The end of an era for Ty...

(Picture taken New Year's Day 2012)

Today was a momentous day. So significant that I had to record it even though I'm still playing catch up from the last four months of our life.

Today I met with Ty's IEP team (school services) and his behavioral consultant (state services) and as a collective group we determined that Ty will gradually phase out of ALL special programming. ALL of them. It will be a gradual process, but by the time he turns 6 next spring - or next summer at the very latest - he will be therapy free! When they reevaluate him clinically at age 6, most of his state providers think he will even shed his label. At today's school based meeting, most of the individuals in attendance have been with Ty since the day he turned 3 and started school. As they went around the table and reported their most recent evaluations, they all smiled as they reported the progress he has made in the last 2 years. I found myself holding back tears more than once as I listened to them telling stories about him and sharing their favorite things about my sweet boy.

I was not expecting Ty to main stream into the regular classroom until 1st or 2nd grade. But as of today, he will be heading into a regular kindergarten classroom with typical peers. All day, every day. His speech will still be monitored, but his delays are now considered age appropriate and not obstructive to his learning. I am so proud of him and so excited for him! (Maybe a little nervous too.) Now we begin the great debate as to which school to send him to - it's always been decided for us in the past.

We have loved our teachers and therapists and all of them have been integral to his success. Because I don't ever want to forget them, I need to list them now: Rebecca, Yolanda, Michelle, Megan, Kelli, Maddie, Miss Alicia, Miss Shaun, Mrs. Barclay, Miss Debbie, Mr. Ron; and we have also loved our bus drivers: Mr. Monti, Mr. Don and Ms. Karen.

I have gone from losing sleep over him due to worrying about his future, to losing sleep over him due to excitement and amazement at his growth.

The only frustrating part about this experience has been the few acquaintances/friends/even a few family members who have voiced that they never thought anything was wrong with Ty to begin with. While I can understand that this sentiment may have been meant as a compliment, it's hard not to be sensitive to the notion that I overexaggerated Ty's needs the last few years of his life. I KNEW with certainty that Ty was struggling and I KNEW with certainty that he needed more help than we could provide alone. When your child can't communicate it is heartbreaking. When he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delay - Not Otherwise Specified) in 2010, it barely threw him onto the Autism Spectrum. We needed that diagnosis to reinstate therapies and get him the help he truly needed. We were not making that up. What kind of a parent would do that? That being said, I cannot fathom the difficulties that come with helping a child with classic autism, or even a child who falls somewhere else on the spectrum. I only know our story, and we are fortunate to have a happy ending to this phase of our journey, and we now look forward to a new beginning.

This good news doesn't necessarily mean that all of Ty's struggles are over. He still shows some mild sensory seeking behaviors and his pediatrician would say that he's still got (and may forever have) a few quirks that are associated with Aspergers. But we don't need any labels around here any more.

I have come to the conclusion that Ty is a poster child for early intervention. Every year the state of Arizona seems to put early interventions services on the budget chopping block, and every year they get less and less funding. Perhaps he didn't seem so atypical to the untrained eye over the years, but the help we have received since he was 19 months old has paid off tenfold. I am not ashamed that I fought to get him every service I thought he needed. I am not embarrassed that he was given a label in the summer of 2010. And now that he is turning 5, I am proud of him and all the hours of hard work he spent learning to communicate, regulate his emotions, and integrate into a typical world. If they strip him of his label at age 6, I will rejoice in knowing we did all that we could possibly do for him at that critical early age. If any parent is ever hesitant to get their child screened for services - I only hope I can give them an earful of our life changing experience. Early intervention works.

So watch out world - the sky is the limit as far as this little guy is concerned!