Letter to the Editor - Why I want Elk Grove schools to open five days a week in person

My seven-year-old son is on the spectrum, he has deficits in language, receptive/expressive language, delayed gross motor and fine motor skills, and social skills.

Normal school, In-person school, helps him close these deficits.

He is academically strong, just nine points shy of being gifted on IQ test. He could read before he could talk and I taught him math, addition, and subtraction, in preschool. As seen below, his assessment results are perfect when administered in person.

Put him on Zoom and you see a child who cannot focus and attend; cannot take tests, and is constantly eloping or bolting from Zoom class. When all else fails, he goes into a meltdown. Zoom triggers his sensory defensive system. Zoom triggers his fight or flight response system.

I don’t know many parents who test well while being chased by a lion or stay focused on work with a large python on your desk. I know I can’t when my survival instincts are triggered. My first priority and probably yours too, is to RUN and find safety.

That’s what Zoom does to my son, it triggers his flight defensive system. He runs away to survive another Zoom session....365 days...and counting.

In the next Elk Grove Unified School District school board meeting, I want to release a lion into the room and see how well Trustees stick to the agenda items. (The door will be locked for the duration of the meeting).

You may think it is extreme, but my son has had to deal with a “lion in the room” for over a year!

David Phommavong

Elk Grove, Calif.

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