Service & Facility Teams

Just wanted to let you know about my afternoon with Zack today. I work with a seventh grader who is a high functioning autistic student at a San Diego middle school. This was the first time Zack went with me to this particular site. I arrived at the school only to find a major upset. The aide was on the telephone talking to the boy's mother about a critical situation that had come about in the classroom. The mother decided to come out to the school to pick up her son and take him home for the day. It seems his teacher had recycled all the kids' journals for the end of the year without warning him and he had some pictures in there that he wanted. He became so upset that he could not calm down and get on with his day. He could not focus on any of his classes. The aide had tried all the sensory strategies we had given to help calm him and nothing was working. This was the first big problem he had all year. I then asked if I could take him out of class and work with him. I brought him with me to meet Zack and, all of the sudden, he clicked out of his focus on his journal and calmed down. He stroked Zack, shook the dog's hand then gave him a hug. We finished up with a couple of sensory strategies then I asked him if he was ready to go back to math class. He nodded and told me yes, he was actually smiling. The aide caught up with me a little later in the day and thanked me and Zack for being there at the perfect time. This boy was able to finish his day at school as well as go to his after school learning center program. This is what it's all about . . . a smiling boy at the end of a rough day.