Extra Help…What a Surprise…
[flickr id=”6270891807″ thumbnail=”small_320″ overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]We have known for a long time that our sweet little Angel girl had a temper problem.
Dichotomy that she is – she was the sweetest and smilingest baby ever…then on a dime she would launch into a screaming fit the likes of which I can’t begin to describe. She has the capability to burst ear drums with her high pitched scream. Worse than that, and the part that frightened us, was her tendency to self injure. Slamming her head into the corner of doorways, the floor, our faces. You know, whatever is handy.
We hoped she’d outgrow it. She hasn’t. Fortunately the self-injury part of it is softened down to the occasional digging at her nose until it bleeds. While she still throws major tantrums and fits – they have become the slamming her bedroom door and kicking it and the walls while screaming that life is unfair for a six year old little girl.
Then she started school. We didn’t know what would happen there. Feared the worst.
At her parent teacher conference we learned the truth of it.
When a teacher of Kindergarten children says there’s a temper issue – you know there’s a problem.
Since then we’ve heard little (or rather nothing) else that her temper was a continuing or growing issue. Until last week. Angel brought home from school a permission slip. The Guidance Counselor offers “small group counseling” for the students. Angel had been pegged and needed permission to participate in one.
“Friendship and Social Skills (Communication, appropriate expression of feelings and wants, problem solving skills)”
Hmmmm….Temper much?
So now every week my little Angel goes to a counseling session to try to learn to control her temper.
Tell me why this wasn’t offered earlier? Like when I asked the school about how to help her – or expressly said that she had a temper issue and we needed to know how to take care of it if it was noticed at the school.
Why is assistance only after a LONG period of them witnessing it? Why aren’t we listened to when we expressly say there are issues with our children? Are we not a squeaky enough wheel?
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(P.S. Riley has also come home this week w/ the same note and will start her sessions on monday. Considering she has autism and spends EVERY recess all by herself – this also should have been offered sooner for her)