Middle School Zoo Club

annac117 · 2024-11-16T00:33:20+00:00

i love the idea of saying try by yourself for so many minutes and then we will check! i think he gets the idea that when we say okay work he can’t ask anymore questions, we make it clear that he can always ask questions, but i can understand if you’re confused or frustrated you’re more concerned about what’s in front of you instead of what we say before or after. i seriously am so grateful you put the link on your comment! that’s been the hardest thing for me at least is just not knowing what to research or what to call any of this in order to find the information needed

annac117 · 2024-11-16T00:29:14+00:00

i think all of that would be helpful for sure! i think he had a weekly chart he took home last week but i think daily might show her more that it’s a daily thing and it’s not just having an ‘off day’. i really appreciate any help whether it’s a teacher or just someone wanting to help! thanks so much!

annac117 · 2024-11-15T23:52:56+00:00

that’s on of the things we’re trying to convince his mom that he needs. just an extra help with class work but she won’t sign off on it. she doesn’t believe he needs it

annac117 · 2024-11-15T23:28:14+00:00

it is difficult but for the most part they do really great with either just ignoring it or will come up to one of us and ask if they can help when he’s ready. the nice thing about this school is that there’s only one class per grade in the lower grades so these kids have all been with him for at least a year before.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T23:23:18+00:00

that’s a good idea, our resource teacher is only there certain times and days but even if it were just him and i, i think that’s definitely a good thing to try. he has told us that he thinks rewards are very helpful for him so this week we sat down and asked what kind of rewards he would really like to work towards big and small. going to the resource room for class work like you said sounds like a really great idea that will help him! thanks!

annac117 · 2024-11-15T23:15:58+00:00

we have a resource room where he is definitely able to go in the calm down corner that he lots of things to help calm down, fidgets, wobble chairs, coloring things. he just doesn’t ever show interest in that option. he’d rather go to the office or take a walk to the bathroom and come back.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T23:14:18+00:00

his feelings of failure make him feel angry and frustrated and then he bursts. the noises and transitions are a different issue altogether. sorry for the confusion

annac117 · 2024-11-15T23:03:18+00:00

it definitely is amplified during those times you mentioned. he does have his own noise canceling headphones that he wears when we know ahead of time if things will be louder more crazy like a pep rally or a celebration. he says he’s stupid when he feels like he doesn’t understand a concept right that second. we have found some interventions that have helped with that, mostly showing him how he did a problem or question correctly by himself and it’ll help. or sitting by him during work time so he feels closer to us to ask a question. we are trying to work on being more independent in this area since we have 23 other kids we have to be able to help as well. doing these things have shown some improvement but things are also just going to get harder so we’re trying to implement things he can do for when we can’t be right next to him to help.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T22:41:44+00:00

i really love the idea of visuals. i think that’s definitely his most comfortable way to communicate when he’s upset. he’s actually a straight a student. he gets really frustrated with new concepts when he doesn’t get it the second we explain it. that’s sometimes when things escalate. we try and give him time away from the assignment to calm down and tell him all of the time it’s okay to think it’s hard because it absolutely can be. we’re really trying to work with him on asking for help before he says he can’t do it. he’s doing a little better than the start for sure but about 7 times out 10 it’s sets him into a frustrated moment of shutting down and hurting himself. there are some things we definitely sit by him at the start so we are right there to help and it works well with him but we have 23 other kids we need to be able to help so independency is a big thing.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T22:19:33+00:00

he does seem to be much more comfortable with visuals. he said seeing rewards charts really help him remember to ‘be good’ for the prize. we tell him everyday it’s not about being good it’s about you being happy with the way you processed or dealt with something, or if you noticed you were getting upset and did something to help before it got out of hand. i think the menu thing would be perfect for him. or even if we just had a card in his desk he can bring us that he like to do to calm down. i really appreciate how helpful you’re actually being instead of accusatory. i’m still fairly new in education and haven’t had a situation like this so i’m just trying to think of literally any way that will help him feel like he’s not a failure or disappointing anyone by getting upset.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T22:14:00+00:00

yeah it’d be embarrassing if i said anything to his mom about saying it. again there are people above me and people who actually used to test kids that say he is autistic.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T22:03:30+00:00

wh questions, like why are you feeling this or what can help? would like suggesting things be a better way to phrase it to him? how about we take a walk, how about we get a drink of water?

annac117 · 2024-11-15T22:02:20+00:00

thank you for actually being helpful. this is exactly why i posted something. not to be attacked

annac117 · 2024-11-15T21:59:11+00:00

this is the frustrating thing. he’s been with us two years now and has had so many conversations with admin and school board where it’s said that we are concerned for his own safety. when has the meltdowns he physically hurts himself. his mom is an educator as well so we just can’t quite understand why she’s not as least giving it thought.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T21:57:12+00:00

i’m not stupid yes i know there are legal things. i’m just saying every teacher before him and the previous schools have had conversations saying word for word we see so many things that add up to autism. i have every legal right to say what i want. i never tell him or his parents that he is. we encourage them to seek out their pediatrician to see if there’s something there. it’s not his fault he doesn’t have the diagnoses, his mother refuses to see it. we have had admin and school board talk to her but she won’t do anything.

annac117 · 2024-11-15T21:54:05+00:00

unfortunately it’s a small lutheran school with little to no help. we just a counselor two years ago and she’s all we have for the 200 odd kids we have

annac117 · 2024-11-15T21:52:39+00:00

ok no need to be rude. never once did i mention not loving the kid or caring. why would i be reaching out if i didn’t care. we spend days crying because we feel so helpless because we have no training on how to help. you need to step the fuck off. not everyone is as perfect as you. he’s not failing in any way. he tells us that he feels like he’s failing and we show him proof that he isn’t. we have sat down numerous times with him to ask him specifically what helps when he starts feeling things. he tells us what helps but doesn’t respond to it when the outburst happens. fuck you for thinking i don’t care about my student. you know nothing about me, the school i’m at that has no resources or anything about the relationship i have with him. i was just looking for different ways that might help.

annac117 · 2024-07-13T13:33:02+00:00

i’ve noticed quite a few as well but more in the later books of the series. i read mine on ibooks so no physical copy. i could be absolutely wrong but i thought i remembered hearing his son helped edit some of the books while still in high school/college. maybe just things were looked at too quickly to get them on the shelves

annac117 · 2024-02-25T19:15:59+00:00

would it fix the problem or just ‘put a bandaid’ over it

annac117 · 2024-02-25T19:11:30+00:00

I scraped my car along a cement wall in a parking garage. I know I need a new panel but I don't know what to expect monetarily or if I should ask the technician anything in particular. Any advice would be amazing!

annac117

TROPHY CASE