Between Bus And School, 6-Year-Old With Autism Gets Lost On First Day
By Shaun HeasleyA 6-year-old Chicago-area boy with autism was picked up by a school bus for his first day Tuesday, but didn’t make it to his classroom. Instead, he was found wandering alone outside the school on his own three hours later.
Connor Donovan has autism and speaks only a few words. His mother, Laura, put him on his school bus Tuesday morning and was shocked to receive a call hours later saying that another parent found her son wandering alone outside the school.
Apparently, the boy’s bus driver took him and four other special education students to the wrong elementary school before arriving at the correct location in Joliet, Ill. Somehow the other students made it to class, but Connor did not.
The school superintendent swiftly intervened and apologized to Connor and his family personally. But the boy’s mother remains unnerved and plans to follow her son’s bus to school in the future, reports WGN.
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This also happened to our son many years ago. Our son is now 24 years old. I advocated for my son to have a one on one aide. For us this was a good thing both for our son and for our teacher as it brought more help to the classroom. Our son was lost first on a bus ride, and left in a bus in 30 degree weather, and a snow storm. (He was 5 at the time) He was lost for over 8 hours. The second time this happened, the bus driver let out my son at the school and he wandered off for 3 hours. The staff found him wandering and swimming in a local creek. He was then 6 years old. I got the school to provide the aide and we never had another problem. In many ways it was very helpful as the aide was able to do our intensive behavioral therapy. I feel for this family, and I hope they never go through this again. It is simply a nightmare. I did remain “nice” with the district and throughout our school years and they went out of their way to help us. I always tried to work out my problems. I know every situation is different.
Why isn’t a spec ed teacher meeting the school bus and escorting the kids to class? I am pretty sure that’s what they do at my school. The bus drivers don’t even let the kids off the bus until a teacher is there to take them.
Sounds like this child would benefit from having a service dog especially trained to aid those with Autism! It would help in the child’s independance. The solution is not requiring a grown-up to meet the child at the bus – a dog would be a more natural support – not only for getting from the bus to the school, but for not being left on a bus, elopment, and other transgressions those with autism may have.
PHQ
Was this a contracted driver? Was this a special education bus or had these kids been stuck unsafely on a regular education bus? I have never known a staff special education driver to just turn loose of handicapped kids. They cannot be allowed to wander. They could fall in a hole or get hit by a car, especially the lower functioning ones, but moderately retarded teenagers may also need supervision so they don’t go off with someone and have sex. The drivers are trained not to let special education children off the bus unless there is someone there to meet them, especially not at the beginning of school.
Where was the child’s teacher? If I was expecting students I was always outside waiting for them, either me or the paraprofessional or both of us unless we knew they could get in by themselves (older, less disabled). And if the bus was late, I would call the coordinator or the bus barn and find out if something was wrong. Once the bus was in a minor accident. I heard the neighborhood it was in and was ready to go pick up my babies because I knew I had a runner and a wanderer!
What is wrong with special educators today? Are they so used to dealing with inclusion that they don’t think our kids need help anymore? Are they so generic they don’t know how?
This is also a word to parents. If your child cannot talk and they don’t have school identification cards label your child. If he will eat the identification card or take it off, get two large safety pins or diaper pins (harder to undo) and pin it to his back between his shoulder blades. Older non-verbals can sometimes be trained to take a card out of their wallet and give it to an adult if they have a problem or are asked their name.
Kids who use wheelchairs are usually looked after, but the younger ones should have a tag on the back of their chair anyway in case of an accident.
This was disgraceful to all of special education.
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