Zeke- IEP

Quick update, because frankly I'm exhausted and possibly spent all my time this evening chatting with the lovely Tiffany Larsen and browsing Pinterest...

But I went to Zeke's eligibility and IEP meeting today and I wanted to jot some thoughts down.

1- The intake team in our county is AWESOME.  They are positive, they are personal, and they know their stuff.  I'm so lucky that we happened to plop ourselves down in Union County when we moved here.

2- Zeke is a charmer.  He has all of those ladies cooing after him and giggling, talking about him after he leaves, and even following his story in the paper and on our blogs (hey assessment team ladies!)

3- Zeke is "significantly delayed" in all areas...with the caveat that it is hard to get an accurate assessment due to his past and the transitions that he is making now.

I'm trying to write out my feelings on this here and I've rewritten it several times now...the thing is, hearing that he was "significantly delayed" didn't hurt my feelings this time, like it did at Chase's first IEP.  And it's not that I don't care...it's just that I feel like I've turned a corner with acceptance.  No, I don't like hearing that Z is behind...but I knew it was coming, and I also knew that he's in a place where he'll grow into the skills that he is missing.  I know I'll feel the same way when we get to Chase's IEP meeting this year.  We're still pushing, we're still working...we still have high expectations...but I guess it's just more of a clarity thing: this is where we are (and that's okay)...here is where we're going...and this is how we'll get there.

Fine.  Awesome.  Let's get a move on.

4- Zeke will get speech twice weekly for 30 minutes, and PT and OT 3x/month.  I'm good with all that.

5- At home, we'll just continue doing what we do...playing outside, running, jumping, riding bikes (ok, trying to convince certain 4 year olds that bikes are fun), reading books, playdough, coloring, naming objects in play...and looking into more options when things calm down a bit (HA!).  No really- I want to try them both in hippotherapy...someday.  I do.  Really.

6- He'll stay in the same class he's in now with Chase, which is totally perfect.  He loves it there.

The end.