An Atypically Atypical Work Day

Granted, my days are typically atypical, today was an especially atypically atypical work day. At the end of the day, BF asked his usual question, "So, did anything funny happen today?" Much to my own surprise, today was the first time that I really didn't have any funny stories! He dismissed it by saying, "Oh, yeah, you didn't see your autism kiddos today, huh?" Although my 320s usually give me many things to laugh about, my "regular" Special Ed kiddos usually do, too.

I actually got to work around 7 (the earliest since the new year started) mainly b/c I had two IEPs to lead. This would be the 2nd and 3rd time in my life that I held them on my own (since I am the case manager for these two). Fortunately, I've been through a number of triennials (psych leads them) so I've kind of gotten into the groove of things.

Seeing the red VM light button first thing in the morning really threw me off. Unfortunately, it was CJ, my grad student assistant, telling me she was not coming in today. I decided that in between meetings, I would see the "regular" SPED kiddos, since I haven't seen the Friday crew for a few months now (and I was positive the 320s wouldn't miss me). I kind of like to see them every so often to gauge how they're doing.

So, my two IEPs went fine. On a general note, every IEP has been eye-opening for me. It's really sobering to see how the child and parent interact, hear what concerns the parent has, and realize what a different picture I have of the student (even in comparison to how s/he is in a classroom setting). The most important thing for me is meeting the parent. For some reason, seeing how involved and concerned (or not) the parent is drives me to want to work even harder with the kid. The nice thing is that it's a win-win situation for the kid -- if the parent is concerned and involved, I'm excited and work hard with the kid. If the parent is the opposite, personal sympathy and concern pushes me to work hard with the kid.

So in-between, I accidentally pulled a Monday 3rd period group. If I've learned anything, it's that working with middle school students can be a battle of wills. Actually, I learned this from my autism kiddos (mainly, J320 and N320). So Stanky Attitude girl kept rolling her eyes at me and refusing to participate. I knew she was fully capable of completing the activity, but I still gave her max verbal prompts to even get one word out of her (note: she's not selectively mute). When the 3rd girl arrived, she looked at Stanky girl and something told me that there was weird tension between all three (mind you, the last I remember, the other 2 are sweety-pies). Halfway through the teeth-pulling with Stanky Girl, even the 3rd girl slightly rolled her eyes at Stanky girl b/c we all sat there waiting for what felt like an eternity for her to respond. Finally, I said to the other two girls that I would finish up with them two and let them go. They whizzed through it smiling and laughing and then left. I talked to Stanky Girl (or moreso, "at" her) and then drilled her with 5 more trials and then let her go.

I know I can't expect every one of my students to work hard, but holy snikeys, she is the only one that hasn't come around. I have several boys who I thought had the stankiest attitudes and now, they have become my favorites. Even the one that literally stomped to my room from the beginning of the hallway has really come around and even messes with me (actually, he makes me feel like I'm the one that has a language disorder b/c he accuses me of not explaining directions clearly...therefore, I "cheat" during activities b/c I "keep changing the rules" -- which is so not true! Secretly, I think it's a clever defense, though.)

After my 2nd IEP, I took a lunch break and had my first laminating disaster. I let go of one card, and it shifted while the first card was already laminated so now I have two expensive pictures slightly overlapping a corner. Worst, it's material for my 320s! So bummed. On the other hand, I finally laminated a real mini-Oreos and Gummi Bears wrapper for P320 to use for PECS. I hope it works. I keep saying that I need to create 3-D symbols but I haven't done it. I'm hoping that using real wrappers will be concrete enough.

During the last period, I called one of my stutterers in and was going to call the other but decided to see this one individually after his Language Arts teacher expressed some concern about him. I couldn't tell if he was happy or disappointed to see me b/c when he walked in; he almost cracked a smile and then stifled it. By the end of the session, I was convinced that he was not pleased to see me b/c although I didn't explicitly address his teacher's concern, I made many implications. Deep inside, I was bummed about what he was doing and how poor he was doing.

I guess all in all, today was an atypically atypical day b/c nothing funny really happened. I usually have many serious times/sessions/meetings in a day, but it's always counter-balanced with lots of funny moments. Today felt more like a heavy and serious day of damage control, counseling, and reality-checking. I'm exhausted. Thank goodness I have two 3-day weekends.

Oh wait! I did eventually tell BF about my one very odd SDC kiddo. He always asks me "hard" questions, ("Why are [fill in blank] called [fill in blank]?"). How do I explain to an SDC kid that language is arbitrary? Anywho, he always stops by on his way to the Nurse's office for his inhaler before P.E. to ask when I'm going to call him again. LOL Whenever I tell him and then send him off with a farewell greeting, he always reciprocates, "you too!" That cracks me up b/c he says it moreso out of a polite habit without regards to what a person is saying. Like I usually say something like, "well, thanks for stopping by" to which he says, "you too!" or if I bid him farewell in my sing-songy tone ("see you toMORRow!!") then he'll say "you toOOooo" in an imitative sing-songy tone. I find this kid to be soOOoo strange in a non-creepy way; when we play language games and he loses a card or something, he dramatically holds his head, laughs maniacially and says, "No!!!! I'm not programmed to lose!" So I did that all night during dinner.

As strange as my kids can be, I certainly have a special place in my heart for all of them. I guess even Stanky Attitude girl.

Now I know I'm rambling and need to get some rest...