Brodie's NEW Plectrum

You have to LOVE this! It's Brodie's new plectrum for his Air Guitar! It's a present from his integration aide at school that he got for his birthday. I know I am a little late in sharing this but Brodie only brought it (back) home from school yesterday.

Educating the New Leadership Team

I got a phone call from Brodie's High School this morning from the new librarian, she's the one in control of first aid & sick kids at school, stating that he wasn't feeling well & she wondered what she should do about it. So I let her know that Brodie is a little bit of a hypochondriac, well maybe that's not the right term to use, and that he is ultra sensitive to pain. I spoke with him briefly stating that if he still felt the same way at the end of recess time to let me know and I'll come collect him.
Sure enough 30 minutes later I received another phone call.

I had a brief chat with one of Brodie's aides. She told me that he didn't seem to be coping so well with all of the changes at the school. There is a new Acting Principal (P), Assistant Principal (AP) & three new teachers. This made me wonder if that was the reason for his not feeling terribly well today.

Last night Brodie told me that he had to see the principal this morning because he was very loud while waiting for the school bus to arrive for the school run home. If anyone truly knew my boy, they would know that there is NO real volume control for this kid. He is quiet while sleeping but when he is awake he is either loud or louder.

I explained this to his aide and said that may have been one of the reasons he didn't feel well. I can't say that he was foxing or anything because he did have a snooze when we got home.

On the drive home Brodie & I got to have a bit of a chat. He said that the new Principal & Assistant Principal were making a lot of changes at the school & he didn't like it. What kid truly likes change but what Aspie kid likes change. None that I know of. He also stated that with all the changes at school it now makes him feel uncomfortable & he doesn't really want to go any more.
Not only did he lose an AP he liked & knew well, the regular P is on long service leave but his favourite aide retired at the end of last year. Brodie misses him terribly. These three people understood him. They got to know where he was at. They knew how to calm him down if needed. They helped him adapt. Thank goodness the teacher who works with all the special needs kids is the same person. I am so grateful that she hasn't gone anywhere.

Brodie is a senior now. Although he loves the things that come with it like the white shirts he can wear, the VCE jumpers, sitting at the back of the bus. All the things that let the other kids know he's a senior. He is however not so sure about the workload that comes along with it. He understands that its a lot harder for him now. That more is expected of him & that he can't have too many days off or he will get too far behind to catch up. I am so proud of him today for talking with his teachers so that he could get some work.

I am worried that it will become too difficult for him, that he may have a meltdown because of the extra stress placed on him. I am also worried about the new leadership team who know absolutely nothing about him. I have visions of them trying to make him fit into a round hole when he is actually a square peg. Just like that teacher back in Year 7 & 8 tried.

I totally understand that as a new leadership team they have to place their mark on the school. That all the students need to know what is expected of them. That they have their own boundaries to set & programs to implement. I'm just concerned knowing how Brodie behaves in new & strange situations that they wont be as understanding if he implodes/explodes unless they truly know him & the struggles we've had to get him where he is today. And the leaps & bounds he has made in the last two years.

So, I have decided that I am going to make a phone call to the school & arrange a time to meet the new 'team'. To let them know how concerned I am & that he isn't like all the other kids.

Oh dear. I just read the school newsletter (thankfully I get it emailed to me) and found out that our 'regular' principal will not be returning at the end of the first semester like we believed he would. I am so sad to see him go. Brodie adored him & I thought he was pretty 'cool' myself.

Now I definitely have to go to the school to educate the New Leadership Team if I want Brodie to feel comfortable about the rest of his schooling.

At Home in Victoria

Many years ago I used to hate the 'bloody' Victorians. They stole everything from South Australia, the state that I grew up in. The Grand Prix and various other sporting events. But now I have to say that now I am one of "THOSE" people. At least that is what the South Aussies must think when they saw us driving around in our Victorian registered car on our recent holiday to Adelaide.

Cheers to Victoria! Well more to West Gippsland! I don't think I'll ever go back to SA to live. I much prefer the weather here. At least where we live is much cooler and more often than not greener than the rest of the state.

We've got everything we need relatively close to where we live. There are specialists in Melbourne (an hour away at best) or in the Latrobe Valley (less than an hour away). The boys are settled in school. Brodie has his aide and is doing so much better now. I'm not 100% impressed with Angus's school though. They need some work before I think they are up to MY standards. Will fill you in on that one another time.

Even with all our ups and downs life here is pretty good. I'm in no hurry to change things.

Credit for this photo goes to Angus. He took this for us on our way home from Adelaide.

Positions of Responsibility

After I picked Brodie up from the bus stop after school on Wednesday he told me something that I wasn't very happy with. Well he didn't tell me straight away but I wish he had, I would have phoned his school up immediately and demanded to know the whole story! As it was I didn't speak with the school until Thursday morning.

Brodie had a disagreement with his integration aide (who is also a part time English teacher at the school) early in the day. It seems that in their 'playful' mood that they sometimes get into things got out of hand. Brodie's aide had been mimicking him to the point where Brodie got annoyed and retaliated by grabbing the aides shirt. The aide then in turn grabbed Brodie's shirt and threatened him.
Brodie left the aide and went to see the Assistant Principal. He spoke with Brodie and calmed him down. Brodie was terribly upset, as you would be if you were threatened by an adult, and he was told he didn't have to return to class straight away. In fact Brodie was kept out of classes between recess and lunchtime. Apparently Brodie was so distressed he wanted to phone me immediately and have me come and collect him. The school should have phoned me straight away so I could have at least talked to Brodie and not wait until the next day to tell me about it.
Oh I know they had to 'investigate' the incident first but I should have been called!

I know Brodie can push everyone's buttons at the best of times and I lose my cool with him from time to time as anyone would in our situation. He shouldn't have grabbed his aides shirt and most certainly the aide should NOT have grabbed him back! I was really peeved by this action of his.

While on the phone with the Assistant Principal (AP) on Thursday I certainly let him know how disappointed I was in Brodie's actions. I had a really good talk with Brodie about what he could have done instead. I also let him know that in no uncertain terms was I impressed with the aides response to what Brodie had done. I explained that he had a position of responsibility to students in his care. That the offence in some cases would result in someone getting fired.

Now please don't think I want him sacked, because I don't, but I certainly want the school to know how I feel about all of this. I can understand both sides of the fence. It can be extremely difficult dealing with Brodie. The AP said that he was going to talk with the Principal about how I felt, he said he was writing my comments down, and he had spoken with him the previous day about the 'incident'.

I thought that I would have heard either Thursday afternoon or on Friday whether any further action was going to be taken or not but I hadn't. You can guess what I will be doing on Monday morning! Hmm maybe I might even go up to the school and find out exactly what is going to happen, if anything at all. I wont let them push this 'under the table'

School is Back!

School went back yesterday. Thank goodness. I was almost at my wits end with the boys and their behaviour. Although Brodie's attitude was getting worse and after last nights episode of anger I don't know whether it will EVER improve. But first things first .. let me tell you how things went at school for the boys .. .. ..

The boys both got up early yesterday morning. It must've been at least 6 am as Angus woke me around 6:30 to say that they had done everything to get ready and could they please watch some TV. Now I don't normally let them watch TV in the mornings as it really makes the seem less alert when classes start.

We will now be giving another boy from Brodie's school a lift to and from the bus stop occasionally. I'll call him Nick (not his real name though). Nick also has Aspergers like Brodie does and he too will have an aide helping him at school. I met his Mum for the first time on Tuesday afternoon. She is such a lovely person. I think she and I will be good friends if we have the chance to socialise some more. Nick's Dad who I think is a shift worker will pick the Nick and Brodie up when he is able to. It's a good deal I think for both families.

Angus was so excited to be going back to school. He has been counting down during the holidays. It's no wonder that he was up so early on the first day back! As I was dropping him off I did the fake crying thing saying "My baby is now in grade 6 boohoo" he laughed and thought it was so funny. When I picked him up after school he said that he had a great day & that the new principal was good but different to Mr.B. I explained to him that there might be a lot of differences as every teacher has their own way of doing things from how they set out their classroom to what types of exercise books they like you to use.

When we finally got home Brodie was already sitting at the computer doing his homework. I was floored. I mean there it was the first day back and there he is on task doing the right thing! I was so proud of him for getting stuck into it straight away. I'm hoping that this trend continues.
Brodie got to meet his integration aide today, Mike. He will have Mike's help on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays which is good but I don't think that covers all the lessons that we had prioritised. Still I am hoping that it wont matter too much. I am just grateful that he has someone to help him now. This will be Brodie's best year at High School I just know it! Maybe it was Mike's encouragement that Brodie to do his homework last night.

After dinner last night the boys took the bins out as the garbage is due for pick up today. Anyway they took the bins out and Brodie got talking to one of the girls who live just across the road from us. While he was there he parked his butt rather heavily on her Mums car. Well our not so delightful neighbour stuck her nose in it and started ranting and raving at him to tell him off. Not her place though but she screamed and yelled non the less. Next thing I hear is Brodie swearing at her and threatening to smash her head in. I was in the middle of doing the dishes so I dropped what I was doing and headed outside to try and get Brodie indoors. I didn't have all that much luck. Mark also headed out the front too.

I swear I don't know what to do with that child! Angus was out there and agreed that he did 'jump' on the bonnet of the car. So Brodie couldn't lie about that one as he was definitely seen doing it. Plus some of our other neighbours were outside watching as well. (A real treat for them too huh). I had to tell Brodie in a way that he understood that it was not in his best interest to threaten an adult (or anyone else for that matter) and that if he was to follow through on his threats that I would in no uncertain terms have no choice but to phone the police to come and deal with him.