Through out the semester, I have been leaving classes early, jumping in and out of class to answer the phone. What no one knows is that I have to be on alert, at all times, just in case something goes wrong with Hamza at school. He goes to a private school in New Jersey, while we pay crazy amounts of money for the kids to attend private schools; the school has no idea how to handle a child like Hamza.
While the teachers employed at the school, are the best of the best, they have no training in special education. Hamza is the "problem child" at the school as they say. Yasser (my husband and Hamza's father) and I decided last year that we would transfer Hamza into a special education school program, but we were assured at his current private school, that they will provide him with a trained teacher in special education.
True to there word, the school provided the 4th grade class with a teacher that had some training in special education. When a teacher knows how to deal with Hamza, they fall in love with him. He's a sweet boy, who is misunderstood. He's smart and talented, but unfortunately, he has other teachers through out the day.
Once he goes to gym or has lunch, the problems start. He fights with other children during those periods of the day. He is constantly getting hurt or hurting someone else. For discipline, other teachers, aside from his homeroom teacher, become involved. These teachers have no idea how to handle Hamza's discipline. They don't understand that a child like Hamza can't just let go, and move on.
One of the symptoms of ADHD is persistence. Therefore, once a thought is embedded into Hamza's mind, nothing can over ride it. He becomes preoccupied by the events of the day. Meaning, he loses focus, and can think of nothing except his punishment, especially if he feels that he was wrongly punished.
On Thursday, after Hamza was involved in a altercation with another child; the school decided to suspend him. This would be fair if they also disciplined the other child, who was also misbehaving, but they didn't. They only suspended Hamza and assured the other child's parents that this will never happen again.
So I had enough! I decided it was time to take Hamza out of the school and look into putting him in another program tailored around his needs. I must give the public school system some credit. By next week I will be meeting with the child study team for the Sayreville school system. Public schools have so many alternatives and incentives in helping children with special needs. I'm very optimistic that this is a step in the right direction.
It is very disheartening to hear stories like this. It seems like because your son had a reputation at that school that he already was targeted. Good luck with finding a better place for Hamza to fit in. This post gives hope to all parents who have a child with ADHD.
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