Well, the first week was rather uneventful. Peyton found moving boring and I am sure he was glad to go. The boys left Thursday afternoon in the hopes of avoiding bad weather. They not only ran into bad weather, but heavy traffic as well. Monday found me and Spencer on a field trip to get him registered for school. After driving there, Spencer will NOT get out the of the car. After much coaxing, I get him out. He is crying profusely as we walk in the door. We are greeted by a fresh face boy no more than 20. He glances over my paperwork and remarks that I need my current electric bill in order to register. I have no such bill, having just moved here last week. Well then I need a letter from the electric company stating I have an account. All the while, Spencer is screaming, crying and trying to put my purse back on my shoulder. I give this boy my best "You've got to be kidding me" face. He seems unable to read it. So I say, "Really?" He tries to give me directions, sadly the same way I give directions, and he is met by my vacant stare. He then spends the next 3 minutes trying to get me the address. Thank goodness because it is nowhere near the landmarks he gave me.
WRESTLING THE ALLIGATOR
Spencer is so happy to leave, but not happy when we show up at the electric co-op office. We are in and out of there in less than 2 minutes. The joy of a 'small town'. He is a little more agreeable to getting out of the car the second time we arrive at the registration office. The same little boy greets us and hands me some paperwork to fill out while he makes copies of all the necessary documents. Spencer has his portable dvd player, but refuses to sit down and/or watch it. I am trying to fill out paperwork while he is grabbing my arm, whining and trying to push me off the chair so we can leave. The boy returns and brings all the paperwork to the back for an unknown person to process; we are left to wait. And wait. Spencer has no patience with waiting, so he throws a tantrum. Granted, it was one of his lamest attempts at a tantrum, but he did succeed in getting everyone's attention. I was at the point that as long as he was not being self-injurious or bothering other people, he could work through the tantrum. (Usually this gets us faster service, but not at the school registration office.) FINALLY, a woman comes out with our packet that has the name of Spencer's new school on it. She suggests we drop it off so they will be expecting him tomorrow. Sounds easy, doesn't it?
GOING AGAINST THE NINJA UNARMED
I saw the warning signs of full meltdown upon us. I also knew that his home school did not have the 'right' special ed program for him. Let me explain, in Fayette County they have several different programs for special ed. Some are tailored to a specific exceptionality (i.e. autism) while others are more broad in scope. I learned during my time at Brain Balance that they thought the best place for him would be Peeples or Braelinn. Trying to hurry this process along (and since there was no school on Monday) we went to Kedron Elementary. Little man went into explosive tantrum: throwing his dvd player, laying on the floor wailing, trying to hit me. It was obvious the front-office had seen nothing like this. I had left Spencer's IEP in the car and unfortunately the principal wanted to see it while meeting with us. I was more than willing to let one of the staff go get it, I knew all too well the hell it would unleash to go to the car and then come back. And I was right. Once inside the building again, Spencer is close to losing all control. His pupils are dilated. Crap- he is in fight or flight mode. Adrenaline pumping, he believes he is in a fight for his life. He comes to the principal's office, kicking and screaming. I turn my head for a second, then I see what he is about to do. I dash over, but am one second too late. He was on the floor kicking the side of the principal's bookcase. A couple of picture frames and a figurine fall. At least one frame shatters. I attempt to restrain him, to no avail. The principal calls for a 'restraint trained' assistant. So there the three of us are, on the floor, attempting to keep Spencer from hurting himself or us. All I can think is "What a wonderful first impression we have made!" Once we get him semi-calm, the principal goes into the "I don't think we have the right program for him" speech.
That was a truth I knew before walking in the door. Now we must navigate the red tape. We decide that until he is placed in a more suitable program, it would be best to keep him home as the change from one school to another would do more harm than good. Spencer can't wait to get the hell out of Dodge, so he is easy to get in the car. I am told to wait for a call from the County Special Education Coordinator. It is now only 11:30 am on Monday. I am spent, both emotionally and physically.
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