The homework meltdown

    In the High School the teachers make a big deal about doing homework.  The science teacher makes a point that if the homework isn't done on time you get a zero.  No Makeups!  Abe usually does his homework so it isn't an issue. Except today, he forgot to write it down.   The aide is supposed to prompt him to write the homework if he hasn't done so by himself.  There is a target sheet that comes home every day and today it says that the aide prompted Abe to write the homework and that it was written.   Today's page in his agenda was blank so I don't know what happened.  As a backup, the teachers are supposed to post the homework on a computer program that we can access.  I looked it up and yesterday's homework was listed on today's date.  Today's homework wasn't there.  Time for a major meltdown!  Abe got so agitated he was banging his head on the floor.  He was never a head banger as a child but lately he has been hurting himself in order to punish himself for doing something wrong ( such as forgetting his homework).  I tried to tell him that we would let the teacher know what happened and he wouldn't get a zero but Abe didn't believe me.  To Abe what the teacher says is the law.  I tried to get him to remember his classmates' names so we could try to get the phone number but he only knew one kid's full name and of course, that kid wasn't in the book.  I also suggested that he could answer all the questions on the topic they learned today (there were 5) but to Abe, doing extra homework was not acceptable either.  This is the type of situation where you have to make the best of a bad situation and this is exactly what Abe has trouble with.  I think that HS is making him stressed out.         Eventually, after much screaming, crying and agitation, Abe calmed down.  He agreed that I could write a note and he tried to do the rest of his homework.  Tomorrow I will be on the phone with the school psychologist to make sure that the science teacher doesn't penalize him.  Abe has a behavior plan that says you should only use positives and not punishment but of course, I don't know if the teacher will actually follow through.  One thing though, we have to help Abe understand that the world is flexible and that we can help make it better for him.  He is trying so hard to follow the rules set out for the general ed. students but he doesn't understand that accomodations can be made when necessary.