The Beast was on a mainstream bus all year long. I think I've told you about this. The driver just couldn't deal with him. "He talks too much." "His voice is too loud." "Can you tell him to please stop talking on the bus?" Yeah. It just wasn't working for us. I was frustrated, and the driver was writing him up left and right for bad behavior. In the driver's defense, the Beast did resort to bad behavior to get the driver's attention and to show that he didn't like what was happening on the bus. The driver was right to be upset with the behaviors the Beast displayed later, but it was just silly to freak out about his voice being too loud or talking too much. It's a bus, for goodness sake!
Anyway, we went ahead and moved him to the special ed. bus when we had his ARD a couple weeks ago. What a difference!! The Beast is much happier now. His ride is twice (if not three times) as long as it was before, and he doesn't mind it in the least. The aid on the bus is so patient with him, the driver is much more tolerant of his constant talking, and the other kids on the bus can relate to him a little bit better.
I hated sucking it up and putting him "on the short bus", but I'm so glad I did. In the end, it's not what I want that matters most. It's what is best for my son. And, really what I want is to have him have the best.
There is some irony in this situation- a deaf child getting criticized for talking too much! I think some staff members get power trips and go after certain kids. The other bus sounds like a much better option! A slightly longer ride for a little bit of patience and tolerance sounds like a good trade to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found a solution even if it wasn't what you originally wanted. And I'm glad beast is happy about it.
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