Second School & Hospitalization Number Two

Both my children started at a new school a month later. From day one, things seemed a little different than in that meeting where we were so graciously greeted and lovingly accepted. There was a new principal who I constantly tried to educate about Asperger’s with countless pages of information about handling children with the disorder, these included personal notes from therapists that were specific to our case. Despite the continuous efforts of my husband, myself and our team of mental health professionals who tried to lessen the blow of having an Asperger’s child in class, we were met with board-stiff rigidity and rock-solid resistance.


The principal called me to pick up my son because became frustrated and lay his head on the desk. These kinds of frivolous matters were the rule rather than the exception. As a result, our son was beginning to stand out in class. The school principal and his teacher were making his behavior a point of discussion and it caused him to question why all of his classmates looked at him differently. He realized that was different and wanted to know why. His depression deepened. I tried explaining about Asperger’s to him in the simplest terms, but that didn’t seem to help. Therapy didn’t help either.

The dam broke when he threatened suicide at school. All of our worst fears and suspicions were crystallized into a single moment of panic when we both realized that things were so bad for him that he’d rather die that go through with his own personal hell anymore. None of us had any idea it was that bad for him.

For his own safety, we returned him to the acute care facility where he spent four days the previous spring. He was hospitalized for nine days. I prayed he would never suffer that again, but it turned out to be the best thing to happen to him. Thanks to the foresight and vast knowledge of his psychiatrist, his medications were all reevaluated and re-prescribed to better suit him. He’s a happier child now because of the work of that one man.

However, easing him back into school wasn’t so easy. His teacher and principal expressed their deepest concerns and sympathies while he was in the hospital. They brought in a resource teacher that was supposed to help the school increase its efforts in helping him achieve his educational goals. We were getting back on track. All of this was explained to us during an hour-long meeting during his hospital stay, at the end of which we were asked to sign a contract which roughly stated our son was going to be allowed back into school provisionally and the minute he let so much as a toe get out of line, he was going to be dismissed. This was all to ensure his safety.

When he returned to school, even less effort was exerted to meet his needs. We never even heard from the resource teacher, but the calls to take him home started his second day back. He was dismissed after his first full week back to the same school that said it was more-than-ready and-willing to work to meet his needs.