As we know, Landon is in a regular kindergarten classroom this year, and he has lots of help and even his own special ed parapro in the room that is specially assigned to him. They all love him and think he's really sweet, and he's had next to no problems at all so far. Our problems originate from the fact that once a day Landon goes to specials, like music, PE, or art, and no parapro or anyone accompanies him. Despite this fact, he has had no issues up until now.
Our story begins on August 31st, yes, Bailey's birthday. I pulled up and picked the kids up from school and we happily chatted all the way home about all the fun birthday things that Bailey did that day. I was blissfully ignorant of the note in Landon's backpack that would bring my good mood to a screeching halt and throw the next two days into almost constant worry and stress.
When we got home I pulled out the kids' folders that have their "choice cards" that report their behavior for the day, and I got a pen out to initial them so I could put them away and start making them a snack. When I pulled out Landon's choice card, I saw that an extra note was included in the folder that appeared to be from his PE teacher. As I pulled it out and read it, my eyes got bigger and my mouth fell open as my eyes went down the page. To make a relatively long and silly story short, the kids had been playing on scooter boards in PE that day. I wasn't quite sure what exactly one was, so here is a picture of some just so that you get the idea.
The kids sit on them and push themselves around the room with their feet. Apparently they were playing some kind of game on them that day, and during a pause in the game, Landon decided to pick his up and throw it in the air! It came down and hit another kid in the head and that kid had to be taken to the clinic and put under watch in case they needed to call 911 for a concussion. The PE teacher was nearly irate and this is part of the note that he sent home in Landon's backpack.
If you want to read it, it should get bigger when you click on it.
Anyway, it pretty much says that Landon's behavior was dangerous and unacceptable and he was not sure if Landon would be able to come back to PE. He says he can't risk the safety of the other students whether Landon intentionally hurt someone or not. He says he even called the principal down to deal with Landon.
I have to say that I was so mad that I about hit the roof! Yes, it was dangerous, and no he shouldn't have done it, and it's terrible that another kid got hurt, but this guy totally overreacted and handled this all wrong. Landon has an IEP that says that he is unpredictable and tends to do things like this, which is why he has a special parapro in his room with him. He doesn't have one during PE because the teachers all take a break while the kids are in specials. If Landon is in a big room with two or three other kindergarten classes, and he ends up doing one of the silly things that he tends to do, I do NOT want him getting into that kind of trouble and then having a scathing, almost threatening note sent home about it! If you have a problem with him, you call his special ed teacher who knows him and knows how to handle him. You do NOT yell at him and then call the principal down to yell at him some more like he's a normal kid that's just misbehaving! Landon really didn't know he was being dangerous and probably didn't even know why everyone was yelling at him.
So, I spent the rest of Bailey's birthday writing emails and making phone calls to get this addressed. His teacher said she understood why I was so upset, and she forwarded my letter to the principal who promptly called me the next morning. She was VERY sweet about it and said that Landon will not be taken out of PE. She had ideas about how to modify the activities for him so that he was still included but didn't have anything in his hands that could potentially hurt someone if thrown. I asked her if the PE teacher even knew if Landon was Autistic because the letter was worded so strongly that I thought he must now know. She said she hadn't seen the note and wasn't sure what it said, so I read it to her. She was apologetic and sweet and assured me it would all be taken care of with no problem and that he would be most welcome back to PE on Thursday.
So Thursday he had PE again, and I was really nervous that something would go wrong! I could just see Landon acting up because he had a bad experience there the last time, and I wouldn't have put it past the PE teacher to find an excuse to send Landon out of the class.
I picked them up from school and I went straight for Landon's backpack as soon as we walked in the door. He had a note from his teacher that said that he'd had a great day in PE that day, but also I had this note from his PE teacher.
I just started to laugh when I saw this! All I could think was that this guy was suddenly backpedaling pretty fast and trying to kiss by butt. I wondered if after I read his letter to the principal she went down and jumped onto him for shooting off a letter like that to the parent of a special needs child. The truth is that he didn't follow proper protocol for dealing with an autistic student, and I bet the principal was angry that she was having to clean up his mess, because truthfully, if I was that kind of parent, I could have made a pretty big deal out of this. I do appreciate him giving Landon a chance to still play and have a good time, and I like that he was willing to turn around and say how well Landon did right after he had been so mean.
And so, as night fell on the land, the angry mother was appeased, the little prince was happy, and all was forgiven. A lesson was learned by the new PE teacher, and the school's principal became intimately acquainted with little prince Landon and would be on the lookout for him for the rest of his days at the school. A trying experience turned out to be a learning experience for all, and they felt better prepared for whatever might lie ahead.
Stay tuned for the next installment of many to come.
