More Trouble at School....

I am feeling increasingly guilty about sending my son to school. Every day he comes home and tells me of yet another incident of bullying. I feel like I send him into the lion's den every morning.

Previously on this blog, I mentioned a boy in his class who has made it a personal goal to make my son's life a misery. His abuse is usually verbal, but lately, it has also been physical. Only a few weeks ago, I had to tell the teacher about an incident where this child had unravelled a paperclip and was trying to stab my son with the sharp end. The teacher spoke to the boy and I hoped that the bullying would stop.

Yesterday, My son said that the bullying had started again. The boy had been taunting my son with a bag of Monster Munch (snacks with a very strong flavour and scent). Kids with autism are hypersensitive to smells, and the smell of Monster Munch makes my son feel sick. When the boy realized this, he kept putting the bag near his face and then eventually threw the bag of snacks in my son's face. Of course, my son did not think to mention any of this to a staff member.

In the playground, my son plays by himself. He is happy in his own world. During break, a kid kicked a football in my son's face. He said it was an accident, but the child involved was a child who had been previously bullying him.

The "bullying" does not stop with the children. In class the teacher explained to the children instructions on how to write a story and then sent them to their desks to write it. Unfortunately, in a large group, my son "tunes out" voices, and needs one on one instruction, to take in information properly. When he got to his desk, he wrote the story wrong and the teacher was furious. She then announced to the whole class that if she was giving out prizes for good behaviour, my son would be the last person to get one. This reduced him to tears. Unfortunately, I do not know whether the teacher has had much training about autism or how it affects a child's ability to process instruction.

He was pretty miserable about going in today. I had to fight back the tears when I sent him in. I felt like I was sending him to his doom. I am in tears typing this.