The Short Bus

[AnalogWife]

I was just wondering about experiences with SN school transportation.  I drive my DS to preschool, but he's very interested in the bus that comes every day, it's an RTP bus, not sure if those are everywhere but it's a short white bus that makes door-to-door trips around the county, not until DS started going to preschool did I know that this was how some kids got to school, I thought they were for medical/shopping trips, etc.

Those who know, do ASD children ride the shorter bus?  Is there still the same stigma as when we were growing up?  Have your DC ever complained about this method of transportation?  Do children prefer it over the typical school bus?  Just curious, TIA

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Yes, my oldest son took a special van the last few years.  At his school, there didn't seem to be any stigma attached, because there were many children who took a different  van to school if they lived close to the school.  He loved it.  Now he's on a regular bus, and although he's OK with it, he preferred the van. 

[kme]

In our district, the special needs preschool kids take a separate bus but it looks just like the "regular" one.  It was highly recommended to us that our son take the bus so he would be used to it and become more independent.  He seemed to like it and had a great bus attendant that rode with them every day.  There didn't appear to be stigma since the bus looked the same except for the wheelchair lift door on the side.  When it came time for kindergarten (he was in mainstream kindergarten and took the same bus as everyone else), he was so used to taking a bus, he was not scared or nervous like many of the other kindergartners.

[Lollybrat]

My son has ASD and is in the first grade. He takes the "short bus" to school. It's about 3/4 the length of the regular bus, has harnesses for the seats, and has a wheelchair lift. My son is partially mainstreamed, but he would be overwhelmed on the regular bus. He loves riding the bus and I love the door to door service.

[NataliaI]

My son began riding the bus to school at 3 yo.  It was a regular length bus but they did have car seats for the small children and seat belts for the older ones.

He loved riding the bus and it was convenient for me.

I still hear people -- adults -- making comments about "riding the short bus" and, like so many of these things that have crept into the vernacular, ignore it.  It is not worth my time and energy to deal with it.

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

My son just started preschool on an IEP Monday and yesterday was his first day taking the bus.  They sometimes use a short bus, other times a van.  He was so excited!  My DD is in kindergarten and her friend comes to school on the "short bus" and she thinks it's cool that she gets a bus all to herself :)  I'm not sure if the stigma is still there in the older grades.

[SpottedFoxx]

My son's been taking the "short bus" to school for almost 2 years (he started in preschool).  He loves his little bus for school and the big bus for camp.   There doesn't appear to be the same stigma but then again, my son's only in kindergarten so it's hard to say what it will be when he's a bit older.

[muldey]

Ds takes a regular bus,it comes right to our door.He loves it,been taking it since kindergarten.He has Asperger's and is now in 4th grade.I haven't seen the short buses around here for a long time.I don't think he would care either way,as long as he's on the bus.But he is in special education(self contained) so I don't know if that makes a difference.

[pimms]

My son also took a short bus for the 2 years of special ed preschool.  He LOVED the bus.  Our case manager also highly recommended taking the bus for the same reasons kme suggested.  In our district the bus comes to your house for the preschoolers and there is also and aide on the bus in addition to a bus driver. We've not experienced any stigma, like there was when we were growing up. Our elementary school only goes to 2nd grade, and then you move to another school, so maybe the kids are just too young.  Last year when my son was in 1st grade we actually had a short bus for our regular neighborhood route, it was just a new addition stop (overflow) and they put us on a short bus, the kids of various grades didn't mind at all or even seem to notice.