Once Bitten......

Ok, I have been really trying to get a "warm fuzzy" about Nick's new school placement since it happened in November. I was thisclose to being there, and then I briefly chatted with one of his teachers today when I picked him up for his eval. at UW.
"Nick has not had a good couple of days" she informed me.
"Oh?" This was news to me; since we bought a small notebook for the teachers to write in everyday(at their request actually) and it has not been seen for weeks.
"He bit the other teacher, and head butted her the other day."
"He BIT her??!!" "What happened??!"
She then proceeded to tell me that each day they require all the kids to sit in a circle on the floor and do "calendar time". I have no idea of what "calendar time" consists of, but apparently Nick was wanting to play with a toy rather than do this. So, his teacher goes and takes the toy from him. Now, in November when he started here, we showed his teacher how to speak to Nick and he will reluctantly hand over what it is you are asking for-minimal protest, and a very controlled Nick. He gets rightfully upset when you just yank it from him. Nick likes order; he likes to feel like everything is under control. Don't we all? Anyway, Nick bit her and headbutted her, and he has been throwing tantrums when transitioning from one thing to the next. He does not do this at home. In fact, he barely does this when out in public. Nick is not a biter. He has never bitten anything other than his own lip before. He must have lost all control of himself in order to do this-which is not a normal thing for him. Now, I am afraid that the teachers will see him differently and act somewhat cold against him. This is not normal for him. He went to Evergreen for two years and he never bit anyone. His teachers all loved him and he thrived. Also, the number of kids in his class has grown from 5 to 9 since November. That is 9 kids-and today there was 4 adults who were also in the class. That is 13 people in a room-all afternoon. It could very well be too much for him. It just seems like they really don't know how to handle him. He is in a room with 12 other people bustling about,expecting things from him, and he goes in to overload. He has no escape. No quiet room he can go to for a few minutes of reprieve. We have an IEP meeting next week and I plan on discussing some of these things. Nick just needs an understanding teacher and he will be ok-I just feel like he will sink at this rate.