Last night, Buddy Guy's school had a "Parent Meeting" with representatives from all of the various school districts in the county. Parents with children who will be in Kindergarten in the fall, had the opportunity to meet with the reps, to ask questions, get info on programs, and find out a bit about which school (district) is the best fit for their child.

My kiddo won't be 5 until mid September. I knew that the chances of him getting into Kindergarten (in our own school district) this fall, would be slim. However, it seems other districts don't have their cut-off date til the end of September. In any case, depending on where I wanted him to go- and if I wanted to rush him or not- I could either get him into Kindergarten in September, or let him get another year of pre-school under his belt. Personally, I think he would benefit from another year of pre-school (mostly for social reasons). However, because the process of getting a child with Autism into a public school district is/seems so daunting to me, I figured I needed to attend this meeting NOW.

It went well, generally speaking. I learned that our own district has a Parent Mentor program, and the lady who was there said that she has a son with Autism (who is now an adult). According to her, the program has only been available for 12 years, but that it really would have been beneficial to her and her son when he was school-aged. I made up my mind that I'd go up to her after the "meet the reps" portion of the show was over. We did talk for a few minutes, and she didn't give a whole lot of information. However, she did say that in her opinion, rushing my kiddo into Kindergarten probably wasn't the best idea. If he likes where he is, and it's still beneficial for him (academically or otherwise) to keep him there for another year. Makes sense, and as I said, it was already what I had in mind. She told me that she would be more than willing to take me into some of the classrooms when it came time to "shop around" for a school. So that's good.

Then I walked up to a trio of ladies, two of which were from another district. I set out to speak with them because they specifically mentioned an Autism classroom- such as a pre-school for kids with Autism. They also mentioned they work with children from my school district, so that was another reason to pick their brains. The older lady was very nice, and was helpful to the extent she could be (given she doesn't know either myself or my son, or our situation). The other lady (if you want to call her that) was just annoying.

*I'll just say this. I know I look young. Maybe it's the glasses, maybe it's the fact I'm short. I think perhaps it's just the vibe I give off- it's like I never really grew up. Not that I act like a kid, per se, but I don't feel like I fit in with other adults somehow. But I am an adult, darnit!*

In any case, this chick - I don't know how old she was - she had long-ish blonde hair, bangs, a perm, pink glasses, and braces. She was taller than I am, so she looked down on me. Unfortunately, not just literally. She was totally condescending, whether she meant to be, or not. She had her hands in her pockets, and her shoulders were in a perpetual shrug. (Picture somebody with their head cocked to the side, shoulders shrugged, and a look like "Eh"). Despite the fact I was speaking to both she and the older woman, she kept trying to pawn me off on other people: "Have you talked to this person?" "Maybe you should go meet that lady over there", etc. She kept suggesting that she couldn't help me, she didn't know me, that she was sure my son was great, but... Give me a f'ing break! I believe she works with the Help Me Grow program here in Ohio, which helps kids under the age of 3 with special needs. Thank God she didn't ever meet my son. I felt like pulling each bracket off her teeth, one by one, and laughing my head off while doing it. I left there with a serious tension headache- my left shoulder in pain.

I didn't go to this meeting asking anybody to help me or my son. I went there to educate myself on the process of transitioning him to Kindergarten when the time is right. I didn't go there to be talked down to by some "wet behind the ears" KID, who thinks she's actually doing children some good.

This whole school thing is scary business. Maybe it doesn't have to be, but I still have nightmares from when I was going. Now, only Kiddo Girl has homework- which consists of cutting, coloring, reading. Someday it's going to get more intense, and to be honest, I suck at Math and Science. How she'll expect me to be of help when the time comes, is beyond me. But then my son - whom I love dearly - is presenting (or eventually will present) so many more issues than I ever dreamed of. Forget the homework aspect. Just picking out a place that is appropriate for him is HUGE.


I have had two parents in the last couple of months (one with a special needs child, one without) tell me that they do not believe in "inclusion" class rooms. They believe that children should basically be with kids just like them. If you have a child who is smart as hell, but needs discipline and the chance to develop his social skills, does it make a hell of a lot of sense to keep him with other children with Autism, who may or may not be as ... ready for life... as he is? Does it make sense to keep him with kids who also lack social skills? Seems to me he'd benefit more from typically developing peers. But then maybe I'm just on crack and have no idea what I'm talking about.