Update on Connor

We had another meeting with the 'team' for Connor on Wednesday.

We decided that there needs to be some tracking of data to help determine 1) antecedents to the 'meltdown' (what was happening in the 1/2 hour before the meltdown), 2) who was working with him at the time (training necessary?), 3) what was done to calm him down, and 4) was it effective?

The autism consultant will train the folks that are scheduled to work with Connor so that the reactions & rewards/consequences are consistent. Lee & I think that they had about 4 people working with him last year when things started to go south, and they all probably dealt with Connor in different ways. It is SO much easier to teach him the right way to deal with something if everyone teaches him the SAME thing.

We also got a look at his schedule, and the teacher from the classroom was there to let us know which activities she recommended for Connor to do with the class. He should have an assistant with him whenever he goes to 5th grade :)

So it turns out, he's only going to 5th grade for the opening of the day, and then a one-hour block of time in the mornings. He'll do his reading & math in the LRC, because his class is too high in the concepts they're working on in 5th grade. He will have more time in the computer lab (which he loves) and they will be using more computer programs to work with him vs. pen & paper stuff. Again, the autism consultant will work with the staff so they can set things up for Connor to be more successful. We're okay with the amount of time in the classroom. Most likely this will be his final year with his 'typical' peers. This is, of course, due to the fact that they are far ahead of him intellectually.

We came away with a positive feeling toward the specialists & school. The principal especially stated, "Connor is an Eastwood kid. We are going to do everything we can to keep him here."