Last Friday I met with Mesa Schools to develop Ty's IEP. After nearly a decade of experience writing IEP's I thought this meeting would be a cake walk, but there is such a different feeling sitting on the other side of the table as the parent of a special ed student. One of my best friends offered to go to the meeting with me as an advocate for Ty and I'm so glad she did. She and I studied at ASU together and she taught elementary special ed when we graduated so she was such an asset to the meeting because of her experience and her personal knowledge of Ty's struggles. My expertise with high schoolers and helping them prepare to exit the program wasn't very useful - getting Ty prepared to start services was foreign to me. And once again, it's so different when it's your own child. My friend asked questions I wouldn't have thought of and somehow put into words the jumbled thoughts and concerns that were running through my head. I'm so grateful for all the support we've had and continue to have for Ty - and for me.
We now have an IEP ready to go once we are settled in our new home. I've slowly warmed up to the idea of putting my little guy on a school bus and sharing him with a teacher for 5 days a week. I wasn't expecting this much separation until kindergarten and will miss having him home, but I know it will be good for him.
As expected, his gross motor skills are exceptional and his receptive language is fine. He'll be getting extra love in the area of functional expressive speech, speech articulation, and personal social skills (this is related to his sensory overload and the difficulty he has transitioning from one activity to the next).
I often hear how cute he is (which is true) and how fast or energetic he is (also true) but I hope people can see all the other wonderful things about Ty. He is a compassionate little boy, very clever, and just as smart as the next kid. Hopefully in the next year he'll make just as much progress as he did this last year as he learns more compensatory skills and improves his speech. We're already starting to hear a few 3 and 4 word phrases (with word approximations, but still intelligable) and we are so proud of how far he's come.
We love you Ty!
The boy
The girl
The baby
We Believe
3 comments:
Way to go Mommy! I know its hard to sit through those meetings. I'm excited for little Ty. He will do great! He'll LOVE the bus. Just follow behind it in your car when he goes to school...it's okay... I did it too!
Good luck with everything! I thought he'd be going to Gilbert Schools? Oh-and have fun moving this weekend! I'm so impressed you're blogging. I haven't posted anything in ages because I just don't have the time or energy!
He will be going to Gilbert schools but we started the transition process in November with Mesa so it was easier to finish with Mesa.
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