When the bus driver has special needs..

Sometimes I just want to smack the hell out of people. It's the second day of school, and the bus driver is starting to show his incompetence. The bus depot/garage knows my son is "special needs". They don't know what that means, because nobody asked me to clarify. Obviously he doesn't need adaptive equipment of any kind, but what he does need is a little extra explanation- some patience, for @$#!'s sake.

The principal called to tell me that the bus got to school super early.. about 15 minutes before the doors even unlock to let the students in. Instead of leaving the kids on the bus and waiting, the driver took them just inside the front part of the school. Imagine a small waiting area, with a main door providing the first entrance, and 3 other doors all either leading to the office or to the front hallway of the school. There is nowhere to sit, so the driver made them stand up against the windows- he called it a wall, and I guess this was a bit confusing for Jack, who wasn't quite following along. This frustrated the driver, who raised his voice and got in his face, and told him to line up against the wall or there would be a "conversation with mom". Uh, really? (You just try to have a conversation with me about this, and we'll see what you do the next time).

Somehow in the process of doing what he was told, Jack tripped and fell on his face. He was so embarrassed that he ran off. The principal took him to her office, where of course he went off on her because the bus driver was not there to get the brunt of his anger. (She said that he told her he was worse than the last principal. I highly doubt it, son!) She did give him some moments to calm down- took him about 3. Then they agreed that the plan they had in place for the morning was not a great one, and they should come up with something better. So they agreed that in the morning, should the bus get there real early like today, he would be allowed to go to the Intervention Specialist's room, and play on the computer until 7:50- when he needs to go to class. Jack did say he didn't want to ride the bus again, but she said (to me) that she doesn't want to give up on that just yet. We really need to stick it out. I may have to explain to Jack that there was some kind of misunderstanding with the driver, because honestly, knowing him, he is going to give this guy an attitude every day. Not just that, but the driver will probably have an attitude about him, too. I'm not at all happy about that. :(