This morning we attended a child’s birthday party at the Science Museum of Minnesota. It was a fabulous idea, but such things are only becoming more difficult for my little man. First off, the only child he knew was the birthday girl herself (the other nine or so kids were classmates of hers) so he was a bit shy and hid in the corner for a while. When he did attempt to interact with the other kids he did so inappropriately, by alternately poking and/or grabbing them, or rolling around on the floor for attention. He can’t help it. This is a feature of his autism spectrum disorder. Seeing him in action with his peers today only reinforced my gut instinct. That what the St. Paul School District is offering us for next schoolyear just isn’t enough. The little man is too high functioning for their autism rooms (intended for the kids who are more severely impaired) but I don’t think he is ready for a typical classroom, with 20+ kids, only one teacher, and no dedicated aide. Yet this is the only choice we’ve been given. If any middle ground option exists, I sure haven’t been able to ferret it out. This has been weighing so heavily on my mind…I’ve spent the last couple of weeks agonizing over it. Worrying that, if forced into one of these classrooms, my child would be seen as a problem. He would be disruptive and pulled out of class constantly. He wouldn’t be learning anything. Well, nothing of value. Thankfully I’ve found a public charter school that is far better equipped to meet his needs. The drawback, it’s twelve miles away, doesn’t provide transportation and I will have to chauffeur him back and forth every day. But it would be entirely worth it. If we manage to secure a spot. Now we’ll just have to continue trying not to obsess over job prospects (for both the husband and myself). Things will sort themselves out shortly, no doubt, but until they do all this uncertainty is excruciating.
Bonus: A clip of The Arcade Fire performing on the kids show Pancake Mountain (via More Cowbell). Speaking of kids shows…I haven’t yet weighed in on the ridiculous (yet ominous) Buster the Bunny controversy, but I’m sure yawl can guess my opinion. It’s expressed nicely here and here.
Plus: More pix on flickr.
