Informing schools about autism

I've been asked how I have dealt with informing schools about the autism of my son.

Well, at basic school it was clear something was the matter with him.

The teachers followed their intuition and were able to deal with him, but the new principal had serious problems with him,, because he wanted all children to look him into the eyes and he had the habit to put his hands on the children's shoulders to emphasize what he was saying.

I told the teachers when I requested a diagnostic procedure at a cetre with exprience in autism, and told the teachers that maybe it would be better the principal was informed by the teachers about the influence of his actions on the wellbeing and behaviour of my son.

So they called a meeting, but he was not willing to listen at all.

My next step was making an appointment with him and informing him about the diagnosis.
With it I had a leaflet with information about autism and about how people best react to children with autism.

He didn't know I'd made that leaflet myself.

At that time there was almost no written information available.

The guy didn't care much about the info, until a fill-in teacher was confronted with a situation she could handle, because she had worked at a facility with some autistic children.
He was walking towards my son, when she took a step faster and arrived earlier at the scene.

She handled the situation in a perfect way, so the principal was very amazed.

He never acknowledged his own problems with my son, but when he was able to back out of a situation he would.

The next school told me they were informed, but it turned out they were able to make a mess of the whole schoolexperience of my son, because one man ruined everything that was gained by teachers and caretakers.

He considered to own the truth and told everyone autism is the result of a bad upbringing.

Where the teachers were eager to get more information, he declined everything.

Well, in the end my son dropped out of school.

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CSkills provides all information for career planning in the construction industry

Had a long talk with a fellow bagpiper who works in construction.
Last year he married and now a little one is on his way. (Yes, it's a boy!)

He never cared for anything like career development, because he had a job he liked and didn't want to do anything else, but now he feels more responsibility towards his family.

It's nice to see that he's moved from accepting the diplomas he's got to wanting to develop his skills and achieve relevant industry certification.

I told him about CSkills, a partner in ConstructionSkills - the
Sector Skills Council for Construction.
It's a site that provides a tremendous lot of information on career progression for people who work in or around the construction industry.

We've made a plan.
He'll apply for membership of Membership of a professional organisation at the appropriate level.
He'll make a file containing descriptions of the jobs he's had and statements of his former employers that he had been able to meet the required standards of competence.
He'll also make a curriculum vitae, so when he wants to apply for a job there's no need to stress about making one.

Being propared also involves staying up to date with the developments within the profession.
He wasn't aware of the the latest health and safety legislation. He relied on the information his employers give him, but it's better to be prepared well and to inform yourself.

On the site he did the health and safety test, and he read all the information available.

We agreed to meet each other tomorrow and discuss his plans for the near future and see which skills and knowledge he needs. The site provides information about courses, so I hope we'll be able to make the decision which course he's going to take first.

The sooner he starts the more he has done when the baby is born.
That way he ensures he'll be better certified in 2010.

I told him about the grants that are available for employers, which might be of benefit for him and his collegues. He didn't know anything about them, but now knows where to find important information.
When you want to manage your own training it's always important that your employer backs you, and when more money is involved that'll help.

The site provides even more information.

I'm so glad it's of help for him and his collegues and employer.

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and she was amazing...she is!!

We've had a talk a school about one of the girls.

She's had a difficult time with a bad teachers three years ago, and we've always thought she's intelligent, but not too good at doing schoolwork.

Well, I'm not thinking that anymore.

Looking back she has taken a year of relaxation after that bad year, started to work last year, and now she's at full speed.

Last year the teachers asked us to enable her to do the year again.
She didn't want to.
I told her that meant very hard work to keep up with the others... eh... to get at the same level as the others.

A few months ago she wasn't at the level of maths and a few other subjects as other children her age.

And now she's OK.

Next year she can apply for a place at the school she wants to go to, and not at the lowest level.

This girl is petite, but when she wants something she goes for it.

I told her: "amaze the world."
She did!

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People are not aware of new laws and rules

Talking with a couple of mothers made me aware of the fact that people aren't informed at all about changes in legislature and rules involving schools.
So matters that are of utmost importance to children and parents are not communicated well or at all.

Last year I've found out several times that not even teachers and coördinators know the laws that have been created to protect children that are ill for instance.
Or the laws that are made to ensure that schools take the responsibility to protect the safety of children.

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final exams and books!

I had such different plans for the evening...

But it turned out the boys have to have a book and a lot of questions about it finished for tuesday.

One of the boys has read the book, but can't remember everything.
My autistic boy just panicks when he has to read a whole book, and so the afternoon was crap, and we're now confronted with the fact that I have to read the booklet, otherwise I can't help my son with finding the answers.

I've read the book when I was at school, and went through all the moves to get the assignment finished, but I can't remember a thing about the book.

Jamaica inn... one of the books that are most used for final exams.

We can't use internet stuff, because the teacher can trace where the answers come from within a moment.

So guess what I'll be doing tomorrow morning, instead of vaccuuming, cleaning and decorating the rest of the tree?

Arggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

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the bully and the pen

Yesterday one of the girls came home for lunch.

She was angry with a boy at school.

Because his pen was empty he asked her if he was allowed to use one of her.
Ofcourse she was OK.

When the lesson was ended she asked her pen back, and he wouldn't hand it over.
When she stood up to take it fromhim, he walked to the cabinet and when he came back he had a tape on the pen with his name on it.

As it was her favorite pen, she got really angry and grasped it out of his hands.

He threatened her...

She has learned a lot last year, because I've always backed her up in her decisions, gave her advice and got the teacher on her back in such a way (involving the press always is a good threat!), that her teacher takes action everything she gets a signal of bullying.

So a little letter was enough to get things in motion again.

I hate those little boys.... just like I hated them when I was young.

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personalized candy bars

So, the year started out well.

Now we have to chew ourselves through the taste of january.

That's a bussy month here.
Not only because the schools have a lot of meetings this year, which is a real job with 6 kids, but we also have 5 birthdays in our house, and some others elsewhere. And we have some other festivities.

Time to find the right party favors, hand outs and little presents.

One of the kids found this site: CandyUnderCover.com, and it seems the perfect site to buy all in once.

Candy Under Cover stands for the finest Belgian milk chocolate covered with custom made candybar wrappers.

The whole idea started with the preparations of a birthdayparty in 1998.
Cheryl Salto wanted something else than the usual treats for the schoolmates of her son.
Now she owns CandyUnderCover.com and AllinOneFunFavors.com, two online shops selling quality items.

The idea of personalized candy bars was a golden one.
Her chocolate bar favors can be used at every occassion.
There are: personalized kids candy bars, bridal shower candy bars, bar mitzvah candy bars and bat mitzvah candy bars, and christening favors.

A friend use the bars to announce the birth of her son at her office and it was a huge success.
People didn't only have a nice bit of chocolate. Many kept the nice wrapper. Some laminated it, others put it in their scrapbook.

Another friends used the edible wedding favors along with the candy bar thanks million, which was a nice and sweet combination.

I've decided to make a special design for our own family chocolate bar. So the children can use it as treats at school, and i can use it as a thank-you, or as a special gift.

I'm sure it'll be a huge success!

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Lockers

I can't believe it!

I've quit the management of school many, many years ago, but now they need renewal of the lockers I've been called.

I guess they wanted the easy way out.

But I'm not a fool.

I've arranged a meeting about the subject. When I have to invest, I'd better get the things at the school the parents and students want, instead of the cheap, insecure and smelly solution.
Lockers can be a dump of germs and mess, but they can also be a great way to assist the school and everyone else.

Lockerixchange is for me the place to order new Lockers.
No discussion about it.

When they want to have new School Lockers it's important to know what they are used for.

The yellow Plastic Lockers fit perfectly well in the teachers room and the individual offices.
Maybe yellow for the teachers and blue for the administration and the management.

For the students I prefer Steel Lockers or Metal Lockers. Maybe the students in the final year can have an extra wide model.

I want seperate Gym Lockers or basket lockers, which are vented, with matching Locker Benches.

I think careful consideration of what, why and where, can not only safe money but will also enhance the schoolclimate and look.

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Spock knows it all

Ofcourse I have to help my children with homework.
Even though I know a lot, I can't know it all.
Especially with history I need some additional information.
I just didn't listen when I was at school. LOL!

No problem.

There's a new searchengine... well, it's not new.. others have discovered it before me.
This searchengine is called: Spock.

My son had to write an essay about the Piet Hein, who fought the battle against Spain.
My son just typed it in and got a whole list with information too.

Spock can be used to search information and to find people. One can seach by name or by keywords that define the person, like he did with typing in "Piet Hein".

You can sign up and decide what information you want to have on internet: age, haircolour, your site, work, etc.
You can share your knowledge. One way is by adding information to the searchresults. You'll get recognised for your contribution.
As a member you can choose to get alerts when something is added, either on your profile or on that of others.
You can vote for and against a tag or pictures.
Even though it's not the intention of Spock to be a social network, there are opportunities for messaging, and by adding the proper tags you can get all the persons of a group in the searchresults.

The essay was ready in no time.
Added to the already found information he added some text about other historical seamen in Maarten Tromp and about others who served in the Dutch Navy.
I bet he has one of the best documented essays of the year.

Want an example of the info on Spock:

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