So Matthew hasn't had afternoon recess for 3 weeks now due to the vice principal stating that they didn't feel comfortable letting him go out to afternoon recess that he was a danger to himself and others. This was following an incident that our son was playing tag with some other boys and accidentally (even they agree it was an accident) punched another kid in the nose when reaching to tag one of the boys... They were all playing a bit on the rough side and it got out of hand...
With Matthew's great improvements at home, I requested he be given his afternoon recess back on Thursday... He did well on Thursday & then today & got called in to the office during his first recess because someone told on him that he had been calling names and making faces at them in class and at recess... Matthew admitted to a few silly faces in class and to calling him names (they were both doing it back and forth to each other - and it was only saying stuff like "I don't hit girls..." not anything really bad)
But then it went on to someone saying that Matthew had flipped off another student on the way to recess.
Matthew denied it, and was told that she didn't want to talk to him as long as he was lying. And then I got an email (our standard form of communication) about what happened, stating that the student that reported this activity was very reliable... And that all recesses were going to be taken away until we could meet to discuss this.
I responded telling them that I was frustrated because it is two steps forward and one step back, and he is doing so well at home, and let them know we would talk to Matthew about this and get back with them.
I met Matthew at the bus stop today and the first thing he said to me (without me saying ANYTHING) was "I didn't do it..." He was referring to being accused of flipping someone off... He told me that he knows that is wrong and that he would get in trouble for it. He said that he was pretty sure the "gang" of boys that he feels like is watching him all the time in class and at recess put this other kid up to saying that he had flipped someone off to get him in trouble. He said that he was so frustrated that she wouldn't believe him that he cried... (When Matthew cries, he is sincerely upset... so this is telltale that he was telling the truth)
We drafted another email to the school and let them know what Matthew told us and asked how they would like to handle making sure that Matthew feels safe from the "gang" of boys in his class and at recess & that we are upset about him losing recess over heresay about something.
I have no idea what sort of response we will get, but we are working hard on learning how to respond to things people say and do to him.
We were very proud of him when someone this week was teasing him about having a "girlfriend" - but his response was great - "no, she is my friend because our parents know each other..." (all the truth!) I love that he didn't let what they said bother him, and he had something clever to say to them!
Here's hoping that they will be able to help him at the school level, and that we won't need to figure out the next level of people to talk to to help him be treated fairly and feel safe in school.
We are so proud of how much he has changed and how well he is adapting to what he needs to do to keep his brain happier (wheat and dairy free)...
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