Some days were rough during the virtual school experience. Two months into the first year I find out I'm pregnant, and from the day I got the plus sign on I was miserable, not severely, but enough not to have the energy to be of much help to Robert. I left Robert to his own defenses a lot... as long as the work was getting done, and his grades were good I didn't bother him. Robert felt that he didn't have to do the book work... partially my fault because we didn't do the spelling much because it wasn't a grade. When we started the second year I had every intention of being on top of things, making sure he did the work and understood what needed to be done to learn... well it was a constant fight... do your work, show me your work, why did you get this bad grade... my stress levels just kept going up and up. Ken got sick in March and was able to see what happened with us daily as I tried to get him to get the work done... and after much discussion we decided that back to regular school he would go the next year... so I began the email campaign to get Robert ready for middle school... I fought with the virtual school to try to get them to add the Asperger's and ADHD diagnosis to his IEP... well they kept giving me the run around, and finally it was decided that it would be best to have the new school do the diagnostic tests when he started 6th grade.... oh my fun fun fun right? Mean while at Tommy's ARD in March, they tell me that they want to test him for autism/Asperger's... so more fun. Well in May I get the results of the testing for Tommy... yup school says Asperger's.
Well summer started, and I continued to research, thanks to the school I found Any Baby Can, and got more information, and during my own researching I found a great group of moms that I have been able to connect with to get support... women that know what I am going through, and that I can relate to. I was SOOOO worried about Robert going back to regular school... then I s\return to the email campaign I have a letter written out to give to the special ed person I had been emailing... wanted to know when I could give it to her...she replied that she was now a vice principle... so I started emailing the new special ed person... trying to get everything nailed down as much as possible before school started... got the letter delivered had a staffing ARD, classes set up, week later classes changed to a coteach environment with a class in social skills, testing was done, inconclusive... more testing.. yes he does have Asperger's... ARD basically where they said they wanted to see about Adaptive PE... waiting on another ARD in January for that.
I've done some classes at Any Baby Can, and I am currently doing a PALS training course so I will be better prepared for the next ARDs for both of my Aspies :) Since I've never had an NT kiddo I am so paranoid about Austin.. is he doing what he should be doing at this age... is the dancing he does something I should be worried about... so he will be getting evaluated soon by ECI to make sure he is on track.
I am learning how better to parent my boys, and that it is ok that I have trouble controlling them, because they have trouble controlling themselves too... and the more time I spend with them the better I will be able to help them develop the skills they need to get by. And be amazed by how wonderful they really are... Tommy with his drawling and building, and Robert with his Bible knowledge, and general love of reading.
acronym translations:
ADHD- attention deficit and hyperactive disorder.
IEP- individualized educational plan.
ARD- admission review, dismissal (annual meetings of parents and school officials to discuss IEP, goals, accommodations and progress. can be done more often than once a year if needed.)
PE-physical education (yeah I know you probably actually knew that on :) )
NT- neuro typical... the "normal" person
PALS-Parent Alliance for Learning and Support
No comments:
Post a Comment