Kind of a Drag

This week was a "bit" of a "meeting" week (slight understatement there).  Things are going slightly better with my two 250lb. 6'3" boys however so it's all worth it. I did get my arm twisted again last week and I told my admin team and a few higher ups that I was very close to a "Refusal to Work" as was being advised to me by my Union president because of my unsafe work environment. It's amazing how those three words, or threat of those three words can actually make things happen.  The very next day (Thursday) a young, strong (and may I say very easy on the eyes!) male supply EA who has worked with me in the past and knows both of my big boys very well walked into my classroom at 7:15am. What's even more amazing is that he was on an LTO (long term occasional contract) at another school yet the powers that be were able to pull a few strings and give him to me for the duration of this school year. So on Thursday and Friday I was able to change up the boys' programs a bit as we could move them from area to area more safely. We now have two good non-violent days under our belts with the hopes of many more to come.

We are going to try to get them over to the local YMCA for swimming a couple times of week and to a park with a playground that is just a few blocks away as well as introduce some new, more challenging and hopefully more interesting work tasks that require two adults for supervision instead of one. (learning to use a hammer and a screwdriver culminating in building a birdhouse!)

HAPPY THRIVING BOYS = HAPPY UNINJURED STAFF

While I'm on the topic of school I'm happy to report there are only 54 days left until I take off to PEI!! My older sister is there right now for a few weeks working on her farmhouse which is undergoing extensive renovations. 

She just sent me this picture yesterday as she was walking around her property. It's a little hard to tell in this picture but last year they put on a bright red metal roof - I love it! They've put in some new windows and have a few more to go. They took the rooms all back to the studs and insulated it well - how did people survive all those years in un-insulated homes??? Or did they just get used to being cold all of the time??  Or did they stay in bed for hours and hours?? That would explain the larger families back then I guess :)

On the financial front I went and spent some money - oh no!! I bought one of these:

Cell Glass Fireburner

I bought it through a pop-up store connected to my favourite newspaper - The National Post. It was on sale for half price and I got free shipping plus a $25.00 coupon. We have a lot of wind on our little hilltop in PEI so this will enable us to have a fire safely on even the windiest of evenings. We have friends in Stratford, PEI who had a smaller ceramic version on their patio table while we had dinner outside one evening and I loved it! You can take your fire from place to place. We could be sitting on our front porch while it's raining and still have a fire! It makes me happy so there! Money well spent!

So now I must get busy. We are going to Chatham tonight for a 50th birthday celebration which is being held at a hall with a band and lots of dancing and carousing! And yes, we're staying over. So I need to get my housework and schoolwork done today. Better get crack - a - lacking!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

and the GOOD NEWS just keeps coming....

The last four days constitute the ultimate version of the "week from HELL"!! I won't bore you with all the details, just suffice it to say that tomorrow will be a "mental health day" pour moi! Ok ok I'll tell you this much: I was at the walk-in clinic last night (wasting my time waiting for over an hour though I did finish the book "The Jane Austen Book Club" so I guess the night wasn't a total waste) (also wasted $1.00 in coins for the parking meter only to be told by the doctor that they're never checked...WHAT!?!...guess who'll NOT be putting money in THOSE meters anymore??) ok, where was I?.......oh yeah I had to get checked over and a form filled out by the doctor because I had been in a "workplace violent incident on Tuesday...well actually three violent incidents but rest assured it's only soft tissue damage and soon I will be able turn my head and shrug my shoulders without pain again, in fact, I would say that in comparison to yesterday the pain is reduced by about 75% and I've only taken ibuprofin once today compared to about five times yesterday. So, see, I'm just fine!

On Tuesday I had THREE, yes THREE supply EAs which is rather a challenge when they're working with students with autism who don't handle change well. So I intervened several times because the students know me better than total strangers (duh) but by then Paul was already on edge. So twice he put me in a headlock (from behind...didn't see him coming and no one said "watch out") and once he twisted my arm. The pain was in my neck, shoulder and back but very minor injury, as I said the pain is almost all gone already. But of course bureaucracy demands 87 forms in triplicate so I complied.

But my post isn't about that stuff so forget about the last two paragraphs ok?

No, this is a GOOD NEWS post! Looky looky looky!! Yesterday in the mail I got my set of beautiful handmade coasters from the very talented Debby!! from Nanny's Place.  Aren't they so springy? I told Debby that these coasters would be travelling east with me this summer and take pride of place out on our world famous front porch:

So THANK YOU Debby for sending me the gorgeous coasters - I'm thinking about a cold pitcher of margarita's right about now :)

AND I just saved myself about $100!! All in the space of 5 minutes!! Yes, that's right. I had an email from my antivirus provider to say my time was almost up and I could renew for the low low price of around $100. I thought to myself  "I can do better than that" so after a quick google search I downloaded for FREE  antivirus software that works with my Windows Vista so I'm all set for another year!! Yippee, I love FREE!

AND when I got home today there was money on the kitchen counter from my daughter who had downloaded a book on my Kindle that she needed to read for an exam AND a bottle of red wine with a note from Michael which read "Welcome Home Jane"!  Awwww, ain't it great to be LOVED??

So, as always, LIFE has its ups and downs. It all balances out in the end. Even though the week has been brutal on several levels I know I'm loved and I have the best friends in the world - literally from all over the world!! YOU!! and YOU!! and YOU TOO!!

AND my two besties are planning to come out for a visit to PEI this summer. Can life really get any better??

Julie, Troy and me - I love you guys!

Long Day Harrison...Long Day

As one of my former students, Jesse, used to say "long day Harrison, long day"! I just got home a few minutes ago from parent/teacher interviews so yes indeedy Jesse, it was a long day. Jesse had a developmental disability along with Tourettes - if you know anything about Tourettes one of the characteristics is the tendency to yell out obscenities at inappropriate times, which is pretty much all of the time. Fortunately Jesse had led a rather sheltered life and the worst she could come out with was "piss, poo, pee"! Another characteristic is to say the same things over and over again along with sometimes quite violent vocal and physical tics. So suffice it to say that when Jesse started saying "long day Harrison" at 8am I knew it was going to be a veeeeeeerrrry long day. As it is with every developmental student I've ever had the privilege to teach Jesse had many redeeming qualities: she was friendly, sociable, curious, sensitive to others, loved babies and dogs and never forgot a face or a name - she remembered every person she ever met - including our country's prime minister - Stephen Harper.

Tonight I had only one parent show up so she and I had a good ol' chat for almost two hours. As she was going to leave (for about the 100th time) she said - "I like talking to you!" That made my day. She really struggles with having an 18 year old son with autism. He's a bright boy but crippled with anxiety. She says she tries not to think about it too much or she'd have a breakdown. A couple of years ago after a long interview with her I decided I would always try to give her at least an hour to talk instead of the usual 10 minutes as she always seemed to need to unload. It's like therapy for her and she knows she's talking to someone who knows her son extremely well and cares about him. And I do, I just love that boy.

Jesse at track and field

A few months ago I was at their home to help fill out an assessment for adult services. She served us some homemade blueberry cake that was to die for! (She's polish and makes EVERYTHING from scratch, including pierogies) and tomorrow she's going to send in the recipe for me and if you're really good I'll share it with you! That woman can COOK! 


So now I'm going to go crawl into bed with my glass of wine and watch a movie with Michael - it's that one about Drs. Freud and Jung - "A Dangerous Method" I think it's called. I'll likely fall asleep and miss the ending like I usually do! Tomorrow is casual day to raise money for Autism AND it's multicultural day so I'm putting the diet aside for a day so I can enjoy some ethnic food. YAY for Friday!!

Did you notice I never mentioned money once???

Angel With a Broken Wing

M

The other day at school I had to get something off a high shelf and while standing on a chair in order to reach I found a ceramic angel that a former staff member had given me - it had fallen over and one wing was broken off. For the past few days it has lain on my desk, patiently waiting for me to get out the Gorilla Glue and put it back together - this angel I can fix.

I was going to write a rant today but after being home now for a few hours my anger has turned to sadness.

I looked over my list of possible writing topics but nothing appeals to me right now.

So I will talk about one of my boys - M. M is the student who lives in a group home, not with his parents. He is a beautiful boy of Italian descent and when I look at him I think of how much the artist Michelangelo would have loved to paint his portrait. M is an angel I cannot fix.

Let me tell you about a practise amongst educational assistants. I have 7 EAs who work closely with my students, some work 1:1 with the students who have autism. M is one of those students. Yesterday he lost his EA. At another highschool in my city 2 EAs were declared redundant. When an EA is declared redundant at their school they have a choice: take a position where there is a temp EA currently working OR "bump" someone with less seniority and take their job. The "bumped" EA goes through the same process - take an exisiting position with a temp EA or bump someone lower...etc...etc it can go on for months before everyone is settled.

This is in their contract and there is nothing I or anyone else can do about it.

M's new EA had a really rough day.  M wouldn't eat his lunch and when it was time to go to physed he began trying to bite the new EA. Two more EAs talked to M who was lying on the floor in the hallway and withing 2-3 minutes he agreed to walk back inside my classroom and go sit in our "quiet room". M made several attempts to get past other EAs in order to bite his new EA. We had to send the new EA to another area so M couldn't see him. He was extremely anxious and agitated and tried to bite and kick the EAs. Once he was seated the EAs left the quiet room and closed the door but M tried and tried to get out. He kicked the door many times and then started banging his head against the door. The EAs (not his) had to go in to prevent him from injuring himself. I called his group home to send staff to pick him up and take him home. When M was calmer staff again left the room but M then kicked the cement block wall with his foot and began to sob. He cried and cried as though his heart was broken. I realized then just how much he was grieving the loss of his EA, his one true friend. It was the saddest moment I've ever witnessed.

We put some ice on his foot and he put a piece in his mouth. An EA continued to feed him ice chips until group home staff arrived to take him home. He kept saying to himself "don't cry."

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. The new EA is going to have to try to make a connection with M - it won't be easy. M had such a close bond with his former EA and he has no understanding of "bumping" and really, neither do I. It's a practise that puts the needs of the most vulnerable of our students last. His best friend has vanished into thin air and I can't fix it.

Thanks for listening.

Weeky Wrap

http://www.integratedmortgageplanners.com/blog/

(Photo in header taken August 25th in Goderich, ON which is on Lake Huron)

News Beat: 
That sound you're hearing is my huge sigh of relief that the "accident saga" is finally over. Cora is now safely residing in her very own parking space in front of our home. Cora is a dear little thing who looks great for her age, is very peppy and has very moderate drinking habits. And even better she has already saved me a pile of dough.

Who could have foretold this little windfall:  after picking up the cheque for cc
I then paid for Cora in full and had $2,548.00 profit!! I spent $129 at Canadian Tire for a set of 4 rubber floor mats for Cora, a new "telescopic" snow brush and an Obusform Massage Cushion that fits the car seat, plugs in to the data plug and provides both heat and massage:) :) :) (I carry all my stress in my back:() ps - it also works on any chair (like the one I'm sitting in right now and ohhhh it feels so very very good...)

Once at home I immediately transferred $2,000.00 to my Line of Credit leaving $419 which combined with my current balance of over $200 in my misc budget is going to buy Cora a brand new set of snow tires to ensure a safer winter on the road. I'm so happy I could sing a showtune - aren't you glad this blog doesn't have audio??? - believe me you should be!

In other news...that $10 bill I had in my wallet since last Sunday? I put it into the Crofters Lane jar this morning plus another $5 from $$ I withdrew today to bring the jar total up to an even $300.  My hydro bill was down $10 from last month so it ended up being under budget by $28 this month - it really does pay to power off everything before going to bed each night.

Still have $150 in the gas budget so I plan to take Cora out on the highway this weekend and drive to the trailer in Bayfield. This last trip to retrieve some things we need here at the house over winter was postponed due to the accident. So I'll see how Cora handles on the highway:)

And this is exciting (to me)...I am featured this week in Angela Barton's weekly edition of Thrifty Threads - check it out!!

Heart Beat:
DD is very fearful about getting behind the wheel of a car but this weekend I am going to encourage her very strongly to drive Cora with me beside her. She learned to drive on an identical gold Cobalt so I am hoping this will decrease her discomfort level. This will be a tough one but she needs to give it a go.

Really enjoyed working with my team of 7 educational assistants this week - they really are an amazing group of people. This morning was pretty rough - Michael couldn't stop picking at a hangnail to the point he was grabbing any object he could to dig away at it - nothing we did could distract him from self-injuring and he began to headbut his EA. He lives at a group home as he has very challenging behaviours and I had to call the staff to come and administer anxiety medication.  They ended up taking him back home. Tough day, but handled well.

Our Upside Down Day

Every once in awhile we have an upside down day at school.  It isn't intentional, it just happens that way. I knew right off the mark today that this was going to be "one of those" days.

Before the students arrived I had to inform my staff of seven educational assistants that our newest addition - "Fred" - might be apprehended by the Children's Aid Society because the brother who looked after him between 2pm til 10pm while their single dad worked had been placed into hospital due to having a psychotic episode. Both of Fred's older brothers have schizophrenia - talk about a tough family situation.

Then the students started to arrive. We had to call "Michael" by the name "Andrew" all day (lol) due to him bringing the wrong backpack to school. He is very difficult to manage so he doesn't live with his family - he lives in a group home instead with "Andrew" and the mixup was made while they were boarding special vans to school. No problem - one phone call - their lunches were both the same, no medications involved so on with the day.

Then around 11:20am I had to ask another student -"Lucy" - to back away from her computer as she wasn't following instructions and when I had tried all other options to encourage compliance we had to pull her chair back from the computer. Well the obscenities flew and my sweater almost flew off my back but within about 5 minutes she calmed down and went on to another activity successfully. 

A bit later an EA was in the washroom with "Albert" when Albert began to sway on his feet and almost passed out. He brought him out of the washroom and sat him in a chair. Albert's temperature and heartrate went through the roof so we laid him on a gym mat, removed his shirt and shoes, gave him a cool sponge bath and I called mom to come to the school. This is the boy pictured above - he loves to tap tupperware on the floor and pass it back and forth through a doorway. He is on the move constantly and must burn a trillion calories a day. But he laid still on the mat, his breathing laboured and mom arrived right away. His pulse slowed down and he cooled down but we urged mom to get him checked out by a doctor. Albert is non-verbal so can't express how he feels. I think he may have been having a hyperglycemic reaction.

That should be enough but we're not done yet! While we were attending to Albert another student - Michael/Andrew was left unattended while using a computer.  Michael has a habit of biting the wires off computer mice so hasn't been allowed on a computer for two months.  Well, today his occupational therapist had brought us a wireless mouse and keyboard to try. While using the wireless mouse Michael did attempt to bite the wires but of course there was nothing to bite.  However, when left on his own for a minute he was able to "disable" the mouse by smashing it - hey - he's a great problem-solver:)

So that was my upside down day. We met as a team at the end of the day to debrief and brainstorm for ideas to manage these situations better in the future. And we had a good laugh because when you work with students who have autism everyday can be an upside down day and we just take it in stride and try to adapt the environment and students' programs to resolve issues as they come up. Every day is a fresh start for everyone and hey - we have to see the humorous side of things or we'd go starkers!  We come back everday because we are driven by deep compassion and love and a desire to support students who need a little, sometimes a lot, of patience and understanding.

But then, don't we all??