I am an experienced teacher and on the first day of term 1 I was asked to meet the Principal to discuss placement of a new enrolment into my Year 3 class.
The Principal informed me that the student had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, one of the disorders on the Autism Spectrum. Taylor is an 8 year old girl who had previously attended an independent school.
The Principal informed me that Taylor should be entitled to funding as an Integration student. The way the funding would be used would be at the discretion of the relevant members of the school’s Learning Support Team. The Principal believed that the funding could be equivalent to wages for a Teacher’s Aide for about ten hours a week.
I spoke to Taylor’s mother and found out that she was on medication which had to be administered twice a day during school time. Taylor lived with her mother and an older sister who was ten. Taylor’s mother confided that she had been divorced before Taylor started school and partly this was due to the stress caused by her disorder. Taylor’s mother was anxious that her enrolment at a new school would benefit her learning as she had been very unhappy at her previous school. Taylor’s mother believed that she wasn’t receiving enough support. She had no friends and was never invited to birthday parties and fought with her elder sister. Taylor’s mother was a member of the Asperger’s Support group for the area. She was able to supply me with reading material about the disorder, which I read over the next few days. It appeared that Taylor would most likely have difficulties relating to other children through the use of inappropriate attempts to make social contact. She would find changes to routines difficult to cope with and this would be particularly evident starting at a new school.
I felt concerned about my ability to provide a good educational environment for Taylor’s needs and expressed my concerns to my Team Leader because in the previous year I had an integration student and I did not believe I had appropriate support. My Team Leader did not know anything about Asperger’s Syndrome either. She said there would be a formal Integration meeting with the Principal, the parent, the School Counsellor and the Integration Officer from District Office, and I should direct any concerns or enquiries to that meeting.
Taylor commenced school the next day along with 29 other children in my class. My supervisor told me that 4 of my students had been identified as gifted and talented, 6 were on the learning difficulties register and 8 would be attended ESL classes.
During the next few weeks I was approached by a number of teachers who had difficulties managing Taylor while on playground duty. She was aggressive towards other children and was unco-operative when spoken to by the teacher on duty.
In the classroom, Taylor needed an individual education program for English and mathematics. Her program took up a great deal of my time to prepare and teach.
Several parents in the class spoke to me about stories they had heard at home about the new girl.
I was concerned that several other children in the class were difficult to manage, some also needed special learning programs and Taylor’s behaviour seemed to be a catalyst to disrupt the other children.
Along with all the other responsibilities, I had to remember to send Taylor to the Office for her medication twice a day at designated times.
Last Friday, the School Assistant burst into my classroom and said it was the third time I had forgotten to send her up to the Office that week. She said she was sick and tired of having to traipse around the school looking for 3B.