Wednesday, October 24, 2007

His Perspective

I wonder what it is like for him. I mean really.

He has complained about the school since the beginning. He has wanted to move. He has called Diane and she has said things like, "I will talk to my supervisor." Nobody told him, until yesterday, that it just wasn't possible.

I mean, he knew, but he didn't know. He knew that it wasn't supposed to be possible, but he asked if something could be done and he was told "maybe."

I see that his behavior has become more outrageous, but does he?

He always sees his behavior as reasonable. He thinks being defiant and uncooperative in a behavioral program will help people to see he does not belong in a behavioral program.

He thinks that, with the exception of stabbing his pooh bear, shredding two shirts, and pounding his fist in the floor, that his behavior has all been reaonable responses.

And in one way they are. If you know all his history and you understand what it means you can predict that there is a high likelihood that he would behave this way.

But he doesn't understand that it does not seem reasonable to others.

I have wanted to talk to him, but his mind works in such a different way that it doesn't seem possible. I mean -- he really thinks that being defiant at school is reasonable and should be interpretted as and indication that he should be in a less restrictive environment. He believes that.

So he doesn't know that while he has been saying "move me because I don't like this school," we have been talking to each other about how difficult and unstable he is, and how his needs outstrip our abilities.

I don't know how this all seems to him.

1 comment:

  1. I KNOW the frustration of dealing with a child whose thinking errors exceed his/her logic. Call me if you want to talk.

    ReplyDelete

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