Special Education Drivers

11/15/06

special ed drivers

I am a concerned brother of a disabled student in Eastern Ontario.
A little while ago, her special needs school held school bus evacuation drills.
I found out by talking with the driver that the school board evacuation procedure on a wheelchair bus is to lift the students in their chairs out of the rear emergency door of the bus. My sister+chair weighs at least 160 lbs which is impossible for most people to lift.
When I asked the driver, how he expects to lift that weight out of the bus, by himself, without severely injuring himself and the student, he told me that he is supposed to flag down passing motorists!
In Eastern Ontario, school buses regularly operate on secondary roads where there is very little traffic. By the time someone stops, it would be too late to save the passengers. In the event of a fire, the bus would be completely engulfed in flames before the children could be evacuated.

Maybe it's just me, but these evacuation procedures seem ridiculous and dangerous. My mother, who is an educational assistant at the same school my sister attends, would not allow my sister to take part in the drill. The rear door of the Blue Bird minibus is fairly high off the ground, and a fall would cause serious injuries to the students, and extensive damage to the wheelchairs.

I would like to hear what other bus drivers are supposed to do when evacuating wheelchair bound students.
My mother and I told my sister's driver to carry my sister off the bus minus the chair.

Does anyone else have a better idea, or any other concerns?

Subject: special needs...3/21/02

Have been driving special ed for 24 years but still need new ideas for behaviors.
We have some real restrictions with alot of "things" on the buses so I am looking for behavior modification techniques that have worked for others.
I totally agree that communication and cooperation of parents,teachers and aides is essential for any plan. I am doing an inservice in a week and would like your experiences. Behavior is usually the unsafe kind-getting out safety vests, hitting, self-abusive, screaming constantly, taking off shoes-clothes and throwing them,spitting -well not all are safety but still need to be curbed in some way.

Thanks

Bev Schmer

Subject: special needs...3/5/02

I drive for special needs and have many problems with one child in particular, he loves to kick the windows and scream at the top of his lungs, i have tried books and candy it worked for a while and now does not work anymore, do you have any more suggestions i can try ?

Subject: Bus Help

Hi Frank, I enjoy this site. I drive a special needs bus. I have all ages and most disabilities.
I keep a plastic shoe keeper on the bus tied down with a bungy cord and fill it with soft (small) animals, crayons, (three colors in a snack sealable baggie), coloring and activity books and the sticker coloring books.
I also keep a couple of small pillows for sleepy children.

As the children enter the bus they choose what they would like to play with and are kept occupied for the two-hour trip to and from school.
I allow them to put the stickers on the windows and when I return home, it takes only seconds to remove the stickers, lay them on the seats, wipe the window and the stickers are ready for the next day. The moisture on the window is all thats needed for the stickers to stay on and the coloring book stickers aren't very sticky anyway.
This has saved the sanity of driver and aide and is very safe and sanitary. Items are usually used by only one child. Those that aren't are washed and returned.

Phyllis, #61
Pulaski, Va.

...12/7/00

subject:Special Education Drivers

As I have been reading some of the comments and concerns of other drivers on this web page a few thoughts come to my mind as well....
It is true... we don't get enough pats or recognition for the work we do with our "precious" cargo...
however... the hugs and sparkling eyes I see everyday makes it worth while...

I also understand the concerns of the drivers who transport the behavior problem children...
I am a parent of one such child... I would suggest talking to the parents (I know... not all parents want to hear about it) but maybe they have suggestions on how to make the trip more successful for you and the child...ask to be a part of the next IEP for the child so a crisis plan for transportation can be written into the IEP...

I work for School Services & Leasing and have for 3 years now... and I have found that the sucess to my bus, attendant, and students is complete communication with the schools, teachers, parents, and my boss and co-workers.... we are a team... wanting the most success for these precious children..

Resa, Bus #578
Hutchinson, Kansas

subject: drivers...(8/22/00)

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I am a Dispatcher for SS&L and been in busing since 1968. I still find it hard to understand why the drivers seldom get good words for what they do.
I work with Sp.Ed. and I'm here to tell you, this is not easy. Wheelchair or the vans, the students are tuff to beat.
Not enought money, not enought pats on the backs.
What a nice thing to be somewhere and one of your students sees you, and YELLS, HI, the smile is just out of the world.

Judy
Shawnee Mission, Kansas

subject Job Discription...(12/19/99)

12/18/99 comment

There are many solutions to the problem of the AB students on the bus. There are teachers or Asst. Prin. that can go on those buses when you can no longer handle the child. We have even had a Deputy Sheriff ride on the bus.
Your supervisor should support the driver and attendant that has to deal with the sometimes abuse we as drivers have to deal with. I dont know what your state mandates, but in Texas we have to transport the student whether it be AB. or special needs untill 21 years of age. The only positive in that is that the Adaptive Behavioral student has to be out I think by the time they are 19.

Good Luck I know that an Attendant position is the most thankless job in transportation.
YOU DO A GREAT JOB keep up the good work.

Rosemary Spurling, Supervisor
Cypress,Texas

Subject: Job Description...(12/18/99)

I have been a monitor since Oct of this year. We have a route that transports an alternate school and there are some pretty bad kids on here with severe behavioral problems. Some are very serious and make life threatening statements.
We write them up and they more or less just get their hands slapped or spend an hour or two in a time out room and then they are back on the bus doing it all over again. What can we legally do when we are being threaten and nothing is done about it?
What exactly is a bus monitor job description. I thought I knew but not no more. I don't understand why we have to transport these kids when they get kicked out of regular school and still they don't seem to want to change. Some may not be able to but the ones I transport know better and laugh about it.
With the way some kids are today this is a very scary thing to be on the road in the middle of nowhere and have these kids threaten you in some way and know there not much you can do or you will be up on charges. What can we do?

Lynn -GA--6789

Subject: Please think

I would like to address an issue I haven't seen here...I read all the wonderful stories of driver's on how they do things for their kids on the bus....I also do this, BUT.....I want to show you another side of the picture.

I'm a bus driver for our district, I give my kids on my bus, stickers, tattoos, coloring pages, cards, little tinkets I buy at a dollar store, etc....

As a mother of a child who is bipolar mixed...meaning ADHD, MANIC DEPRESSIVE...and 4 others disorders...she has been on medication for over 2 yrs non stop...she takes 16 pills a day!

We have to watch her diet intake daily...and its a struggle....imagine, she gets to school...her teachers give her candy, gum, sweets...her coaches do the same, her friends bring junk food also....she gets to the bus barn, other driver's give her junk...she goes to girl scouts, more friends and adults give her stuff...she comes home, we give her a simple treat, but then we dont know she's already had all this other stuff, she goes to parties etc....her bus driver gives them candy...the cycle continues on...so her levels on her medications are always off, we go back and forth to doctors to try and regulate it, this means blood work once or twice a month....now I tell all the adults....DO NOT GIVE HER ANYTHING....but they continue....I once decided to confiscate it all, what I could, I had a full bag of 2lbs of candy at the end of 1 mo....this wasnt counting what she got from friends.....this is one reason I do not give sweets out, maybe un-sweet gum....or I might ask the parent of a child first.....we as drivers DO NOT know what the child's history is....in my daughters. case one of her disorders is an eating one...so she wont tell anyone she cant have things...Will everyone PLEASE STOP AND THINK....PLEASE!....other drivers think I'm strict with my daughter...that I am TOO STRICT and don't care, but its a battle I fight daily with her....

We are interested in how special ed techniques are different from one state to another.

Questions like: How do you load and off load wheel chair students?

We draw our children in backwards on to the ramp making sure that the child has a locking seat belt on the wheel chair. Lock in the wheels.

Only the driver is allowed to use the lift mechanism, Not an aide or teacher or parent.

The aides can help to tie down the chairs but the driver must go behind and make sure that all ties are tight.
The child must face forward and the wheels are to be locked.

We also use a shoulder restraint system now that is great for the added security. Wheelchairs are not crash tested for transporting students so using the extra straps works to keep the student from being thrown forward.

Our biggest problem seems to be when or if the bus should be turned off. Due to our high heat many of our students require air so the engine must stay on Many of us however do not have an adult on the bus to monitor students while we are loading and unloading students.
Any ideas short of getting aides for the bus would be appreciated.

Kathy from Nevada