Morning from He!!

Man, what a morning I've had. The Boy has been having some problems lately with riding the bus. He just doesn't want to anymore. He has been riding a school bus since he was 2 with no problems. In fact, he has always loved riding the bus. But the last few weeks something has changed. He fights and screams and says "No 833" or "No 844" (his morning and afternoon buses, respectively).

Our first thought was a bully. He rides a bus that only has special ed students. He goes to a "neighborhood" school, meaning most of the kids walk. Only the speds ride a bus, because they come from all over the city. It's a full-size bus (not a "short bus") and there are only 4 kids on the bus, including Boy. He doesn't sit near anyone else and has very little interaction with them. The drivers say there has never been a problem between him and the other boys (special ed kids are more often boys - his autism classroom is ALL boys). The boys aren't loud, so unless there's a noise emanating from the bus itself it's not likely a sensory issue. I just don't know and he doesn't have the verbal skills to tell me.

At first it was only the morning bus; he was fine coming home. Now he is fighting both. He has never been a terribly violent child. He is known for being pretty laid back. But not about this issue.

This morning he had a major league breakdown when I tried to get him on the bus. Banging his head on the walls and windows of the bus, kicking, screaming, biting. He punched me in the face several times. He wouldn't keep his seat belt on (yes, they wear seat belts) and I had to take him off the bus. I woke and dressed his sister and drove him to school. It's about a 15-20 minute drive; not bad, but I don't want to have to do it every single day.

The only other time I've seen him this hysterical was when he had to have an IV inserted last month when he in the hospital.

He balked at going into the school, but he went without a real fight. He seemed fine once he was at school. The teachers say he is fine once he gets there every day. He follows the rules, does his work, participates as he should. He just doesn't want to ride the bus anymore.

His class is going on a field trip today to a farm. They are supposed to ride a bus. The teacher and I discussed it and decided to try to get him on that bus. If he has another meltdown he'll ride in the teacher's car (she was planning to drive anyway, in case any kids needed to go back or something before the day was done).

So I'm exhausted and frustrated and have a lovely purple mark developing on my face. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

To SCM: Thanks for listening to my ranting and raving about this and for your helpful suggestions. I know you've been there with your boys and your support means a lot.