Reply #39: When my son was a 6 year old first grader...

[lumberjack_jeff]

... he got frustrated at something in school, picked up a toy truck and threw it. The toy hit his paraeducator in the mouth, splitting her lip and injuring her quite badly. (He didn't throw the toy *at* her, he is now a third grader and can now barely throw a baseball to me if I stand about 10 feet away).

The difference between the circumstance as described in the above article and the circumstances as it happened to us is that his paraeducator had the prior experience of having been the guardian to her autistic sister and had vast experience as a paraeducator. Also, she and my family talked on a daily basis, and I knew that she had his interests at heart, and that I, in turn would lobby her administrators to get whatever she thought he needed.

The experience scared him so badly that nothing like it has ever happened again. He is now in his general ed classroom full time (except for occupational therapy and speech therapy) and has only occasional need for a paraeducator and almost never needs to be in the special ed room.

His success is entirely the result of having been paired with a skilled paraeducator when he was 5, 6 and 7.

In Washington, The Arc is lobbying the state legislature for funding to enable school districts to enlist the services of consultants trained in behavior management for children with Autism and related disorders. I hope it succeeds because not every child will have the good fortune to be paired with someone as skilled as Myrna.

In the story above, the root cause is an ill-equipped, ill-supported paraeducator who, for whatever reason, has a hostile relationship with the parents.

The victim is the child.