Post by sparkythelawyer on Aug 21, 2014 17:30:42 GMT -5
I would need to know more about how her kid is doing with his peers.
Middle school was fucking hell for me. I was bullied, teased and harassed. My locker was broken into so many tines I just stopped bothering to lock it. If in addition to dealing with that every damn day someone told me I'd have to ride the bus you have described, I'd have lost it. It would have just been more fodder for the little assholes I went to school with. And teachable moments are great and all, but when a kid already wants to hide in a deep hole every day because of school, I could see Mom's concern.
If the kid is otherwise doing well and has good peer support at school, she should calm down.
Post by fivechickens on Aug 21, 2014 17:31:01 GMT -5
My daughter has special needs she can carry on a conversation with us better than her two non SN sisters can. If it weren't for her leg braces and her walker you would never know she was special needs. The thought that people might fine her not worthy of their kids friendship because of her SN makes me very sad.
Also. I wonder how many kids on the 'cool' bus have some type of SN that she is unaware of. OMG the SN might rub off on her son.
Clearly this woman i have never met has enraged me.
For real, she's demanding that her school district reroute a bus just so her preshus doesn't have to ride with special needs kids? That asshole needs to reevaluate herself.
Yes. This is exactly what she is demanding and plans to go to the superintendent of schools. No joke.
Good luck with that! LOL I complained to our school district because my SN son was on the bus at 650am for an hour long bus ride to his school that is less than 5 miles away and with a 45 drive home, on a bus with 8 other SN kids all harnessed in with only one aide. I only got a "complies with regulations etc"
Does she realize that her kid is class with special needs kids? Oh NO! They might have to talk to special need kids in their own classroom. The Horror.
As a mom of children where one rides the special need bus and one that does not ride the special needs bus, my eyes are rolling and my head is shaking. This is sad that people have no clue. I mean my son's buses usually had 5-6 kids all harnessed in, 1 kid per seat, and quiet, not a peep out of anyone, and usually 1 aide.
While my older son's bus has almost 3 kids per seat and loud!
Her child might even have to sit next to one! Can you imagine?
She feels it is inappropriate for her son to be with those children. She also claims her son is afraid that one of the kids might have behavior issues and try to attack him.
I can understand concerns that he'd be bullied, and my mom, who was a bus driver, actually was attacked by a student when she drove the special ed. bus, so it can happen. But it can also happen and is probably even more likely to happen to a student on a long bus, so her fears are prejudiced and unwarranted.
If she's worried her son might be bullied, she should talk to him about it rationally (is she capable of this?).
She feels it is inappropriate for her son to be with those children. She also claims her son is afraid that one of the kids might have behavior issues and try to attack him.
She feels it is inappropriate for her son to be with those children. She also claims her son is afraid that one of the kids might have behavior issues and try to attack him.
I originally was giving her the benefit of the doubt thinking she was scared her son was going to get made fun of and didn't want him to have to deal with that. I definitely wouldn't freak out but I could see a situation like that where maybe I get it, middle school sucks for almost everyone and trying to make it easier and all that.
However, this right here enrages me. She is a nasty bitch teaching her child to look down on others with this shit and I would have had a hard time biting my tongue.
I could understand if maybe her child was previously teased a lot or did not have any friends? Like, she was trying to avoid him being teased for one more thing. But even if that were the case, her reaction is ridiculous.
She can drive him to school if she doesn't like the bus provided.
I hope the Superintendent's office tells her to kick rocks.
I'm with sparkythelawyer re: her kids' relationships at school but if it's simply that she's a snatchdragon that thinks "differently-abled" is catching, then screw her. One of my favoritest students (and a favorite of many of the students at our school) is a girl with cerebral palsy or a similar neurological component who just happened to win a national arts program for her video short of...herself, being herself.
I would need to know more about how her kid is doing with his peers.
Middle school was fucking hell for me. I was bullied, teased and harassed. My locker was broken into so many tines I just stopped bothering to lock it. If in addition to dealing with that every damn day someone told me I'd have to ride the bus you have described, I'd have lost it. It would have just been more fodder for the little assholes I went to school with. And teachable moments are great and all, but when a kid already wants to hide in a deep hole every day because of school, I could see Mom's concern.
If the kid is otherwise doing well and has good peer support at school, she should calm down.
But it's quite clear in this situation that she isn't concerned about her kid being made fun of. She's concerned about labels and thinks it's beneath her and her child.
If this was truly about her child's well-being and being made fun of, she would have phrased it much differently and wouldn't have said a damn word about him being "attacked" because it would be quite obvious to her that this is a ridiculous judgment to make.
Honestly, I think she's a bitch. This is a teachable moment for her child and a great opportunity for him to branch out and potentially meet someone new. Or, you know, it's a ride to school on a bus and he can read a book.
It's a RIDE to school FFS. Talk about an example of not teaching tolerance, compassion or being grateful. Of she's that upset then she can get her happy ass and drive him herself. I had to walk to school in the Texas heat both ways. I would have been grateful to get a ride in a bus short or not.
when i was a whippersnapper and rode the bus there were children with "disabilities" - this is not the norm?
what does special Ed mean?
No all children don't ride the same type. Some are equipped with wheelchair lifts and harness clips. My son wears a harness that clips him to the seat in 4 places. It keeps in the seat since due to his autism he might not sit in the seat. Some children might be in car seats etc. Generally physical issues or such that they need to be aided on and off, harness etc. Some buses are long and some shorter. Depends on school which they buy and routes. Special education = special ed
Post by karmasabiotch on Aug 21, 2014 18:49:14 GMT -5
It wouldn't bother me. My son does have special needs so maybe I see it in a different light but thus doesn't seem like a big deal to me. If she's that upset she can drive him.
Post by whitemerlot on Aug 21, 2014 18:50:34 GMT -5
When I was in elementary school I rode the short bus to school every day. I loved it because it was so quiet and much less bumpy than the regular bus and I had motion sickness. I just happen to be on the bus because of the route.
I was a special ed teacher for a long time and I would be absolutely fine with my child riding the short bus.
Someone I know (who is normally extremely dramatic) was LOSING HER SHIT today because she received her son's bus assignment. She lives in a condo development (they are really like apartments) and the development is on an EXTREMELY busy main road. Her son is one of two children living in the development attending middle school this year (there are a lot of adults and seniors there) and it has been the policy of the district to not let buses go into the development because there is no place for a vehicle that large to safely turn around. Normally her son's bus stop is in the parking lot of a daycare adjacent to her development. Anyway, this year her son is on a small bus designated for children with special needs. She was RAGING about it. Last year she managed to get the district to change his bus assignment stating that it is inappropriate for her son to be with all the special needs children, but this year, the woman who answered her call was not having it and told her they are not changing his bus. She plans to go to the superintendent. I feel like she might be overreacting but maybe I am just more sensitive to children with special needs. I understand that children in middle school are generally assholes and maybe her son is worried he will be made fun of. I totally understand that. How far would you take this? No joke she was practically stroking out over this, ready to cry! How would you feel if your non special ed child was placed on this bus route?
I wasn't offended by her comments, and she kept saying, "no offense to you or anything," but I do wonder how rational people would feel in this situation. Like I said, she has a flare for the dramatic on a daily basis so I can't tell if her reaction was normal.
This woman is an idiot and an asshole. I imagine she's made the same sort of comments to her son, which show him it's ok to act like she does. I hope her son thinks she's a dipshit and out of line. I absolutely hate parents like this.
I was all Team: Afraid of Son Being Bullied, but then you wrote more and it appears that she's just an asshole. If this is the case, I hope she is stuck with it but I also hope that her son doesn't have to deal with any bullshit from classmates, either.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Aug 21, 2014 19:06:45 GMT -5
fucking ew. She sucks. And LOFL at "no offense, BUT...."
Yeah, no. Middle school kids suck, and will find something to tease anyone about. Bus, jeans, hair, backpack, doesn't matter. If it isn't this, it will be something else. Better to teach him how to deal with the smarmy comments now, if kids even care about that stuff anymore. Maybe they don't. I honestly don't know.
Her "concerns" are based in her own ignorance and douchebagginess.
Andplusalso? I would LOVE for N to ride the SN bus that comes to our neighborhood. Her assigned bus, and the behavior of the kids on it, give me gray hairs.
when i was a whippersnapper and rode the bus there were children with "disabilities" - this is not the norm?
what does special Ed mean?
No all children don't ride the same type. Some are equipped with wheelchair lifts and harness clips. My son wears a harness that clips him to the seat in 4 places. It keeps in the seat since due to his autism he might not sit in the seat. Some children might be in car seats etc. Generally physical issues or such that they need to be aided on and off, harness etc. Some buses are long and some shorter. Depends on school which they buy and routes. Special education = special ed