As Salaam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
Dhuha started school two weeks ago tomorrow, which was a big step for her and myself. The first week on Monday, it was hard to let go. Putting a child that is so vulnerable into the hands of people we do not know for 9 hours (including the bus ride to and from school) is worrying. I worry despite having met her teachers twice, who are very agreeable and caring people. While I worry, Dhuha seems genuinely excited to go each morning.
Dhuha is allowed 5 half days of school each week, which I will call sessions. We (Dhuha’s teachers, Zahira and I) decided sometime last year that Dhuha’s schooling should be divided into time at the specialist school and a ‘normal’ school. This is to give Dhuha specialist attention and allow her to see ‘normal’ play from ‘normal’ children. On Mondays she stays at the specialist school for two sessions, she has Tuesdays off, and she attends the ‘normal’ school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
Zahira and I dropped Dhuha off that first morning of the 26th because her bus ride still hadn’t been sorted out and we wanted to see her in the class and meet the teachers one more time. Dhuha was a bit crabby because she wasn’t used to waking up so early. We had been working for weeks trying to get her to bed at a decent time. We managed getting it from a 12am – 1am bedtime to a 10pm bedtime, which wasn’t really good enough for our 6am wakeup time. We took her into school, one of her teachers took her coat, bag of stuff, money for lunch and a small donation for school outings. Dhuha was the first child there so I took her into the classroom and put her on the floor but she ran straight back to me and she started to cry. Realising that if I stay in the class I am going to be an obstacle preventing Dhuha from settling in, I left and watched from the hallway. Dhuha was doing well. Zahira and I stayed for a few minutes until the bus of other autistic children arrived. Being satisfied that Dhuha was going to be fine, we left.
The following is what Dhuha’s teacher wrote about her first day:
“Hi,
Dhuha has had a great morning. A few tears after you had gone but she has enjoyed exploring the room. She had toast and some apple at snack time playing with cornflour and had no problem getting messy. She listened nicely to a story too.
For lunch she had pizza (cheese and tomato), 1 chip and beans with chocolate pudding. She fed herself with a spoon and fingers. Although, I helped her towards the end with the pudding.
This afternoon we are going in the spa bath and soft play.
She loved the spa! A great first day. See you next week.
P.S. She did not have her packed lunch as dinner was so successful.”
Dhuha came home in such a relaxed mood. I had never seen her so calm and happy. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon so I gave her the packed lunch that she didn’t eat at school and she calmly ate it and drank her juice. All without spilling or messing anything. I sat and watched her in amazement. More than that, she didn’t cry, she didn’t get upset, there was no screaming, which is not something I’m used to.
Tuesday came the bad news that her specialist teacher for the ‘normal’ school had broken her back. It wasn’t so serious because it only meant that she would be out of action for two weeks. We were advised not to send Dhuha on Wednesday and so we didn’t. She missed the whole week. We did manage to sort out her bedtime and wakeup time. She was now waking up at 7:30am and sleeping at 9pm consistently and on her own.
The next Monday we had to wake her up a bit earlier but she managed quite well. The bus came at 7:45am and dropped her back off at 4:30pm. Her teacher wrote the following about her second day:
“Hi,
Dhuha has been a little more stubborn today! She has enjoyed playing with the toys in the room but didn’t want to sit down but thats O.K, we are used to that. She loved exploring paint – we made a big firework picture with our feet and hands – Dhuha loved the paint on her feet.
She only tried beans today. We offered her the sandwiches from her packed lunch but she wasn’t interested. She did like the ginger cake we had for pudding.
This afternoon we are going in the light room.”
When Dhuha came home she was more of her normal self than the first time. She cried a bit but generally she was happy.
On Tuesday, the normal school suggested that Dhuha come regardless of her specialist teacher. Zahira could stay with Dhuha and there is a student that was meant to look after Dhuha as well. Dhuha found the first day a bit hard. The noise bothered her and staying in the classroom made her frustrated. She wouldn’t sit on the carpet with the other children. She tried to eat everything. The day consisted of several trips into an empty part of the playground and playing with sensory toys. By Friday, she was showing shyness, responding to her name, using the scissors, putting 4-piece puzzles together, exploring the playground (even the noisy parts) and she didn’t eat anything.
I am extremely impressed with her student teacher, who is even taking time out of her day to travel to the specialist school to spend time with Dhuha there to see how they deal with Dhuha and what kinds of things they are teaching her. May Allah reward her and give her every success.
I am looking forward to the next week. In such a short time Dhuha seems to have grasped so much. All praise belongs to Allah.
O Allah, to You we belong and to You is our return. Raise me and my family up among Your righteous slaves.
2 Comments
caraboska
November 8, 2009 at 6:36 pmYour Sister
November 13, 2009 at 2:51 pm