My Boy: Part 74

First day of ESY, extended school year.JJ woke up well and in good spirits until....we could not find his Pokemon toy. I helped him look in the pool and his room, nowhere, could not find THAT toy and that was the only thing he wanted. Back and forth for a while, looking and looking. He had a mini meltdown. He wanted that Pokemon toy and nothing else would do. He settled on a toy snake and a mini ladybug. He was OK. My husband and I put him on the bus. We drove to the school and waited for him, He got off the bus and looked a little sad and told us he felt that way. If I was feeling a little anxious, I was thinking so much about his feelings. I was worried he would become overstimulated. Wow, Lots of NEW things. New bus and bus driver, new bus monitor, new school, new teachers..for JJ this is a whole lot to take in all at once. All in all he did well. We waited for his teacher to come inside the gym and we walked with them up to the classroom. We stayed for a bit. He made his name tag and drew the three of us. He seemed well but I did not want to leave him. The school was huge. everything was different. I was thinking and I have to trust that everything would be OK. There were 5 kids in the class and the teacher has two aides, so I really love that ratio. Anyhow, the teacher is a young vibrant male, nice personality.I wanted to stay in the room with them, I know I know. I am thinking too. Who has ASD here, is it me or JJ?

He gets off the bus in the afternoon. He was happy as can be. He says he loves Mr. A and that Mr. A is a cool guy. He just could not wait to go back to school again today just to see Mr. A. That was my relief. That made me feel comfortable. I really enjoyed my son saying that. He woke up bright and happy today. He was excited to go see Mr A again. He slept in his bed all night and was so happy to tell me that this morning. He got dressed and was so happy to wear his Phineas and Ferb shirt with lobster shorts. He picked it out. I went with it, it is cool. He loves that he does not have to wear a uniform, woohoo!! I know, huh. He brushed his teeth, got ready and ate and was excited to wait for the bus. Today, he too a small Buzz Lightyear phone in his pocket. Oh and by the way, I found his Pokemon toy yesterday, while he was at school. It was floating in the pool. I do not know how we did not see it in the morning. Needless to say he was thrilled when I gave it to him and had a great day swimming and playing. Oh yeah, and he loves sun block now, who would have thought? He keeps wanting to apply it. This is a sensory kid here, so we are making advances. I love my piece to the puzzle.



 

My Boy: Part 57

Jorge Juan usually takes the bus to school. It never showed up today. His regular driver had the day off so I am guessing the sub got lost because at 8:10, the bus still was MIA. So, I called the bus company and they asked for my son's name, I told them and their response was Special Ed? I was taken back a little but I replied with a yes. I was calling them to cancel because I did not want my son to be picked up by a stranger. Anyways, getting back to the special ed part..I do not like the way that sounds at all. I never really have. It just does not fit well with me but I guess they still use that term. As for me, I prefer specialized instruction. That is what it is. He is receiving an education with specialized instruction. Yes, indeed my child is special in every positive way but that term special ed irks me and I realized how much it does today when the guy said "special ed" after I told him my son's name. He has an IEP. He is an intelligent 5 year old who is eager to learn with the rest of his peers. I felt as though he was just labeled as that. He is not "that". He is a boy who loves to read. He loves to dance, sing and play. He is a boy who has autism. Autism does not have my boy. He is a child first, being on the spectrum is last. He is a boy with autism and I want all to know that it is not the other way around. There is no autism with the boy because autism cannot survive without him.

I want people to see past the autism because that is when you truly will see an amazing child with so much to offer this world. It is more than awareness, it is acceptance. After all, my son does not like labels of any kind. I rip them off of his clothes and toys and I will continue to rip them off of him when people try to put one on him.

My Boy: Part 34

I forgot to write about our PPT meeting to discuss Jorge's IEP. The meeting was about 2 weeks ago. His principal, ASD teacher, mainstream teacher, speech therapist, occupational therapist, school sociologist, myself and my husband were in attendance. It was a pretty brief meeting. Everyone was so genuine and professional. I really admire Jorge's team at his new school this year. They all really know my son and work together for his best interests. We had this meeting because he met all of his previous goals on his IEP and the team worked together to give him new goals that I believe are attainable very soon. Some things about rhyming , putting sounds together, routine but nothing too drastic. He is doing so well. Everyone was praising him and they each had a story to tell about Jorge. It felt good to be in a place where we can feel that they are really working for our son. He has progressed in so many wats that I sometimes forget that he has autism. He is a super hero. He is always trying. He lives going to school and taking the bus. He has friends and talks about them to us. We heard from the meeting that he is very comical and tries his very vest to focus and pay attention. He may have to be redirected at rimes but he participates with the rest of his classmates. This makes us very proud. He has music class, gym, art class along with his therapies. He really benefits from the whole package education. After the meeting we got a surprise. Jorge was singing Feliz Navidad along with his class to parents that had attended a PAC meeting in the cafeteria. We did not know this. It was great. He sang a little, jumped around and danced. Afterwards he got to sit on Santa's lap and we took some pictures. He was not afraid at all and this was the first rime he sat with Santa. When Jorge saw us there at the school„ he got a little worried be cause he thought we were going to take him home with us. He wanted to stay in school and enjoy the day with his friends. That was really sweet.
Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more. There's so much more. Christmas Show and Polar Express Day....plus Jorge"s achievements.