After over a week of great days at school, today happened. My first tipoff was a very quiet greeting from the normally jovial bus crew. "Today was really rough," the driver said. The aide nodded. Both were sympathetic, but somber. James was antsy, denying he did anything wrong while swearing, sotto voce.
.jpeg "Bird head down, in the rain - should have stayed in bed")
He got off the bus and made it inside pretty well, though. I asked how his day went. "Okay" was the answer. I knew school notes would not show up online until after 3 so I encouraged a snack and down time. Then came the info from the school - eloping, unkind language, and physical acting out.
I tried discussing these behaviors with James - he said he could not stand the noise. Pretty sure there's other stuff too but (1) communication challenges and (2) he is 17. Reinforced that he is liked by the people at school and I care about him but that these behaviors can hurt other people and they are not okay.
I tried talking and listening off and on throughout the afternoon. I let him know that I was turning off the internet so we could both be calm. Apology letters were written. He ended up going to bed early. I know there will be follow up at school. He has lost privileges for the week.
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