Isolation is the Key to Succesful Integration -- What???

Nathaniel is back from his first day.  And I want to scream.

He was happy and had a good day, by his standards.  Let me talk about the positives.  He came home and was able to name the children in his PDD Classroom (good because they have been the same for 4 years 1/2 of them for 7 years).

 

"I didn't go nowhere!!!  I stayed in the class.  You no like Sam and Bob.  They don't go nowhere.  No gym. No art.  No lunch room.  No Home room. Nowhere, ok!!!!"  Nathaniel's response today when I asked him about going to his inclusion time (names changed of peers for their privacy).

Now the negatives:

1) We Knew he was going to have a new teacher in the PDD Room (the 4th year in a row with a new teacher).  I sat on the interview committee and was happy with the selection.  When we asked him who his new teacher was he said it was the teacher from the classroom next door last year. This was not the one that I thought was being hired -- in fact she did not interview.  Of course, I can not verify because he came home with nothing that says the name of the new teacher.  A nice letter of introduction would have been appropriate.

2)The bus picked Nathaniel up on the wrong side of teh street.  Special Needs children are not suppose to cross the street.  Not a big deal but a simple policy that should be followed.

3) As Is always the case on the first day Nathaniel did not begin any of his inclusionary classes; not even Homeroom or lunch.  They kept him in the "fully Separate" classroom all day.

4) He brought home no list that had the names of teh students in his class or the paras in his class.  It would be nice especially to know who his 1:1 is.  He says there is no Ms. Burns who he has had the past 3 years.

5) Nathaniel had NO special today (art, gym, etc...).  The other students (regular ed) all would have.  He should have had it as inclusionary time.

Nathaniel is made to feel more like an outsider when these issues occur.  That first day is critical to knowing one's classmates.  With Nathaniel too often they will strat inclusion after about 2 weeks of school has occurred and that creates a strong dynamic of him being an outsider, someone who is being thrust into their environment.

Year after year the same issues and no matter what I do to try to make for a smoother start they repeat the same over and over.  I am sick of it!!!!