Update on the bus

Friday we changed some things in Patrick's home time routine to see if we could get him to take the bus without refusal. Of course, we were silly enough to change several things at once so we don't know what did it. But in our defense, we were getting frustrated and needed to see some improvement.

So first, the aid asked Patrick if he wanted to have a seat to himself. She felt he might be crowded by the child who was chosen to sit next to him to keep him in his seat. I can't believe I didn't think of this one since on the way to school there's only a couple of kids on the bus and he sits alone (and stays in his seat). He said yes to this.

She also stopped talking about it during the school day. We felt he might be overwhelmed and possible overloaded by all the "bus talk". This was my idea. I told her he was smart enough to know what we expected at this point and also to know which bus to get on. This was definately a behaviour or regulation issue and not an intelligence one.

Finally, she got him a "bus bag". It's a gift bag with happy faces on it. She chose a train, a yellow car and a book and placed them in the bag. The bag stays on the bus and when Patrick sits on the seat he gets to play with the toys till he gets home. Then he places the bag back next to the driver till the next day. Not only did this relieve possible boredom on the bus but he wants to get on every day! What a super idea.

So our main problem with school has, it seems anyway, been solved. Now I'm going to wade into curriculum and ask them to do certain social and emotionally develpmental stuff with him. Wish me luck!