About the day after I last posted, a dear friend of mine who saw my desperate, frustrated plea, sent out an email to their circle of friends and prayer warriors and made them aware of our situation.
I have to say that as I was seeing the responses of support I felt touched, if for nothing else to help my child.
We waited almost nearly the whole summer very nervously by our mail box, and by our phones waiting for a word on where our son would be attending school this year.We prayed a lot for the teachers and the principals who would be making this decision, and just give us a chance. We got our school supplies ready for both Jonathan and Daniel. We even took our supplies for Daniel early because we were afraid we would not be able to carry them in one trip.
We decided since we knew who Daniel's Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities(PPCD) teacher is that we would go visit her for meet the teacher...Good thing is that although it is a 2 year program and we are entering our second year, all the parents got to meet too. We planned this ahead of time because throughout the district there was only one night to do this in.
We do Love Daniel's teacher and ask that if you do pray please do. She has her own special needs child who just had surgery and is having complications. She also has 6 very special kids (Daniel's class) with unique needs and challenges. Please pray for the RIGHT person to come along and assist her as her assistant said Goodbye (with tears) as she was moving on to another opportunity.
On the morning if Meet the teacher...Daniel's teacher calls me. we have a very good conversation about this year. While she was talking to me my call waiting beeped and I saw a number that looked like a number from the district office. I was totally unaware of who it was because sometimes the schools use a common caller id. It was a principal. The principal of the school that Daniel goes to and she was calling to let me know that Jonathan would be joining his brother at the same school. Oh there was cheering and dancing at our house. Tears were shed and hugs were given.
What we were not aware of was that there were more blessings that day. when we got to the school and came in (although we were told they didn't know who his teacher was going to be) They told us who Jonathan's teacher was. We all went to meet her. As first meetings go it was like 2 cats meeting (without the sniffing). He was sizing her up totally. You could tell he was nervous. She was trying to get who he was in that little time. I felt like she was very neutral.I couldn't get a read. I took a picture with my phone of them together and although he smiled...he was still terrified. We left knowing he was in good hands. Daniel's teacher told me about her in her perspective. lots of experience with resource and special ed stuff. we'd like her.
we all Get home, and Jonathan is in tears. I take the time to find out what's going on. He's afraid. Afraid he'll have no friends, no one to turn to, and all the what if's he was living with because of last year with the bullies, and the falling down and everything. Desperate to stop his anxiety from taking over... I tell him to take a deep breath and tall him that he's going to have a super great year (because hope had been infused again)
That I would be there for him, that his teacher would be there if he needed something. and told him that if all else fails go talk to Daniel's teacher because she is trustworthy. He had met her before so not a hard sell.
I tell him I pray for him and a lot of people do. This quieted his fear. He became excited.
Since writing last I came down with some sort of evil thing that started with an ear infection and ended up in some kind of pneumonia. I was S-I-C-K for a month and a half. Being sick stinks. Being a MOM and being sick and needing to still function sucked worse. Especially when it was back to school time.
The last two weeks at school have been a terrific flurry of notes back and forth, paperwork and emails and phone calls. Thank God no discipline issues so far.
Jonathan's ARD (or IEP Meeting which is called an ARD because Texas does things differently) is This Thursday. I am pretty confident due to their track record that this will go well. This also means we are a little bit nervous as well. because .we . Have. An . Invested. Interest. in our son's Education. that and last year wasn't so great.
Last Wednesday morning Andrew gets a phone call from our therapy provider for Jonathan. They were having trouble getting him approved through medicaid. After Andrew spent the next 90 mins. on the phone discovering governmental inconsistencies that no one at any level understood why it was. He found out that although our 2 younger children still qualify, Jonathan doesn't because Dad is making slightly too much (hallelujah, Thank you Lord) the 2 younger are on a Birth to age 5 program and that has different requirements.
So Jonathan was left out there and we were not made aware he was possibly in their eyes without insurance. But with us, not so he has always been on Dad's health care. just we were limited to a tiny few health care providers and scarce care by specialists. Now we are in the process of finding a new pediatrician who can get us to see a new set of specialists. I found out it was medicaid and insurance that was making our lives way too difficult.
Jonathan has been temporarily taken off therapies until we get insurance back in the right place.
She is the shoe diva. and she will came to me, get on the ottoman with her shoes(or her brothers shoes) and will put her foot up and say shoe. she may eventually take it off and change her mind, but heh she can do that. She's in a size 7 shoe. She has a crazy sense of humor, and will de clothe herself at a moment's notice. she'll let you know someone took her diaper off as if someone else did it...even if it was Sarah.
She is now learning to climb stairs and prefers going down the stairs to going up. We still don't know where we stand as far as her development goes. so we'll see.
Go and Be blessed.
What's going on? It's been almost 2 months. Are the boy's having fun in school? What's up with sarah? How are you and Andrew doing? Hope to get a email soon saying there is a update.
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