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Update of the day
Nov. 30th, 2005 10:51 amLife is busy these days.
We’ve moved Alan’s bed, changing table/dresser/books/toy bin into his bedroom (formerly our office). There is still stuff that isn’t his there – we can’t move the computers until we get a wireless network card. One computer will go into the bedroom, the other in the dining room. Mark still has some papers there – and we aren’t moving the TV or stereo yet. (We can unplug them if he messes with them). We also eventually need to clean some of the closet out – we’ve both stuff junk in their over the years as well as out of season clothes. But it will buy us a few more years here once we all get used to it. Alan won’t spend the whole night in his room yet. He gets up and comes in with us. This morning he ended up waking us up though (don’t lie on my stomach when I have to go to the bathroom!) The decluttering feels great – I’ve got 2 bags of stuff for an expectant friend and dropped off 4 bags of books (including college textbooks) to the public library. One of the librarians claimed a cookbook right away!
Yesterday I met with the school district about Alan’s evaluation. It turns out yes, he is “classified” – preschool disabled. This makes him eligible to attend the disabled preschool for 2.5 hours a day, 5 days a week. He will go from 8:50 to 11:20 in the morning. He will have 5 others in his class – and they have speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy there. (Occupational therapy seems like a funny name when you think about it for his age – his occupation is being a child – but it is general daily living and movement skills). And it’s free – paid for with tax dollars!
The daycare he attends will pick him up from there – they are a block away and they pickup some children in the inclusive class across the street. But we aren’t sure about drop-off. Neither Mark nor I can do it with our work schedules. I’ve asked if he can attend the school district’s extended care program, or if they can pick him up on the way of taking another disabled child to preschool (I’d pay for it). Sigh.
The whole process is amusing – because of legal stuff, you have to agree in writing to the classification and then agree to his IEP (individual education plan). It was pretty obvious once he was tested that he was behind, and I wouldn’t be there if I didn’t want help for him – but I know other children’s needs aren’t so easily defined and resolved.
He has language and sensory issues. He seems to need stimulation and is tactile defensive – not liking coloring or painting. He doesn’t answer questions like what is your name but is very good with labeling. He also has issues with eye contact (I don’t think he’s autistic though.) He doesn’t seem to be able to talk much beyond 2-3 word sentences and repeats stuff he hears a lot (echolalgia). He wants to make friends but with his limited language skills it seems to be hard. He does know all the names of his classmates, which is neat.
I’m reading up on sensory integration disorder, as that seems more like what he has to some extent.
Friday night is my company party. I’m going with my friend Jill, Mark can’t make it due to it being in the city and him working in central NJ. I need some dress up stuff though.
At least today is pay day!
We’ve moved Alan’s bed, changing table/dresser/books/toy bin into his bedroom (formerly our office). There is still stuff that isn’t his there – we can’t move the computers until we get a wireless network card. One computer will go into the bedroom, the other in the dining room. Mark still has some papers there – and we aren’t moving the TV or stereo yet. (We can unplug them if he messes with them). We also eventually need to clean some of the closet out – we’ve both stuff junk in their over the years as well as out of season clothes. But it will buy us a few more years here once we all get used to it. Alan won’t spend the whole night in his room yet. He gets up and comes in with us. This morning he ended up waking us up though (don’t lie on my stomach when I have to go to the bathroom!) The decluttering feels great – I’ve got 2 bags of stuff for an expectant friend and dropped off 4 bags of books (including college textbooks) to the public library. One of the librarians claimed a cookbook right away!
Yesterday I met with the school district about Alan’s evaluation. It turns out yes, he is “classified” – preschool disabled. This makes him eligible to attend the disabled preschool for 2.5 hours a day, 5 days a week. He will go from 8:50 to 11:20 in the morning. He will have 5 others in his class – and they have speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy there. (Occupational therapy seems like a funny name when you think about it for his age – his occupation is being a child – but it is general daily living and movement skills). And it’s free – paid for with tax dollars!
The daycare he attends will pick him up from there – they are a block away and they pickup some children in the inclusive class across the street. But we aren’t sure about drop-off. Neither Mark nor I can do it with our work schedules. I’ve asked if he can attend the school district’s extended care program, or if they can pick him up on the way of taking another disabled child to preschool (I’d pay for it). Sigh.
The whole process is amusing – because of legal stuff, you have to agree in writing to the classification and then agree to his IEP (individual education plan). It was pretty obvious once he was tested that he was behind, and I wouldn’t be there if I didn’t want help for him – but I know other children’s needs aren’t so easily defined and resolved.
He has language and sensory issues. He seems to need stimulation and is tactile defensive – not liking coloring or painting. He doesn’t answer questions like what is your name but is very good with labeling. He also has issues with eye contact (I don’t think he’s autistic though.) He doesn’t seem to be able to talk much beyond 2-3 word sentences and repeats stuff he hears a lot (echolalgia). He wants to make friends but with his limited language skills it seems to be hard. He does know all the names of his classmates, which is neat.
I’m reading up on sensory integration disorder, as that seems more like what he has to some extent.
Friday night is my company party. I’m going with my friend Jill, Mark can’t make it due to it being in the city and him working in central NJ. I need some dress up stuff though.
At least today is pay day!
