Schools almost here!

Less than one week until school starts and panic has set in here. Kristin is totally freaked out about Middle School. As the time approaches to go back to school, she gets more and more upset, crying and looks of terror on her face when I suggest we go down to the school. I know going to middle school can be challenging, but it shouldn't be that big of an impact for her. The reason I say this is that she goes to a K-8 school. So she has been attending this school for the last two years, knows the school, has meet most of the teachers already and has tons of friends. It doesn't matter what I say though, she is freaked out.

I called the principle yesterday to talk to her about it and she was able to give me a general idea about who her teachers were going to be. The only teacher we weren't sure about was the core teacher and that was narrowed down to two. These are teachers who have been there for the past one to two years already and I believe she has already met them. The principle said she would also be willing to talk to Kristin too. I don't know if I should follow up on this or not.

I did get Kristin to read a couple of books put out by American Girl about feelings and about going to middle school. We talked about what she was afraid of and what she could do if those things were true. That seemed to help her to strategize different options. She was perkier after that.

As for Ian, we are still in a little bit of a quandary. He is supposed to go to a counseling enriched program run by the county as a student of his current school. However the county program is in a different school district. I've explained to the new school that he is not a student of theirs but is on their campus as part of the county program, and that he goes to a different school and is enrolled there. It's complicated. The staff looks at me like they don't understand, but the principle seems to. At least I hope so. The staff at his regular school keep asking if he is attending or not. I've told them in the meantime that he is still a student of theirs. Does this sound confusing?

So, why am I doing this? Well, Ian's school has a waiting list. If things don't work out at the new program, I want him to still have his original place. The teacher knows he may be there and even if he isn't, he has said we could bring him by to still participate in special activities and events. We also have to wait for the doctors to finish their assessments and tests. Their results may change everything. We don't know! I was hoping all this would be settled before school starts, but oh well. Just more waiting. You'd think I'd be used to this by now.

As for me, I'm taking classes at the local community college. Our classes started yesterday. I'm quite pleased and have been looking forward to them. I've had one class already and I think I'll enjoy it. It's called "Drugs and the brain". My other class is "Mental illness and the Movies" which starts today. I'm taking it from one of my favorite teachers. I know I'll enjoy that.

I'm actually off to attend a parent meeting about home schooling. We tossed the idea around for a few years now, but always end up deciding against it. It wouldn't hurt to attend the meeting, I might change my mind. That is Kristin's other option, to be home schooled, I just haven't decided if that would be best for her or not.


We are still trying to decide about Ian and his schooling. He is signed up for a counseling enriched program through the county, but it takes

Thirteen Thursday - 13 Things about IEP's

1. Always and I mean always, bring someone to support you. If your spouse or significant other can’t come with you, bring a friend or anyone you trust. Having a second pair of ears is invaluable as well as the comfort of having someone with you that’s “on your side”.

2. Expect and prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. It is better to be pleasantly surprised than to be shocked or in dismay.

3. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. Your child needs you to advocate for them. By getting emotional and upset you can set the stage for defensive attitudes on both sides. Once people become defensive, it is difficult to get much if anything done.

4. Always bring goodies and a picture of your child. An 8x10 is preferable if you have it and set it up in a prominent place. It reminds everyone why you are there. The goodies make everyone’s tummy happy.

5. Don’t sign the IEP at the meeting. Say that you want to take it home and look it over to make sure you understand everything and don’t have any more questions. It is your right.

6. There is no such thing as a draft IEP.

7. If you do not agree to the IEP, but the administration insists that you need to sign for them to do anything. You can sign it, BUT make sure you write underneath or next to your signature that you do not agree with the IEP.

8. Document everything. Write down what was agreed upon at the IEP. At home, type up a list of what you understood to be agreed upon and then send it to the parties involved verifying the information.

9. Don’t assume everything agreed upon at the meeting verbally will be written into the IEP.

10. If your triennial IEP is coming up, request any testing you want done well in advance of the IEP. This is when the school determines whether the child should continue in special ed. or be exited out. This is the time to do any extensive testing.

11. Remember, the school districts don’t work during the summer. If your child’s annual IEP is in September or October (assuming a start of school at the end of August as it is here), request testing now. The school is way to busy in the fall trying to get everything running smoothly. Any new staff in special ed. will be busy trying to catch up and be familiar with the existing kids as well as incoming special ed. kids. Having the testing begin when school starts can push the annual IEP back and/or have the staff rushed when testing.

12. Shane over at ADHD and LD Resource bloghas a wonderful article called Preparing for your first IEP. She has some great information as well as links to some wonderful resources.

13. One of the best sites for information and help on IEP’s is Wrights Law. They are a great resource for parents and have many articles that you can download about a variety of issues. They also have a free newsletter that you can subscribe to. I have their book “From Emotions to Advocacy” and it has been of great help to me.

There are many, many more resources out there. My goal is to try to blog about a new resource each week. Check back often as I’m continually updating my lists.

Back to school...slowly

Last week we started transitioning Ian back to school. He spent an hour in class both Monday & Tuesday afternoon. The class watched a movie and we wanted to show Ian that school can be fun too. He was excited and wanted to come back. His friends were very excited to see him and he had two playdates this past weekend. He went to his friend's house for one of the playdates even though he was very nervous. He hadn't been to a friend's place without me in a while. When Tim and I arrived to pick him up an hour and a half later, he wanted to stay for longer. I was very pleased.

This week, we took Ian back to school again for an hour on Monday and Tuesday. This time they were going to be working on a volcano project involving cutting, pasting and writing. Ian was excited to go, until we actually got there. Then he got anxious. It did not go well in class.

We tried again yesterday, but this time I stayed with him. It went much better. In fact he wanted to come back today, but they are getting ready for conferences and we aren't having one for Ian. At Ian's school, the children lead the spring conference. I don't know if they do that elsewhere, but it was a novelty for us.

Next week we are going to expand the time he is in class. Resource will come in three times a week to act as an aide for him and when they are not there, I will.

He's excited, he's friends are excited and his teacher and I are pleased.