Escalation

The school week has been a cocktail of events, none of which included any learning except maybe for a growing appreciation for the level of complexity surrounding Boy Wonder. Many a phone call has been made to try and rush the statement through ( when I say rush it has already been two weeks since the finalisation meeting.) After much discussion the statement has been finalised at 15 hrs plus OT provision which is not nearly enough given that he is currently soaking up full 1:1 hours. However, finalising means that the post can be advertised and then emergency funds can be applied for through a Multi Element Plan to top it up. The MEP is the next step up from an IEP and it provides external behavioural management and risk assessment support.

I met with a lady who had been drafted in to provide support for Boy Wonder and the school and we discussed his history and complexity at length. She stated that her observations of which there had been many over the last ten days were that he wasn't coping and the current provision is not suitable to meet his needs. Hallelujah!! Our OT had also come away with the same conclusion although she had been saying this for the past year along with us, but was now expressing concerns over health and safety not just learning needs.

Following the exclusion on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly settled except for the battle of getting him through the door. He spent these days away from his class and predominantly on his own with a TA. On Thursday morning the battle to get through the gates was harder still with Boy Wonder voicing that he hated school. We got to the class room where we discovered a supply teacher that he hadn't met before who was Asian. Boy Wonder became highly excitable and voiced loudly that she was Asian over and over. I took him into the room next door to calm him whilst Cat Girl went to find some help.  Help arrived, Boy Wonder was told that if he continued to be racist I would be notified. I took a deep breath and then asked him if he knew what 'racist' meant. 'No,' he said with a blank expression. I explained it and also explained that Boy Wonder hadn't been told about there being a different teacher and he was merely commenting on what she looked liked albeit not in an appropriate way.

And then came the almighty crash. A phone call at 3.10pm notifying us of an incident where Boy Wonder had verbally abused his teacher and physically assaulted the TA. We were called in for a meeting, joined by the lady that was supporting Boy Wonder and the school as she was with me at the time of the call. The incident resulted in a fixed term exclusion for one day and the understanding that the risk management needs escalating somewhat.

After the meeting Superman took Cat Girl to Ju Jitsu and I took Boy Wonder home. We spoke about the difficulties during the day and about how he behaved. He understood that his behaviour wasn't acceptable but said that he couldn't help it as he was so angry. I asked him what made him angry and he very clearly stated that his teacher and TA were stopping him from learning by not letting him in the classroom. He couldn't learn when sat in the corridor or in a different classroom as his teacher wasn't there. I explained that he was disruptive in class which was why he is taken out and be said that he knew he was bad but it was too noisy and busy in there. He finished off by saying how much he hated school.

Thursday evening was spent eating like he has never done before ( like he had been starved, which of course he hadn't but he obviously used a lot of energy.) and drinking a lot of cordial.

Friday was spent at home doing project work with a clearly planned timetable to include breaks! Boy Wonder had a fairly settled day, not getting up until 10am. Biker Gramps sat with him for a bit whilst I caught up on some stuff. He had him exercising and practising his piano. Grandparents brought over a massage chair to help Boy Wonder and my hands as I was massaging him for over an hour last night! Many more phone calls and notifications of escalation in procedure and a meeting on Monday morning to discuss the way forward.