School demanding child be sent home early for insignificant health issues

December 9, 2008

I need some advice from the more experienced autism parents out there.

I have been having difficulties with my 9 yr old autistic ( & MR) son's

school. My son does not have any major medical issues, however, the

school has called me nearly once a week for the past month or so

wanting me to pick him up from school for insignificant health problems.

It started with a bloody nose...the nose stopped bleeding in less than

ten minutes. He had approximately 6 blood drops no larger than a

quarter in size on his shirt. The school demanded that he be picked up

immediately from school...he was not allowed to ride the bus home.

Even though he had a change of clothes at school and there is a washing

machine in the bathroom attached to the classroom.

The next incident was a diaper rash. My son is not potty-trained, so

naturally he gets diaper rashes every now and then. He had a mild

diaper rash - no bleeding, but he kept putting his hands in his pants

to scratch/rub the rash...the school didn't think this was appropriate

behavior as it was dirty and wanted me to pick him up from school.

When I refused they had a nurse from a neighboring campus (our nurse

was out sick) come to the campus to look at my son and then call and

lecture me on the appropriate ways to treat a diaper rash.

Today the school called me at 1:55p (school gets out at 3p) and told me

that he had a rash on his stomach that the nurse believed was

contagious and was spreading. They told me that I needed to pick him

up immediately and that he would not be allowed back at school without

a doctor's note. I advised the teacher that I was approximately 45

minutes from the school and asked if he could still ride the bus home

becuase he reacts very violently to changes in his routine. I was told

this was absolutely not possible...so I arrived at the school about 10

minutes before the normal release time. His " rash " was a small area

about two inches in diameter that had scratch marks from him itching.

The area that it was spreading to was red...just like when you get out

of a warm shower....nothing big at all! I took him to the doctor, who

of course said that it was not infectious...he just came into contact

with an irritant and he was obsessed with scratching it (as he does

with everything).

So what do I do now? I'm going to visit/write a letter to the

principal, but I basically need information to back me up. I am having

to leave work early almost on a weekly basis because of the ridiculous

claims. I seriously thought the school was going to call CPS on me

because of the diaper rash issue!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!!

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