Two weeks ago, SJ started going to his basketball practices. On the first day of practice, I wrote him a note so that he could ride the bus from the middle school to the high school. I told him repeatedly that is where he was to go, since that is what the schedule indicated.
Around 3:30, I decided to verify pick up time from Topher's mom. She said she thought it was 6:00. I thought that was odd, since Open Gym had been ending at 4:45. She indicated that the 8th graders had practice starting at 4:45. She said she would text her son and then get back to me. Instead of hearing from her, I received a text from Topher. He told me that I had to get SJ at the one elementary schools. Now, I was very confused. Why was he at South when he should have been at the high school? He sent me an additional text saying that SJ was at South because he took the wrong bus and then got driven to South by high school students. What?!?
I was in full-blown panic mode now. I asked Topher where he was. He replied that he was at home. He said he tried to stop SJ from getting on the bus to the high school and let him know he should be taking his regular bus home. He apologized saying that the bus driver wouldn't let Topher get out of line to tell SJ.
Next, I called my husband to see what the heck was going on. He told me to calm down. He said SJ had called and told him he was getting a ride, but he assumed that was with parents. He said he was in the office at South and that he was leaving work to pick him up. I texted SJ to see if he was still in the office at South. He replied that he was with the secretary. He said he took the wrong bus. I told him that my husband was coming for him. I asked him who drove him to South. He simply texted, "Some high school kids. I thought practice was at South." I questioned who the kids were. I thought maybe he perhaps knew them. "Just two nice senior high kids," he texted back.
Almost immediately after I received that reply from SJ, I got a missed call from Mr. Hooper, the coach. I called him back and he was very upset (rightly so) with SJ. He said he didn't know why he went to the high school. I confessed that it was probably my fault, since I told him repeatedly to go there. Then, Mr. Hooper apologized because he hadn't given me the most recent schedule. He was also concerned that SJ would have gotten in a car with strangers (he didn't know them) and asked for a ride. He told me he found out from the Athletic Director that SJ was at South. He said SJ had yelled at the AD for changing the schedule. I told him we would have a lot to talk to SJ about that evening.
I then sent the AD an email to apologize for SJ's behavior. I explained that SJ was on the Spectrum (I wasn't sure if he knew that fact) and a change in schedule will really throw him off. He was very kind in his response stating that he was just trying to calm SJ down. He was understanding and patient with the situation, which I was extremely thankful for.
I called my husband to see if he had retrieved SJ yet. He said he had. He had asked him about the ride to South and asked why he would have asked those unknown kids for a ride. SJ said, "Well, they didn't look like bullies and they had an extra seat in their car." My husband explained to him that he shouldn't get into cars with kids he doesn't know (even if they have an extra seat). He told him he should have stayed at the high school until his practice began. Hopefully, he was really listening to my husband.
Everything was fine this time, but that situation could have ended much differently. Thank goodness those high school boys were good people and took him to South. They could have dropped him off anywhere or done something so much worse if they were different people. We spend so much time encouraging SJ to be social and talk to people. We have to instill in him that not everyone is a nice person and to be friendly but cautious.
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