This daily correspondence between schools she attended and us gives you a glimpse of our daily life. Most parents of typical children do not communicate on daily basis with the teachers. This gives a reader an insight to how important daily communication is for a child with autism.
Kat has attended school since she was 3 years old. These are school notes that were result of correspondence with her parents and her teachers. We have made comments at a later date reflecting back on the impact of these events. Kats School Notes Index
Date |
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Comments |
1995-06-01 |
6/1
Can't believe its June already. What date is last day of school?
The coloring you may not want her togo to nextsheet until she does do it slightly better (gofor small improvements. The outburst "nice being ..." if you can try & ignore if possible We are trying to extinguish it at home as well.
How was Kat's recess ? Did she have fun ? The last day of school is June 15thwhich is a 1/2day. In the morning will be the 5th grade talent show, starting@9:30 AM on Thursday AM. It usually lasts for about an hour or hour &a half . There will be an end of year party in Mrs. B's class on Tues., June 13th from 2 - 3 - O'clock. They will be having sundaes. Also, on Fri, June 9th is the 3rd grade talent show - 2:15 -3:00. Maybe she'd enjoy seeing her friends " perform ." I'll mark everything down on her calendar. When is her party again - Friday - June 16th at what time ?
A good day.
E.
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1995-06-02 |
6/2
Hi, I just realize I will be stopping inwith the teacher on Tuesday anyway so Iwill not go in today . We will try to make it to allthe activites . For some of themI'll be out of town and hopefully Tom will remember . I can't believe there are so few days left in school. If you get realy bored this summer and you are in our area you are welcome to stop in and see Kat any time. Just give a buzz. Iforgot to let you know about the playtime. Kat had fun. She was overwhelemed when the girls surrounded her and asked her lots of questions . You may let them know that if they want to ask her a question they need to ask one at a time and you may need to prompt her to answer. She saw Casper last night and she loved it . You may be able to ask her about it . The party is June16th 4 - 6 PM at the Echelon Skating Rink. Have a great weekend.
Danuta
Hi ! Yes I am going to be around this summer &would love to stop in &see Kat & watch her lessons. I don't have your phone # though. I spoke to the girls about bombarding Kat w/ questions when they see her at recess & they all seemed to understand that she gets overwhelmed , and that she may need prompting. They were just so happy to see her.
I asked her questions about last night - " Where did you go last night ? , then, " What movie did you see last night ?" " Was it funny ? Did you have popcorn ?"Then she started singing the Casper theme song real loud ! T. said "Boy - first she gets the book & then she see's the movie. Wow is she lucky !! " All the rest agreed . She did answer me finally by saying , " Adventures in Wonderland ". That was a reading video we saw yesterday for 15 mins ". What a memory ! I had to pry it out of her that she saw Casper . All of my questions went unanswered or she just repeated them. Am I not asking correctly or what ? Wait ! A breakthrough just happened. She finished her work & stood up to stretch . I called her over & hugged her & she sat on my lap &I asked her again - What movie did you see last night . Casper . Was it funny ? Yes . Was it scary ? Yes - whooo ha-ha-ha ! What did you eat . I ate a hot dog . Did you have soda ? Yes . What kind ? black. Coke ? Yes Coke . Did you eat popcorn ? NO. I went to bed. Then she got off, went herself to the notebook & took out worksheets ! I guess she'd had enough questions & answers for one morning ! Well, I feel better now ! ! The rest ofthe morning passed uneventfully & we went to music. She was fine ! Have a good weekend& I'll see you on Tuesday.
E.
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1995-06-05 |
6/5
Hi E.,
We could not find the notebook this morning. I am hoping that the new teacher will be able to observe Kat on Tuesday. I am starting to think of goals for next year. If you and Mrs. B have ideas, I would appreciate them. I thought of the following:
1.Alligning Kat's schedule to work on similar tasks as the class at her level of academics.
2. Start to get her to work more and more independently and follow the "head teachers" instructions.
Hi ! Kat had a good morning I am sending a copy of your goals to John. Kat will be in Mrs. A's homeroom next year and so far the schedule looks like library on Wednesday and computer's on Thursday. Of course this can be changed in the blink of an eye ! but I just wanted to let you know. As the schedules develop, I'll fill you in ! Maybe they can arrange science in the morning: That would be really interesting for her, as Mrs. A does a lot of "hands- on" science experiments. I've been in her class before as "in class support" and she is a great teacher !
Kat finished two sets of worksheets and I asked her if she'd liked to play on the computer. She loudly answered "NO !" "NO computer ! WORK ! ! Homework ! So- she stood up and try to take them out of the notebook- I gave her another set and she worked quietly. When she was finished I asked her if she'd like to play on the computer or read a book. Well, You know she answered " read a book." What's with the computer ? Is she bored with it here at school ? Have a good day !
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1995-06-07 |
6/7
Good Morning . She's having a great day so far (9:50). She's working quietly and dilligently . I know Danuta is away, but we spoke yesterday & I would be able to come over on Tues. June 13th between 1130& 1230 to observe Kat w/ Melissa. Please let her know , OK ? Thanks ! Kat did a new computer game today; telling time on the hour & 1/2 hr. She really enjoyed it ! I'll play it again w/ her tomorrow . We're off now to library . Have a good day.
E.
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1995-06-08 |
6/8
I'll check with Danuta on 6/13 at 11:30 , but Ithink it should be fine. She also had very good day with therapists at home.
Tom
Hi ! Well, we started OK, but she had a "tantrum " in the classroom. She got very upset for no reason (I guess only she knows !) and started kicking &thrashing , yelling NO ! & grabbing &pulling at me. She was out of control for no apparent reason . I kept telling her NO & tried to have her sit down& calm down but she cried out & wouldn't sit. Mrs. B. came over & told the children to go to their seats & Kat finally was able to sit. I took all her books off her desk & had her sit quietly . She was so wild that I couldn't even bridge her to get her outside in the hall ! Whew ! This hasn't happened in ages . I wonder what set her off ? I asked her why she was crying & we went around in circles : because I am sad. Why are you sad ? Because I am crying & so on: She calmed down finally and we went to computers . Her behavior was fine but she was very talkative & very loud. I even hadto wipe off a smiley facebecause she wouldn't stop her singing. It's now 9:50 & she only has 1 smiley face . If her behavior doesn't improve , she probably won't get her surprise . Maybe it has something to do w/ Danuta being away ? I don't know . After computers I took herfor a walk because she seemed veryanxious &agitated . We walked slowy in the halls & ended up in my class . She sat down at my table &looked ata reading book & seemed to calm down . When she lookedup at me she smiled for the 1st time all morning . We stayed there for about 10 mins . I asked her how she felt. She smiled & said I feel happy. Then we left & went back to Mrs. B.'s class where I had her start her work . She was fine as could be ,working quietly & w/ a minimum of "silly talk ." I gave her smiley faces because she earned them w/ good behavior .A strange day !
E.
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1995-06-08 |
6/8
When Kat was home today working with therapists she also had one epsiode where she got sad. Therapist felt is was due to task they were doing (i.e. sums 9 & 10). She had difficulty with 6+3 &6+4 and therapist felt she doesn't like to be wrong and this lead to her getting upset. Otherwise she was fine. Hope she's better for you today. If not maybe we can figure what is triggering this, although sometimes this can be difficult to determine.
Tom
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1995-06-09 |
6/9
Hi ! Well ,we started out fine,butshe became a little anxious in the hall& ranaway from me . She wouldn't listen to me saying , stop Kat , wait. I ran after her& spoke to her about listening &she reached out& grabbed my arm tight & squeezed . Itold her NO ! and took her hand off of my arm .Then I had her just stand in the hall quietly for a few minutes .She seemedto settle down & then we proceeded down the hall to Mrs. B's room . She was fine after that . She completeted her calendar & dictionary w/out any problems. The class was taking a reading test which took them from 9:15 - 10:00 . Kat sat & did her work very quietly & I gave her some breaks after 2 sets of worksheets. She worked very quietly & conscientiously. However , when she completed a math page ,her silly talk started & became loud. Maybe she's getting stressed out over math ? As I'm writingthis -she handed me another paper- this time a math one . Read my notes on it. Remember ,the 3rdgrade talent show is today at 2:15 if you can make it. Have a good weekend.
E.
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| 1995-06-12 |
6/12
Hi E.,
We started subtraction couple of weeks ago and she maybe mixing up the two and finds it frustrating. For now we pulled all math sheets out from school and hopefully that is all itwas. If it occurs again today call me and I will stop over &observe to see what else it could be. If she starts kicking try putting her facing the wall so she can't hurt anyone . Give me a call if you think Ishould come in anyway. Ithink she may also be getting saturated with the surprises.
Good morning ! Today is Field Day &it lasts 9:30 - 11:00 & 1 - 2:30. We'll be w/ the 3rdgraders out on the field ,unless it rains ! I'll see you tomorrow 11:30 -12:30. Since were not "working", her behavior so far is OK. I'll write if it changes. We're off to "Tug of War."
E.
*Well, the children were in line, waiting to fill up their water bottles & she began hitting everyone w/ her empty bottle. I immed. took her in the hall & faced the wall .Then we came back in & I had her say "I'm sorry for hitting". Weproceeded outside to watch Tug of War(20 min) & she was just fine. We came back in @ 10:00 for the next activity ; we waited & sat in the hall, she was fine & then we went into the cafeteria & each class sat at a lunch table . It was very noisy. She began pushing& hitting Chr. & Col. who were on either side of her . Ithink all the noise& commotion got to her. I immed . removed her & we sat in the office for 10 mins and she had very, very loud silly talk for about 5 mins which I tried to stop but it kept coming back ! I took her down to get her things & she is perfectly calm & happy now ! I was going to call you when this 2nd incident happened,but it was 10:05&by thetime you would have gotten here, so would've the bus ! She 's reading a book quietly ; no smiley faces or surprises were given; Although I have said several times, "I like the way you're sitting/reading quietly." I don't mean to upset you when Itell you her behaviors,it's just that I don't know what instigate them &I feel at a lost asto what to do !
E.
*Class party tomorrow - 2:00 - 3:00 !
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| 1995-06-14 |
6/14
Hi ! A very mixed up day today. All she did was calendar, dict, &1 set of worksheets.The class watched a movie w/ the rest of the 3rd grade & it was mass confusion so we kind of did our own thing. Here are the video's -thanks . Also, I found some books that I thought you might be able to use. You can keepthem. How did you make out w/ the other books Igave you ? Did you speak w/ J.R.? Let me know.
E.
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| 1995-06-15 |
6/15
E.,
Iwill stop in around 9:30-10:00 to dropoff the books.
Danuta
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