Nathan doesn't want to go to school
(read description on what was going on)
11-21-14..... What would you do if your (medically challenged, Autistic) child cried and cried - like crying so hard he made himself throw up (which is new this year) .... I don't think it's the teachers - but I don't know what could be upsetting him this much. :/
August 2017: I am not sure why this video has gotten so many views. However, we do know why he was having such a hard time. Turned out that Nathan was having severe anxiety with going to school. This got to the point where each morning, he was be so anxious that he would throw up. This was not (is not) a normal reaction for anyone - let alone a 7 year old child on the spectrum. We ended up pulling him out a few months later and homeschooling him. When we moved (Oct. 2015) to a different area, we gave him a choice about starting school again or continuing homeschooling and he had decided to try again.
He still has anxiety going to school but nothing like he had previously been.
With that said, I had taken this video to show his teachers/the school how he was reacting. They gave us zero help on trying to solve the mystery on why he was acting like this. Nathan had ended up expressing that his teacher was mean. We ended up being told that one day she got on his case because he was stomping his feet in class to make his shoes light up (sensory thing) and that's why he said he was mean. Then we found out that his IEP was not being followed. He was supposed to be able to spend as much time as he needed to the inclusion room because he has issues with not being able to communicate and he gets overwhelmed in a regular classroom setting. We were being told he was in his regular class room for no more than a couple hours a day, however it turned out that he was in his regular classroom most of the day and rarely in the inclusion room. He wasn't being allowed extra time to eat. His IEP was not being followed.
When we let him try school again (his choice) we made more of a stink about him being allowed to go in his inclusion room to do his work because of the severe anxiety. The school he is at now does follow his IEP. He still has anxiety, but it's no where near as bad as before.
January 2019 - I'm amazed this video is STILL getting so many views. Nathan is now 11 years old, and he's been back in public school for several years and started middle school this year. He absolutely loves school now, even rides the bus. He's very smart - doing grade level work, but with his anxiety, size, medical issues, and inability to communicate he is still in the Inclusion Room. He's thriving and has a great team at his new school.