Field trip time again

Post Reply New Topic

This post is only semi-related to ASD, but here goes:
DS's school is going on a field trip. He goes to a mainstream public school, and is not officially diagnosed with anything, so far. Most of the time he does fine at school (apart from being a bit clumsy and having trouble making friends). Outside of school, however, he often does not follow directions. He starts conversations with strangers, and he darts away whenever something catches his eye, without regard for details like traffic. For these reasons, I will only allow him on a field trip if I'm chaperoning.
Now, it's been a while since I was a kid going on field trips, but have the rules changed? DS's school wants the chaperones to drive their own cars to the location and pay their own admission. No siblings are allowed, and no one is allowed to purchase food on the trip. Also, the students have to pay their own admission, too.
I figure this: If I have to drive myself there and pay for my son and I to get in, and then abide by the school's rules, what is the benefit of this trip? Should I just keep him home that day? Also, is this a normal way for a school to conduct a field trip? It seems nuts to me.

If you don't like the rules then just tell the school that you're going to take your son yourself privately so you don't have to follow their rules. Just make sure you stick to yourself and you don't follow the school around.

I don't know, I'd strongly recommend you just send your son with the other children unles it was the school recommend that he only goes if you go. You're not always going to be able to chaperone him everywhere as he gets older and he'd be missing out on a great, educational experience with his peers. Children need to learn about the real world with peers their own age. Parents can't always be around them every single minute of the day. Isn't there a teacher or an educational assistant who can keep a close eye on him? Perhaps you could ask about that? Talk to the teacher and see what he/she thinks.

If none if this appeals to you then well, just keep your son at home.

In my sons' school, parents pay for the kids' admissions, school pays for parent volunteer admissions, sometimes there is the option to ride the school bus with the kids and sometimes volunteers are asked to drive themselves/car pool, usually kids are asked to bring bagged lunches and parent volunteers are asked to do the same. Siblings are allowed or prohibited based on field trip type, most of the time they are not included.

I have kept my sons home from field trips when the stress very clearly outweighed the benefits, but most of the time we do whatever possible for them to participate with their peers. When they were younger, I had to volunteer for every single field trip. For the last 2 years I try to send them on their own as much as possible (grades 5 & 6), and they are able to cope with a good variety of outings with a little extra help from teachers. Still, I groan every time a field trip form comes home. The stress and disruption is at least equal to the enrichment, and I wish there weren't so many field trips planned by our school.

They do that here, too. They don't CALL it chaperoning, though. They word it as an option that you can avail yourself of, or not.

I would probably tell them you don't know if you can go ($$$, other siblings, etc), and your are concerned about your son's safety, and see what they tell you. Given that your child does not have a diagnosis, I don't know how they will react, but you can give it a try. They might make an exception for you, especially if they have any insight into why this could be dangerous. It might also depend on whether or not there will be school assignments based on the trip. They might be more accommodating in that case, because they will want to be able to assign him the work.

Another option is to send your kid to school that day, anyway, (so it will not count as an absence) but without signing the permission slip. They would have to put him in a different class for the day, which I would guess they would find more annoying then just having an aide or someone keep an eye out on the trip. I would probably not follow through with this, though, because your child would feel really left out, which is worse than proving a point to the school.

Obviously, your child's safety trumps everything. I hope that they will be understanding.

I think with school budgets being what they are, it is not surprising that the school is asking you to pay for yourself and your child. I agree with alice, weigh the benefits and the drawbacks for your child and make your decision based on what you know of how he might react in that environment. If the drawbacks appear to loom larger than the possible benefits, don't hesitate to keep him home.

I always remember having to pay for field trips when I was in school.

This is standard at my kid's school. They don't even take busses, all the transportation is provided by parents in their cars. (there are enough prents to take the kids of the ones who have to work.) Yes, expect to pay admission for both yourself and your child. There is a practical reason for having everyone bring a sack lunch instead of buying lunch there. It keeps the group together, so you don't have some parents off in line or finishing lunch later.

Based on some of the meltdowns my son had on trips, you want to be there, especially if your son does not yet have a dx or IEP in place. Don't rely on the school staff! Your child may feel very left out and disappointed if you keep him home.

yes this is how it is at our school too. Luckily many of the parents attend field trips so there is usually a 1:2 student adult ratio. Nevertheless, even before my son's diagnosis, he was always assigned to be with the teacher's group and has never been with another parent. I think they knew that he had issues and needed the attention of someone who knew him. I could not go on most field trips due to working full time.

I agree with OliveOilMom, the school still has to see to it that he's supervised for the day even if he doesn't go on the field trip. We also pay for field trips (though often adults go on the bus just to help supervise, but I suppose there is room.)

Getting your child some official recognition by the school, however, may alleviate this issue: you can ask for special assistance on field trips, either that he's assigned to the teacher, or that he gets an aide - or possibly that your cost/transportation is covered because you are attending to address his special needs, not just because you want to attend. I don't think they can offer a field trip without accommodating special needs kids.

I keep my daughter home on days when there are field trips that I know will be bothersome (loud places, crowded places) or have no educational benefit. When my daughter was in public school they gave her a one-on-one aide for field trips but the aftermath anxiety for those was still too much. Now that we are in a private school I can exempt her from any field trip without a problem.

One instance was where the class went to a tv station and was actually on TV. This freaked my daughter out-she has an issue with being publicly regarded-so I kept her home that day.

Field trips to science destinations are better-she goes and can maintain calm and enjoy herself but zoos, amusement parks, etc are just no-gos for us. So basically, you have to weigh the cost (anxiety, time)/benefits (educational value) of the trip.

Thanks everybody.
We ended up taking a family trip to the destination ourselves, the weekend before his class went. Then I just kept him home on field trip day. I told him we did it that way so his younger sibling could come along, and he seemed happy with that.