My oldest child, Mira, is on the autistic spectrum (ASD) Last year, she and another little boy from her preschool were assigned to school L which is 8 miles away down a very busy highway in another town. I was given no choice and this is where she HAD to attend.

During the first week of school the other little boy (who lives a a much more economically fortunate neighborhood) was transferred to the school which is only 4 miles from my home down slow roads through neighborhoods. I briefly considered fighting them so my daughter could be closer to home too but during that week she bonded so well with her ASD classroom teacher, we decided it was in her best interest to allow her to remain there, especially because the teacher she had the previous year was a nightmare and Mira never adjusted to her.

Mira had a fantastic school year with some blips along the way which we were able to work out agreeable solutions too. When the school year ended we were told that Mira would be back with the same teacher again this year. We spent all summer talking about school to prepare her for returning. She wrote notes and drew pictures for her beloved teacher. She talks about her teacher every single day. On a slow day she may only mention her 2 or 3 times but most days I hear about this teacher 10+ x a day (repetitive speech and topics are a hallmark of ASD)

Today my friend Jennie went to the school for kindergarten open house. During open house she went to visit this teachers room (he son is also ASD and was in the same class). As she walked around the room, she didnt see Mira’s name on any of the tables and asked the teacher where Mira was going to be sitting. The teacher explained that the PRINCIPLE decided to reassign the ASD children. She and a few classmates were getting pushed to a different ASD classroom and not just a different teacher but a total stranger. Last years other ESE ASD teacher was replaced.

ASD children have a VERY difficult time handling change and transitioning from one idea to another. The school was not going to tell me until I took my children to open house tomorrow. I was going to walk into this teachers classroom, watch my daughter throw her arms around her teacher and aids and then be told we have to go somewhere else!!! This was never mentioned as a possibility at the end of last school year or I would have prepared my daughter for this to happen!

Livid is not even the word I would use to describe my mood after Jenni told me. I literally burst into angry tears and just sobbed. They say the past behavior is the best predictor for future behavior and if that is true then this change is going to send my daughter back into a downward spiral- panic attacks, biting her fingers bloody, night terrors, wetting herself and other troublesome behaviors.

The entire reason I allowed my daughter to stay in this school which is twice as far from home was because of her relationship with this teacher and my understanding that she would continue to be a part of Mira’s education through out her years there. Now I feel duped and angry on my daughters behalf. I don’t want her riding the school bus so far if she’s not going to be in this teachers classroom. My poor daughter witnessed a motorcyclist getting hit by a car on her way home from school last year. I know that accidents happen but you are much less likely to see a motorcyclist brains bounce on the pavement if the cars are only going 30 mph verses 60!!!

I called her school and ended up having a phone conference with the guidance councilor, her old teacher and this new teacher. They tried to convince me to just go with this decision they made for her and not upset the apple cart. Um, excuse me? This is going to topple my child’s apple cart and then run over it with a bullet train and you want me to just go with it? I was basically told that if I was unwilling to go with this plan then good luck finding her some place else to be.

If we are going to put her through all this emotional upheaval then we are going to rip off the band aid all at once and move her closer to home. I have been making phone call after phone call trying to get her shifted to the closer program before school starts on Monday. I was told that this might not be a possibility because the program closer to us may be “full” I plan on railing so loudly that they’ll either want to switch her back to her old teacher or make room for her at the new school. I was not given the ability to make this decision when your program still had room, I was given the information TODAY and her classmates won’t even know until tomorrow (Friday). This smells like a power play on the principles part to keep my child’s education dollars in her school by cornering me with no choices left.

My daughter deserves an appropriate education in an appropriate facility. If her emotional needs are not being met, she will not achieve academically and will spiral into depression. My daughter has an IEP and brings extra funding to a school because of her ASD. I have the right to take those dollar to any educational facility that I feel meets my child’s needs. If the county doesn’t figure this debacle out, I’m going to take those dollars to a private facility via a McKay Scholarship. I will not be bullied and I will not back down. My daughter deserves the chance to achieve and with ASD that means setting these kids up for success. This whole situation is setting each of these kids who are being underhandedly shuffled up for failure and I hope the other parents will take the appropriate steps to be heard if this not a positive change for their child either.