I did not sleep much last night. I could not stop thinking about Pig Jr.'s IEP meeting this morning. If dread were an Olympic sport, I would have medalled in it. A number of days ago, I had received his latest evaluation from the school district, and it sounded as if he was going to lose all of the services the school currently provides. I figured this was going to be an uphill battle to fight for what Pig Jr. needs. That sort of fight was not something I looked forward to having, although I was willing to do what it takes.
Pig Jr. accompanied me to the IEP meeting after we dropped his sisters off in their respective lines outside of the school. He did not have to get dropped off for another half hour, and I figured that would give me an excuse to leave the dreaded meeting by 8:30AM. Besides, I was more likely to control myself and keep things at least civil if my kidlet was by my side. We do try to run a G-rated household.
The first thing I was asked was whether or not I had any questions regarding Pig Jr.'s evaluation. Why, yes. Yes, I do. "It sounded like my son was not going to receive speech services next year. While I am glad his speech has improved, plenty of people still cannot understand him. What are we going to do to help out his language skills if he isn't going to have speech?" Trust me when I say this is far more tactful than what I wanted to say, which was, "What kind of freaking morons are you to take away his speech services, when plenty of school employees have stated on the record that they have difficulties understanding him in casual conversations?!?"
See? It helps to have a five-year-old witness present.
Anyway, they immediately told me they were going to let me off the hook with my worries. They were not taking my son off speech services, nor were they going to de-classify him. After listening to them for a few minutes, it dawned on me that we were getting pretty much the absolute best outcome for my son's transition to kindergarten.
First, Pig Jr. will be in an inclusion classroom with both a teacher and an aide. That extra pair of eyes will be helpful for when my son freezes up and can't move or say what is bothering him. (That supposedly happened just last week. The aide in his preschool classroom saw him standing frozen in place, with tears pouring down his cheeks. His teacher pulled him aside to try and talk with him about what was bothering him, but she implied she did not think he fully "got" what she was telling him about ways to address the incident which set him off.)
I mentioned that I hope my son gets a particular teacher because I know she is calm and doesn't yell (which is important for Pig Jr. with his sensory issues), and they said they would pass along that request, although there are no guarantees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that aspect of his class assignment for next year.
Secondly, after a query on my part, they wrote into his IEP that Pig Jr.'s parents were requesting an air conditioned room for him due to medical reasons. I know the school nurse will back me up on this one. She's had to give him nebulizer treatments and monitor his wheezing already. If push comes to shove, his pediatrician will likely back me up, too, since she is the one that has prescribed those breathing treatments, nasal sprays, steroids, and other related medicines in the first place.
Thirdly, my son still qualifies for the Extended School Year (ESY) program. This means he will once again attend school through the end of July, which means there will be less of a break for him to potentially undo everything about his routine that he knows and understands. There will be less of a break in services provided, too. Even better, although perhaps not for his teacher who relies on that income, the ESY days are only Monday through Thursday this summer, so we can actually still do things as a family during the week when the crowds aren't as bad.
And finally, my son will be monitored by the school's speech teacher, who will observe him in his classroom setting and discuss his progress with his teacher to see if further services are required. She also agreed to communicate with me monthly so I am kept appraised of Pig Jr.'s progress, or lack thereof. It is much easier to add on services this way, rather than to take them completely away and have to wait a year or more, fight like crazy, and eventually get the necessary services after far too long without them.
Perhaps best of all, my son's case manager kept reiterating how extremely intelligent my son is. What parent wouldn't like to hear that? She flat-out said he was so intelligent that he was able to answer questions she has never had another student able to answer. Even the speech teacher and Pig Jr.'s preschool teacher agreed that my son was incredibly intelligent. They also added that he was a joy to work with. (Except pretend I ended that sentence without a preposition. It does not bode well for my desire to claim that it was my genes that made him so smart when I cannot even figure out how to rephrase one simple sentence to end it properly. Dang it.)
What I thought was going to be a miserable start to an insanely long battle with the school district turned into a lovely meeting, where I pretty much got everything I wanted for my son. I feel like I can finally breathe again.
No comments:
Post a Comment