Small Town Mom, Fighting for Autistic Son to Go to School

The first day of kindergarten, a day of mixed emotions as parents send their little ones of to the world of school buses, homework and recess. It's such a monumental day in the life of a parent and a child, a day that I am fighting for my son to have. It is a day that I will not take for granted, you see my son, who is 5 1/2, has autism.

I live in a very rural area in Ohio, a town with a population of about 2500. A town and a school that is not equipped to deal with the daily challenges of teaching a child with autism. The problem with that is, he is not the only child in this town with autism, nor will he be the last. With the amount of children being diagnosed with autism everyday, small town schools will all sooner or later be faced with the dilemma that I am in. Some small schools have MH classes or (multi-handicapped classes), our school does not.

My school wants to shift the responsibility of my child around like he is just a file name and not a human being. It breaks my heart, as it is not my son's fault that he is the way he is. Their solution is to either put him in preschool (yet again) send him to an MRDD school, or find another district that would be willing to take him. My son has autism, not mental retardation. He is not medically fragile, he is an intelligent child who for lack of better words is just "wired different". He already knows his shapes, colors, numbers and can even write his name. He has mastered preschool academics, but his sporadic autistic behaviors make it difficult to put him into a mainstream kindergarten classroom.

Schools however, are required to provide special needs children an education in "the least restrictive environment". In other words, they cannot deny him the right to go kindergarten at their school. Sounds simple right? Wrong! My weeks are filled with IEP meetings. calls to district supervisors, social workers, parent advocates, legal agencies, state agencies and so on. A path full of paperwork, just to let him go to school. Here it is the middle of October, and as I write this, my beautiful little boy is upstairs watching Barney, when he should be in school learning.

There is a lot to learn for the parents of autistic children who will follow in my footsteps. Remember that you are your child's voice and you know what is best for them more than any doctor, teacher or therapist. Some schools out there will truly want to help you and others just want to pass the buck. Remember your child has rights, and it might take some research on your part to figure out what they are. To other parents out there reading this, don't take for granted the simple things in life, such as your son or daughter's first day of kindergarten, it is parenting privilege that I continue to fight for.

To be continued...