Least Restrictive Enironment and Inclusion

Mr. Fix it picked up Bambam from school yesterday. This does not happen very often (read hardly ever). But circumstances were such yesterday that he had the privilege of picking up the little man. (Bambam of course loved this, an afternoon with Daddy all to himself!)

So, it seems this led to a comment by Mr. Fix it last night. He indicated that he thought Bambam should be spending more time in his home classroom. This is a little bit of a touchy subject for me. I of course would love nothing more than for Bambam to BE ABLE to spend his whole school day in a typical classroom. Is this not one of our end goals? For him to function and learn in a typical classroom? But is that what is best for him right now? I don't believe so. He is simply not there yet.

Time with his typical peers is invaluable to him. He learns so much from them. But as far as being able to concentrate and learn academics in a classroom full of them? Forget it, he simply cannot do it at this time. I've been in there with him, I've seen what its like for him. There is way too much going on. He struggles to focus on one thing, to listen to directions, to even answer simple questions. In the hustle and bustle of dropping him off in the morning, he doesn't even respond to kids saying hi to him. I don't think he even hears them. There is too much background noise, movement, chaos. He doesn't know where to look. A simple task like putting his snack in his cubbie (which he could do with no help or prompting in an empty classroom) requires constant prompting and assistance when all the other kids are there. Right now, I think the best place for him to LEARN is one on one in the Learning Resource Center. And recess, gym, library, field trips, etc are the places he can interact with his typical peers.

I don't believe it will always be this way. He is miles ahead of where he was last year. But it will take more time, maturity, and lots more ability to cope before he can actually sit at a desk in a typical classroom and learn from group instruction. He will get there, I know he will. But we need to be patient.