On Tuesday of this week we had Trey's IEP Meeting. IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan. Children with special needs are on so many different levels as far as their level of special services needed that they do an Education Plan suited specifically to their level of need. It's really a cool thing! For example, my Trey might need ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) Therapy and need specific help on learning math skills but another child only needs OT (Occupational Therapy) and needs help with handwriting while yet another child needs all therapies available. The school system pays for each child to get the help that they need! Our tax dollars HARD at work! Literally!
I made the appointment on a day that I knew John could come because we both want to be hands on and involved in every aspect of his education. So I met him at the school for the meeting. You must also understand that these meeting must include everyone that has any interaction with Trey. In our meeting was me, John, the Vice Principal, the speech therapist, the ABA therapist, the Behavioral therapist, the Occupational therapist, Ms. Gwen (his SPED teacher) and Ms. Hobbs (his Kindergarten teacher).
When we started the meeting, they began telling us how impressed they were with Trey and the strides that he has made this year. Ms. Gwen went over his objectives and goals and said that academically he has met or exceeded all areas that were previously set for him and that socially he has come SO far. She said that Trey's kindergarten teacher, Ms. Hobbs, was upset with her for what she was about to tell us. I was kinda nervous by this statement cause I thought it was going to be bad news. Ms. Gwen then told us that she was recommending Trey for 1st Grade because he was academically exactly where he should be in Kindergarten. He has met all his skills!!! We were ELATED! The reason Ms. Hobbs was upset was because she said that she LOVES Trey and was wanting him to be in her class again next year. So sweet! Ms. Hobbs told us that if she had to say where Trey was delay-wise, she would place him at the developmental stage that the Kindergartners were at when they came back from Christmas! That is only 3-4 months delayed! When he was first diagnosed, he was developmentally delayed 1 year to 18 months. WHAT A TRANSFORMATION!
After learning this exciting news we got more great news. The Occupational Therapist thinks that Trey won't need to go out of the classroom to see her and that she will just be available for things that he needs periodically in the class. She is still going to write it in his IEP for next year so that he CAN have it if he needs it but right now it looks like he tested out of OT. Also, they said, if he had tested this high before he started Kindergarten that he probably wouldn't have even been in SPED at all, he would have been coming out for a few therapies but been in mainstream classroom.
Next year he will be in the classroom 80% of the time and will only leave for a few of the therapies. Now things may change when he begins school next year and he is in the classroom. He may need more time out of the classroom at first so he can transition into full time classroom time but they really think he is going to be ready!
They told us that his best subject is math (surprise, surprise!)---he IS his daddy's child---and his least favorite subject is Art. I was a little disappointed in this because I love artsy stuff but I still have hope in Crockett. They said he would tell them that "Art is for Crockett. Crockett likes ART, not me!" Every time he was going to art, he would tell them this. They said they laughed every time.
The last thing we discussed was whether Trey should go to Extended School Year. They asked if we wanted Trey to be at ESY this year and that it was strictly up to us as it was our call. We went ahead and suggested that he be in ESY with weekly ABA Therapy so he and I don't get out of practice and so he doesn't lose anything that he has learned this far! ESY only goes from the end of regular school year thru June. You still get the month of July off to have a summer vacation.
I can not begin to explain how much I appreciate the teachers, therapists and the assistants that have helped our Trey come so far in such a short time. As a parent of a Special Needs child, the main fear you have is that your child will never have the quality of life that you want them to have. You wonder if they will ever be self sufficient. There are so many times that bring you down and make you think that you will never get past this time in your life. Meltdown after meltdown, conference after conference, complaint after complaint, dirty look after dirty look. And then the day comes that you have a conference or meeting like the one I had this day, where they tell you that your child is beating this thing.....that he is exceeding expectation and not just meeting it! I issue a challenge to all of you parents out there that are struggling......Go to God and ask for His GRACE! Ask God for His PEACE! Ask God for His direction in your life! I have no idea how we would have gotten through these past 6 years without His guidance and direction in our life!
It reminds me of an old song......HIS strength is perfect when our strength is gone. HE'll carry us when we can't carry on! Raised in His power, the weak become strong!
I have had to cling to the HOPE of Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ who give me strength." I am a different woman for having been blessed with Trey! Go kiss your babies and thank God for allowing you the opportunity to be a parent even when it's not easy. If you are a parent of a special child, thank Him for sparing you the monotony of a "typical" life and allowing you to have the blessing of a "special" life!!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Our Guard Bird
I will be the first to admit that I am NOT an outside girl! Those of you that know me, know that I will avoid being outside unless I have nothing to do that day! I don't like to sweat. I don't like bugs. I don't like to smell like the great outdoors or recess when I have just taken a shower. I don't like my feet to get dirty (which means I don't like to walk in dirt when wearing flip flops) and I don't like my hands to get dirty either.
That being said, I had decided to go outside (I know...SHOCKA!) and plant some bulbs that a sweet lady at church had given me and pull some weeds (with my tennis shoes and gloves on, of course) and as I walked out the front door I heard a LOUD chirping and screeching and look up to see a "wounded" bird floundering around on the grass. I knew it was "pretending" to be hurt and must have some eggs somewhere in the area so I begin walking toward it.....the entire time it screeches and screams at the top of its little birdy lungs and flops around and charges me several times. Mawsy always said they were called Killdeer. I found the eggs in a neat little nest on the ground in our flower bed.
I got weirded out and let it talk me out of doing any yard work, because I really didn't want to be attacked by our guard bird.
This was about a couple of weeks ago and since that day there have been several humorous things happen with folks coming to our front door. I had ordered several things on the Internet, one with a Fed Ex delivery and one with a USPS and the first one to show up was the USPS delivery guy. I was sitting inside and watched him pull up to the front of the house and get out. He strolled up to the door, not really paying attention to where he was going and as he stepped on the front walkway, the bird when ballistic and started chasing him. He takes off running back into the yard and the bird back off. He takes a second to catch his breath and formulate a game plan. He then takes a running start and darts to the door, tosses the package at the front door (from about 6 feet away) and takes off back out in the yard. I watched from the front window and laughed so hard I cried. Poor USPS guy! LOL!
The second person, Fed Ex guy, came to our house while I was away but I can only imagine that something very similar must have happened. I say this because the package from Fed Ex was sitting in front of the garage door! Haha! All I can say is the Fed Ex persons decision to put the package by the garage (right next to the front path to the front door) kinda made a little bit more sense than chucking the package at the front door while ducking and dodging the scary Guard Bird!
The third occurrence was when my sister and her kids were leaving my house. Apparently my nephew (who is 3) got a little too courageous and ran toward the bird. My niece, Morgan, gave me this account of exactly what happened. Now if you know Morgan, you know that this may be a wee bit fabricated!
Morgan - "NiNi! Did you hear about the bird in your front flower bed attacking Manning?"
Me - "NO! What happened?"
Morgan - "The bird pecked him in the eye!"
Me - "NO WAY! Are you serious?!"
Morgan - "Yah! Manning ran up to the bird and the bird did a backward somersault and flew up and pecked him in the eye!"
Me - "OH MY! Is he okay?!"
Morgan - "Other than he lost an eye, yeah, he is okay. I'm just kidding....yeah, he's fine."
And that was it. Manning was fine but I bet he learned his lesson even if he wasn't chasing the bird on purpose, I bet he will watch for the warning signs of an Attack Bird or Guard Bird! We have a cat that lives across the street from the house and it came over during the winter and killed the three mice that lived under my lawnmower in my garage. He sat under John's truck everynight and would catch the mice when they came out. Now I keep catching him prowling around my front yard at night and I think, by the sound of my Guard Bird's urgent screams, that he is trying to get at the bird or her babies. I have actually been appreciative of the bird for continuing to keep solicitors and salesmen and so forth out of my yard so I scare the cat away when I can. Hopefully she can keep the eggs safe for a few more weeks and then there will be baby "killdeer" running around! They are so adorable when they just hatch. Long skinny legs and a little body scampering around behind their mommy! Just reminds me of the joys of babies and also makes me appreciate spring and the creation of new life!
That being said, I had decided to go outside (I know...SHOCKA!) and plant some bulbs that a sweet lady at church had given me and pull some weeds (with my tennis shoes and gloves on, of course) and as I walked out the front door I heard a LOUD chirping and screeching and look up to see a "wounded" bird floundering around on the grass. I knew it was "pretending" to be hurt and must have some eggs somewhere in the area so I begin walking toward it.....the entire time it screeches and screams at the top of its little birdy lungs and flops around and charges me several times. Mawsy always said they were called Killdeer. I found the eggs in a neat little nest on the ground in our flower bed.
I got weirded out and let it talk me out of doing any yard work, because I really didn't want to be attacked by our guard bird.
This was about a couple of weeks ago and since that day there have been several humorous things happen with folks coming to our front door. I had ordered several things on the Internet, one with a Fed Ex delivery and one with a USPS and the first one to show up was the USPS delivery guy. I was sitting inside and watched him pull up to the front of the house and get out. He strolled up to the door, not really paying attention to where he was going and as he stepped on the front walkway, the bird when ballistic and started chasing him. He takes off running back into the yard and the bird back off. He takes a second to catch his breath and formulate a game plan. He then takes a running start and darts to the door, tosses the package at the front door (from about 6 feet away) and takes off back out in the yard. I watched from the front window and laughed so hard I cried. Poor USPS guy! LOL!
The second person, Fed Ex guy, came to our house while I was away but I can only imagine that something very similar must have happened. I say this because the package from Fed Ex was sitting in front of the garage door! Haha! All I can say is the Fed Ex persons decision to put the package by the garage (right next to the front path to the front door) kinda made a little bit more sense than chucking the package at the front door while ducking and dodging the scary Guard Bird!
The third occurrence was when my sister and her kids were leaving my house. Apparently my nephew (who is 3) got a little too courageous and ran toward the bird. My niece, Morgan, gave me this account of exactly what happened. Now if you know Morgan, you know that this may be a wee bit fabricated!
Morgan - "NiNi! Did you hear about the bird in your front flower bed attacking Manning?"
Me - "NO! What happened?"
Morgan - "The bird pecked him in the eye!"
Me - "NO WAY! Are you serious?!"
Morgan - "Yah! Manning ran up to the bird and the bird did a backward somersault and flew up and pecked him in the eye!"
Me - "OH MY! Is he okay?!"
Morgan - "Other than he lost an eye, yeah, he is okay. I'm just kidding....yeah, he's fine."
And that was it. Manning was fine but I bet he learned his lesson even if he wasn't chasing the bird on purpose, I bet he will watch for the warning signs of an Attack Bird or Guard Bird! We have a cat that lives across the street from the house and it came over during the winter and killed the three mice that lived under my lawnmower in my garage. He sat under John's truck everynight and would catch the mice when they came out. Now I keep catching him prowling around my front yard at night and I think, by the sound of my Guard Bird's urgent screams, that he is trying to get at the bird or her babies. I have actually been appreciative of the bird for continuing to keep solicitors and salesmen and so forth out of my yard so I scare the cat away when I can. Hopefully she can keep the eggs safe for a few more weeks and then there will be baby "killdeer" running around! They are so adorable when they just hatch. Long skinny legs and a little body scampering around behind their mommy! Just reminds me of the joys of babies and also makes me appreciate spring and the creation of new life!
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