Response plan for infrequent ASD meltdowns- what does your school team do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has she had an fba/bip done? That should have been completed the first time it happened so they could determine triggers. Once that is done and if they still do not follow the plan they create, they would have a much tougher time suspending. My son is a little older now, but at that age the meltdowns were more about 1x a month and he could also get aggressive if not given space. They used to have me come get him for the afternoon but not suspend him (not ideal, but I fully understood).

I would fight for the bip and go from there.

We had this experience too. I didn't like the picking up, but that was preferable to a suspension in our case. This year we have a new AP who seems to be really intent on suspending kids with special needs as often as possible. It is starting to feel like there is some sort of agenda since last year these kids were handled much more compassionately.

Just so you know, being told to pick up your child early is the school's way is ducking responsibility. If your child is being excluded from the classroom, then it should be documented as a suspension so that it counts toward the 10 days. Otherwise, they can just keep doing it forever with no pressure to improve the supports provided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suspension CAN NOT be the plan. They need to come up with a crisis intervention plan for her that builds in ways to de-escalate. Does she have an adult she trusts who can be assigned to come to help her every time? Is there an empty room where she can go to calm herself?

We went through almost the same exact thing with our DC who had very infrequent but serious meltdowns. The school never did get an FBA/BIP together in our case and at some point he grew out of it.

You can and should appeal the suspensions to the superintendent in charge of your cluster.
You should call a manifestation determination meeting. They may not change the placement but at least that will get them to take you seriously in getting a real plan in place.

So on what grounds do I appeal? My child did strike a teacher. But I do believe the behavior was a manifestation of her disability. I can't find any mention of that as a consideration in the FCPS guidelines.

Any tips?

From what you've told us it sounds like the school was not providing the proper support and if they were the situation might never have escalated and your DD felt threatened and had to "defend" herself (emphasis on the quotes for defend because no one is saying she was actually threatened but she perceived herself to be and that's very real for a young child). It's possible that even after the school provides an FBA/BIP and a crisis intervention plan that your daughter may still have difficulty and may still be suspended. But they need to make an effort to help first. She may also need explicit instruction in techniques to calm herself. Is this in her IEP?