It’s not that Henry doesn’t like school. He really does. He likes the structure, the activities, and the learning. He loves his teacher, Mrs. A., and the two TAs who work with him the most, Donna and Sharon. It’s just that he really, really enjoyed summer.
He loved waking up at 8:30 or 9:00, wandering into the dining room for cereal, then settling down to play Minecraft. He loved lazy summer days spent outside in our backyard, driving trains over tree roots, throwing the ball for our dog, Lili, going to the river, and spontaneous visits to cousins or grandparents.
We’ve been trying to prep him for school the last few weeks. He has always stubbornly responded with, “NO SCHOOL.” Yeah, not happening, kid. The staff at his school have many more tools in their toolbox than I do, to guide and teach through his autism.
So this morning he absolutely refused to wear any of his new clothes, despite them consisting of the same type of t-shirts and sweats he always wears. I guess with everything else, it was just too much new and scary. We compromised at last with just a new t-shirt, and everything else old and familiar. He’ll get used to them in time, I suppose.
There is a happy ending to this story. When I picked him up, Sharon said that Henry had a GREAT day, and that his time in the regular first grade classroom [he bounces between the special ed room & the regular class] was “night and day” different from how he started in the regular kindergarten classroom last year. He also got a candy for practicing safe body techniques all day, so that was great!
As for Rowan, while he wasn’t thrilled about going, he was excited to see his friends again. He sits across from his friend C. and she offered to introduce him to all the kids he doesn’t know yet! I got a running and jumping hug when he came out, and he told me that “today was the BEST school day I’ve ever had!”
In conclusion, I think we’re going to survive this year just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment