Teacher Presents

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Every year I get my son's teacher a Christmas present (everyone around here is Christian). This is his first holiday since his diagnosis, so now he has an IEP and a couple of "pulls". Is it usual to buy gifts for these folks? He does not have an aide.

Between my two kids we have two OTs, a counselor, a speech therapist and a para . I usually get them something small, like a mini box of chocolates, homemade cookies or even scratch tickets.

We never did that for pulls. There was a ST who was really good, who I probably should have, had I thought of it. I don't know how that would have looked though, getting one for her and not the other people who I think were doing him a disservice.

I don't think I could have brought myself to also get the awful ones something. It would have to have been through the teacher as there is no way my son would have had the executive functioning to remember on his own to give it out, even if days were not switched or something complicated happened.

I try to get something for everyone. But there are so many. There is her teacher, her 1 on 1 aid, the gifted teacher, the OT person, the psychologist, the intervention specialist, the intervention tutor... and a few more. So I pick out the ones she spends the most time with and who seem to work the hardest for her, and hope no one gets upset.

I also am pretty generous. This year extra generous since she threw a chair at her teacher and punched her last week and she forgave my daughter and there was no suspension. So I've got a lenox xmas ornament, some nice chocolates in a tin, and star bucks gift cards for each: teacher, aid, gifted teacher and intervention specialist. The teacher may also be reciving a 50 dollar gift card to the education store... seems generous, but my daughter is really hard on books and supplies and really, $50 probably doesn't cover it. I know she is autistic, but it's not really fair to anyone when she zones out, forgets herself, and starts ripping books or snapping crayons. She loves books. She doesn't want to do that, I think it's just soothing or something.