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Post by shelley24 on Nov 13, 2008 13:27:47 GMT -5
I have been having a hard time getting Courtney to go to school. I drive up to the school and her aide comes out to get Courtney and we cannot get her out of my car. We have had this problem for awhile but she seemed to be doing better at the begining of the year. Now it is everyday that she gives me a hard time. she goes to school in the AM and then in the PM she goes to a program that teaches life skills and community integration. She is very willing to go to the afternoon program, she just doesn't want to go to school. I know what is up with her this week, Her friend from the afternoon program passed away last Friday and she has been having a real hard time with that. He was almost 42 and he had down syndrome. He had a bad heart. He was not suppose to live much past his teen years. Courtney keeps saying I sad, miss him. Well I guess I have rambled into a second issue here, sorry guys. Any ideas on getting her to go to school and helping her to feel better about the loss of her friend would be great. Thanks for listening! Shelley
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Post by lorraine on Nov 13, 2008 16:08:04 GMT -5
Aww sorry your having a hard time at the moment. I don't know how old Courtney is, but does she enjoy helping people ? The first idea that comes to mind is that maybe you could arrange with the aide for Courtney to do something to get the classroom ready for the day, like setting an activity out or doing some photo copying or something, you might have to get there a few minutes early I suppose. Don't know if it would excite her enough to make a difference though ?. Good luck Lorraine
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Post by lorraine on Nov 13, 2008 16:30:45 GMT -5
Just thinking that if she's older maybe it could be tied in with what she does in the pm? in the life skills, say they talk about people's jobs and she has to find out what an aide does while not working with the pupils? I don't know I'm just thinking aloud here....... and I'm sorry to hear about her friend too. Lorraine
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Post by Emilysmom on Nov 13, 2008 19:19:20 GMT -5
Shelley, First of all, I'm sorry to hear that Courtney lost a dear friend. That has to be very hard on her.
What kind of program is she in during the morning? Is she fully included? Are there different kids in the morning class than in the afternoon one? Any chance that someone in the morning class is bothering her and she is just eager to get to the afternoon class to get away from them? More academics in the morning and more practical (and fun?) stuff in the afternoon? I'm not sure. Might be good to go to the school and see what could be bothering her.
Susan
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Post by steffipoo on Nov 14, 2008 8:42:03 GMT -5
Shelley I am so sorry to hear about the loss of Courtneys friend. Lorraine had a great idea. I KNOW that would help Olivia to get her out of the car and in the classroom. Or may be go a bit earlier and tie in a small job at school with her afternoon community skills program. maybe they can help figure out a small short job she can have prior to am school and get her excited about going in the am and starting it.Just throwing out ideas here. (((HUGS)) Steff
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Post by rickismom on Nov 15, 2008 18:24:31 GMT -5
This is a very hard question. You have to first of all try and talk to her and see what the problem is. Are there any kids who make fun of her? Also, suddenly not wanting to go to school might (G-d forbid), be a sign of abuse. Try and see what is good in her day, what bad. If she doesn't want to talk, maybe try "playingschool" with her......
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Post by Googsmom aka Jennifer on Nov 15, 2008 18:41:33 GMT -5
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}
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Post by shelley24 on Nov 17, 2008 14:18:42 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. Some great ideas. Courtney is going to be 17 next month. She is not fully included. She has life skills class first thing in the morning, there they work on reading, math and life skill stuff. She then has gym and art with the regular class. She also has speech and is suppose to be getting OT but we do not have an OT person right now. She is at school until 11:30 then she goes to a program that is not part of the school but a placement of the school. In this program she goes to the store and buys what she wants for lunch and then goes to the center and cooks what she buys. She has a paying job there which is about an hour a week. She volunteers at the library and the thrift store once a week also. The aide that she has had for several years is now employed there and not at school and she is very atached to this person. The aid that she has at school she has had off and on for the past couple of years. Courtney does like her. I am not sure what is going on with her. I am getting so frustrated with trying to get her to school. Thanks everyone for listening and your ideas.
Shelley
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