavior. Usually forcing someone to do something meets with more resistence. Teaching with understanding to control one's own behavior has a much better effect. Are you working with a behavior specialist, therapist, etc? Sometimes these people can be helpful in dealing with school personnel. Our Mobile therapist works with the school as well.

Hi Trees,
Whats that?