Razorblade Kisses(69)
It’d been two hours of discussing grades, his evaluation, and the lack of ideas about what set Lucas off behaviorally at school. She was exhausted and her head was spinning from information overload.
“We need to figure out why he goes off, though, right? I mean, when he snaps, he just goes crazy,” his teacher said, exasperated. “It’s not safe for the other kids.”
“Well, isn’t that your job?” Emery snapped.
The teacher’s eyes cut to Emery. “What?”
“Isn’t it your job? I don’t mean you as the teacher, but as a district, aren’t you supposed to be able to tell us why he reacts to certain things?”
“We probably do need a FBA,” the special education coordinator said, nodding to Emery.
“What’s that?” Emery asked. That was a new acronym.
“It’s a functional behavioral assessment. We conduct these so we can see what behavior we need to address and take data on the antecedent behavior so we can better teach coping skills and use intervening strategies so that the destructive behavior doesn’t happen.”
Emery sighed in relief. “Yes, let’s do that please.”
That set off a discussion about his behavior and the need to put him in a room by himself so that he couldn’t harm himself or others when he was having a quote-unquote “episode.”
“Listen, I’m aware that I know the least at this table,” Emery started, “but is there any way we can let him just have a minute before he gets to that point? I mean, I’ve never seen him destroy things with me and I’ve been trying to observe him in different places to see if there’s something that’s a trigger for this sort of aggression.”
“Well, we know that there are things going on in the home that don’t help his situation,” another nameless person around the table said.
“I have to tell you, I think he’s fantastic,” Emery said, and meant it. “He’s smart and inquisitive and really sweet, despite his circumstances. How does he communicate with you at school?”
“He writes,” his teacher answered.
“Don’t you have some sort of assistive technology to help with that? Maybe he could type in what he wants to say and it would say it out loud?” Emery asked.
The room was quiet.
“What?” Emery looked around. “He needs to be able to communicate.”
“We don’t know that he’ll be able to utilize something like that, but we can look into it.”
“Well, figure it out,” she stated as plainly as possible, an edge in her voice.
She was baffled. If they had something that would allow him to communicate, then why wouldn’t they allow him to have it?
“If you’re not going to get it for him, I will,” Emery said before she knew what she was saying. “If I get it for him, will you allow him to use it?”
“Are you sure you want that device in the house?” one of Lucas’s teachers asked.
“Well, I haven’t really thought it out. Is there a way you could keep it here at the school?”
“Sure, Emma. We could do that,” the administrator answered with a sad smile on her face.
Emery looked around the table again. All these people were here for Lucas except the one that should be, his mother. She was going to have a chat with Trina.
A week later, when she was leaving a meeting at Lucas’s school for a different kid, she saw him walking toward a bus.
“Lucas!” she called.
He turned with a genuine smile on his face and signed, asking her what she was doing there.
“Coming to see you, of course.”
He signed he was about to miss the bus.
“I’ll take you home. I was hoping to talk to your mom anyway,” she said and guided him to her car. “Also, I have a present for you.”
She laughed when he asked her what it was.
“It’s a surprise.”
She drove them to an ice cream shop on the way to his house. His eyes lit up as they got out of the car.
“What do you want?” she asked, checking her watch and not bothering to sign. She only had one other appointment today, so she was making time for Lucas.
He signed he wanted the kid’s sundae with a scoop of cookies and cream. Then he quickly added please.
While they waited for their ice cream, Emery pulled out an iPad Mini she’d bought that weekend. Based on her research, she’d uploaded the best software that would speak what was typed.
Lucas’s eyes grew to the size of saucers as she pulled out the device wrapped in an Avengers Otterbox cover.
“This is yours. I bought it for you.”
All of a sudden, Lucas wrapped his little arms around her. It was possibly the best feeling she’d ever had in her life.