Work Update

Despite all of the progress we were making, my student's behavior has started slipping further off the rails in the past couple of weeks.  He is still going to classes, although we are having to leave the room a lot more.  Across the board, he has started acting up more: using profanity, inappropriate conversations, getting angry, hitting the desk, kicking chairs, etc.

Some of his behavior is connected to his Tourette's, and I suspect his Autism as well (although to a lesser extent).  Some of his behavior is linked to the one time he was bullied by a student a couple of weeks ago (every other student in our program is treating him with compassion and trying to include him).  He now feels more students are either trying to bully him or want to bully him, although at this point, it is purely his perception (no actual bullying that I have noticed).

Some of this behavior is his reaction to watching so many other students misbehave, which is to be expected in a program for students with behavior disorders.  He not only feels it is disrespectful and annoying, but he is also frustrated at the fact that he has someone who is with him at all times telling him not to misbehave when he acts up, while none of the other students have someone.  I can understand his frustration there.  But he honestly thinks that other students do not get into trouble when they misbehave.  We at the program have to remind him that a) they do get into trouble, although we may not correct there behavior at every single moment of the day and b) these students have their own set of issues they are dealing with, so not to hold it against them.  

Up to this point, my student has taken classes largely with a group of students whose misbehavior is more severe than other students in the program, so that does not help him.  These other students that have classes with him also tend to have behaviors more related to conduct disorders, rather than similar disorders to what my student has (Autism, Mental Illness, Tourette's).  The program director has switched around his classes so that he will spend more time with student's whose behaviors are less reoccurring throughout the day.  While this move was necessary, I am slightly skeptical that he will do that much better, as he is still spending a great amount of time around students with ongoing behavior problems.  All I can do at this point is continue to work with him, and hope for the best.

On a positive note, my student has been spending a lot of time playing basketball with other students in the program, which he looks forward to doing everyday whenever we have free time.  He has difficulty with fine motor skills, so he has some trouble shooting and dribbling the ball.  But the other students that play with him have been very patient, and have done a great job at getting him the ball, letting him shoot, and not saying anything when he double-dribbles.

Work Update

Great news since the last time I wrote about work. The student I am working with has made a few adjustments in his medication, which in turn has changed the way he behaves as school.  He is now going to all of his classes, and on an everyday.  In addition, he is getting all of his work done (with very few modifications), and he doesn't take naps anymore.  He also seems to be fitting in well in all his classes.  He participates in an appropriate manner, and most of his peers seems to be treating him with respect and trying to incorporate him into the lessons.   We did have one incident where he was being bullied, but this was promptly dealt with, and hasn't reoccurred since.  He still goes home and deals with his own issues of misbehavior there, but even that has greatly improved from where he was.

We have, however, started running into one major problem regarding peer interactions.  Since my student has began to really find his comfort level in his classes, he is trying harder than ever to fit in with some of the "cool kids".  This includes mimicking the inappropriate language and topics of conversation that he hears.  Such misbehavior is normal in just about any secondary education setting, but it is especially prevalent in programs for students with behavior disorders.  When we confront him about this behavior, his response is that he feels other students are allowed to get away with it, so why shouldn't he?  We try to explain to him that those other students do not get away with it, even though we might not go up to them and tell them to stop it immediately the way we do to him.
 
I suppose mimicking such behavior wouldn't be such a big deal if the student I was working with could stop himself like other students.  But one of the disabilities he has are Torrette-like-symptoms, and one he starts speaking inappropriately, it is hard for him to stop.  This has become a very frustrating problem for everyone involved (especially him).  We are starting to look for other students in the program that he can be around that will set a better example for him (easier said than done given the type of students in the program).

Despite this setback, he is doing a lot better than he was when he first entered our program.  He is a wonderful kid, and I am so proud of him! 

Work Update

Recently, I have been rather hesitant to write new "Highlight of the Day" segments of my blog. This is something that is supposed to force me to update my blog on a near-daily basis by talking about an interesting or funny story from work.  Currently, my work is being a one-on-one with a young man who has autism.  These days, my job consists mostly of the same schedule everyday.

In the morning, my student comes to school, and we spend the first few hours of school dealing with bad behavior.  These includes inappropriate language and topics of conversation, violent and threatening language, hitting and kicking objects, and throwing objects.  When he get's angry and aggressive (and there isn't always a reason why he gets angry), I become the primary target of his aggression because I spend the most time with him.  So far, I have been kicked, spit on, and had various objects thrown at me.  Some of this behavior is work avoidance, and some of it is his Torette's.  Depending on the day, there is little or any school work that gets done by lunch.  He goes to lunch, and usually takes a nap (a product of the different types of medicine he is on).  By the time he wakes up, he has time to do maybe one or two assignments.  There are usually less than 2 hours left by the time we reach this point in the school day.  With maybe an occasional exception here and there, my student's schedule goes like this everyday.

I guess I have been hesitant to write about my job because, frankly, I haven't felt like writing about it.  At times, my job is fascinating and silly (he can be a really funny and sweet kid).  At other times, it is frustrating and downright depressing.  I feel so bad for the emotional roller coaster that his mind takes him on from hour-to-hour.  A lot of nights, the last thing I want to do is sit down and write about these difficult days in an internet post.  I hope readers will understand where I am coming from.

That doesn't mean I won't ever share any stories.  For instance, my student was talking about Monty Python yesterday, and he did his impression of the monks who hit themselves from The Holy Grail.  I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time, and I know the other adults in the room thought it was funny too (by the way, he didn't actually hit himself).  For those of you who have never seen The Hold Grail and don't know what I'm talking about: first of all, SHAME ON YOU FOR NOT SEEING IT.  Go rent it right now.  Secondly, here are the monks who hit themselves.