I opened a can of Whoop Ass

Those special souls that choose to work with special needs kids directly are gifted and patient people to a level that I could never even fathom being.  I admire and respect all the work my kids teachers, behaviorist, therapists do directly with my kids, and they treat my kids just like they were their own.

Today was the first day of school, and Franklin takes the bus to and from his special ed. pre-school.  Today the bus bringing Franklin home was 45 minutes late bringing home my special boy.  So at 20 minutes late I called Transportation Dispatch and the line was busy, so I called another number in Transportation that I had and that was no answer after about 100 rings.  So I then called the school to make sure they had in fact put my boy on the bus, and they said yes, and they also couldn't reach the Transportation department. 

They didn't seem alarmed at all, but as the minutes clicked I really got anxious.  School was on hold with transportation now trying to find the driver, they said they would call back in 5 minutes.  In that 5 minutes still no bus has arrived, and now it's 30 minutes late, and called back and no answer at school or transportation.  SERIOUSLY?!

So I did what any mother in a panic attack would do, and I called the Superintendent of the School district and told them if they did not find my son in 5 minutes I was going to call the Police for a missing child/kidnapping.  Well the results are amazing when you throw that out there, and miraculously they were able to get a hold of the driver who said they were 2 minutes away from the house.

So this is going to have to be said because, and if I'm not politically correct or polite in the next paragraph, they'll have to get over it.

If you are working in an area where you will be dealing with special needs kids, autism, handicapped and specifically the childrens parents there are things you need to know.

• We are not nuts, but we are advocating in most cases for children that can not speak we expect answers, the right answers, immediately if not sooner (especially when we want to know the whereabouts of our kids).
• When we can not find our kids when they are in "your" care, when we call, RUN, do not 'effing walk to find them, do not put us on hold, do not say you will call back in 5 minutes FIND THEM NOW!!!!
• Unless you have a child with special needs that can not talk and let you know how scared they actually are because their routine is completely jacked up because of someone elses stupidity and incompetence you don't "Understand how I feel".
• These are our children, not a late UPS package that is being delivered, do not treat them as such, and tell me "we were backed up today".   Would that be an acceptable answer to you if no one could find your kid for 45 minutes???? 

Our children rely on their structure and routine, and when my boy arrived home with crocodile tears coming down his face because he was obviously scared and frustrated after sitting on the bus for over an hour, know I am going to come unglued because someone on your end did not do their job and my child and I are going to pay the price via a epic melt down that could have been avoided by someone paying attention.  If this is too much perhaps you are not fit to work with warrior parents who expect you to advocate and care for their children as you may expect yours to be cared for.   Imagine for a second the panic you would feel if you couldn't find your kid for 45 minutes and there was no sense of urgency and mediocrity was the best you could get from those you were pleading to help you.

Rebecca