When I collected DS today (ASD diagnosed – Aspergers type) I was having a quick chat as usual with his TA when we realised he had left his watch in class, so he ran in ahead of us to get it. When we got there I found a big standoff between him and his teacher. She sounded unhinged, and like she hated him.
In his last year of infants school he was a fully integrated, valued and happy member of his mainstream class. I can understand now why things have gone to pieces since he started her class in his first year of juniors. We have tried to put so many changes in place with the head teacher but nothing has worked and his behaviour and anxiety has regressed to the level that we haven't seen since he was 4 years old, before he was diagnosed and he had any support.
She was demanding to know why he had barged in to her classroom. He stared fiddling with things and she kept telling him to stop. He finds it difficult to answer questions when put on the spot, let alone when the demands are angry. He was shrinking under the pressure but she just kept telling him off and demanding to know why he had barged in. Eventually I said he just came to get his watch. Then she was demanding that he say "please can I come in to get my watch?" He wouldn't answer and she just kept repeating this demand, still very angrily. She kept saying, just say it properly, "It is a perfectly reasonable request!" This she kept repeating over and over again, that it was a perfectly reasonable request. I felt upset and angry at this point. I eventually just led him away, not wanting him to see me get upset with the teacher.
I feel like things have got so bad that I don’t want him to go into school anymore and I’m thinking about emailing the headteacher and keeping him at home tomorrow, even though I have a job which I love. Would this be crazy and am I overreacting? It was how emotional she sounded that got me, like she really loathed him and had reached the end of her tether.