IEP Meeting

We had our 'dreaded' IEP meeting yesterday.  I don't know what I was really ready to expect.

Part of me (the Mom) wants to be Chase's biggest advocate and get him everything that we can to help him.  More frequent therapies, an aid, a specialized pre-reading program...  The other part of me (the teacher) feels the need to be realistic in what we are asking for.  Does he really need the extra therapy sessions?  Is asking for an aid really a necessity?  By getting him more now, are we ensuring that it will be harder to mainstream him later because he will become dependent on the help?

And then, another part of my mommy instinct kicks in:  is less more?  I keep saying that he is just like all the other kids, that he can do anything they can.  So why do battle for extra things that he may not need?  He is already in a very structured classroom, with a teacher trained in EC, with assistants there to give more direction if he needs it.  Don't I want him to go into school and show that he is a little rock star and that he can do it with minimal assistance so that transitioning to an inclusion classroom for Kindergarten will be a no-brainer?

But then, does the extra help NOW make it so that he will be extra READY to move on in K?

Oy.

Originally I wanted Chase in a completely inclusive environment, surrounded by typical peers (like he is at his private preschool now).  Well, we don't have that option in the public school system, and frankly, I can't afford to pay for it privately.  And the classroom that he will be in really is only 7 kids with IEPs and 3 kids without,  and those with don't seem all that high maintainence.  Really, I just want him to have good role models, and they are there.  So that option is out.

The therapists recommended 30 minutes of PT and OT each week, and two 30 minute sessions of ST per week.  Speech is our main concern, and he is doing pretty well on PT and OT.  I feel like this is pretty adequate.  Also, he learns the most through imitation, and sitting in a class with 9 other kids and watching them has got to count for some learning, right?  We added a couple goals in about communicating with his peers, following 2 step directions, and using 2-3 word phrases.

I think one of the best things we did was request a copy of the evaluations that they did a few weeks ago, and also the draft copy of the IEP prior to this meeting.  That way, we could do all the emotional stuff in the privacy of our own home (I mean, I know he has delays-- that's why we are there, right?  But it IS hard to see it in print, with the official "age" that the results give you that is a year or more behind what your child's actual age is.)  Really, though, it wasn't all that difficult to deal with, because we knew what was coming, we weren't blindsided with any numbers or summaries.  Also, I didn't feel like I was being put on the spot when they asked if we were satisfied with the proposed goals or if we had anything we wanted to add.

We got a chance to tour his classroom and actually sat down with his teacher for a 1/2 hour or so to chat about Chase and his needs.  She took all sorts of notes, asked all sorts of questions, and I know that I am going to LOVE her.  I need to find a "first day of school" gift for her.  Suggestions?  If I don't think of anything awesome, I am leaning toward a Target gift card, because, really, what teacher couldn't use a gift card?  Oh, I also ordered a bunch of these books to give to his teachers...I was going to give them out at the end of the year, but this way she can have them in class while Chase is there.  What do you think?

Face time for Guy

Poor Gavin has been missing from the last few posts.  Here are some random photos because he deserves face time, too.

 Mom, I friggin' HATE this hat.

 Gavin learned the Tupperware cabinet game.

 Yes, I still have to clip his hair back for meal times...

This face makes me laugh!  I need to make it my new Facebook profile pic.

Party like you are 3- Part Two

We did a big party in the park with Chase's buddy Michael...their birthdays are a day apart, and we have grown really close with Michael's family.  And, since they both share a bunch of friends, we figured it made more sense to celebrate both boys' together.

Here they are blowing out the candles on their cupcakes, after a boisterous rendition of Happy Birthday, sung by 40 of our closest friends and relatives :)

Well, I guess, Michael is blowing out the candles...

 Chase decided it was more fun to blow the party horn (quick!  Can you spot the speech therapy going on in this photo?!)

 Luckily, Chase's friends' siblings are Ian's friends!

 Another cake shot.  They were so cute.  So were their friends.  We are so blessed :)

Party like you are 3- Part One

We did Chase's real birthday at home with just us...presents and ice cream cake, the way birthdays should be.

Here, he gives the Bilibo a try, with questionable results.

 Ian has better luck with it, but I am hoping that the more Chase watches Ian, the more adventurous he will be.

 I love that he prefers the packing paper instead of the gift.  *sigh*  

 The broom, however, THAT he knows how to handle!

Chase got such a kick out of blowing his own candles out this year.  We must have relit that candle 30 times.  It's the first time we've been unable to re-use a birthday candle, it burned down so far!  I have a video I should really upload that shows him blowing it out, then saying, "Again?"  Cute.

Hey Mister? Do you need a hand?

*P.S.  I know that his hat is ridiculously small...Chase picked it out :)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Chase!!

I keep telling Chase that it's his birthday, and that he is THREE (holding 3 fingers up).  Poor guy, doesn't quite have the fine motor control to put up 3 fingers, so he just waves his whole hand at me instead :)

Chasey,  you are SUCH the big boy now.  You have your own opinions on things (what to eat, what to wear, which shoes go on and which to throw...).  You make a great big brother (the best game is "Guy-Guy", in which you bring all of the toys or books or tupperware and pile it in Gavin's lap, and every time you bring a new load, you drop it in front of him and say "Guy Guy!").  You are a great little brother, mastering the art of driving Ian crazy by wanting to do everything that he does.

You assert yourself, saying "Mine!" when someone tries to take your stuff.  You are as independent as I let you be, trying to brush your own teeth, put on your own clothes, walk out the front door by yourself and wander around the culdesac...(he's FAST!).

You know a BUNCH of words.  You say them in context on your own.  We've started hearing you phrase two words together.  The language explosion...I think we are almost there.  Sometimes I even catch you singing along to the CDs in the car :)

You love school, you love your family, you love your friends.  You love your frog, sheepie (Peepish), and a little green bunny (Munny) at bedtime.  You love baths and showers, your water table outside and using a cup to dump the water out of the kiddie pool onto other people.  You love Yo Gabba Gabba (you sometimes ask to watch this by saying, "Gaaaabba...?" but other times you say, "Gabbagabbagabbagabbagabbagabbagabbagabbagabbaaaaaa?"), Blues Clues, and Jack's Big Music Show. You swing on the big swing outside and like to help me pull weeds in the garden (and you also enjoy pulling out the actual plants, too, which I don't enjoy so much).

I am so looking forward to this next year with you, which I'm sure will be full of more growth...maybe you will ride a tricycle, perhaps you will sit on the potty (pleeeeeeeeeease?!), and I KNOW you will love school and make a hundred new friends.

Love you so much, Chase.  Happy 3rd :)

(Chase is sitting on the new trike from Gaga and Papa...who doesn't love a hotwheels tricycle that makes SOUNDS?!?!  Thank you!!!!)

Endings and Beginnings

We said goodbye (really, see you later- isn't Facebook grand?!) to Chase's last therapist this afternoon.  Our caseworker also came by to "close him out."

We have been so fortunate to have therapists and a caseworker that we have loved so much and have always kept Chase's best interests at heart.  So, it has been 3 whole years with this team...and when it began 3 years sounded like such a long time.

Now, give or take 150 visits later, this chapter is ending, and instead of a sweet (albeit floppy) little baby, I have a flexy-bendy boy.  Can you believe it?  I can't.

I went through all Chase's photos and made small scrapbooks for each of his therapists, and a framed photo for our caseworker.  As I looked through all of them, it almost seemed like someone else's life.  Did that all really happen?  Was I there?  Where did that kid go?  How did we get through all that?

(I'm really proud of the photo books that I made, so I took pictures of the one that I made for our PT so I could show it off.  I tried to find pictures of Chase demonstrating the different skills each one worked with him on.)  Enjoy :)

Chase's transition to pre-K is almost the same as Ian's to K.  But Chase has been through so much more and worked so much harder in less time than Ian has.  Not to downplay any of Ian's accomplishments...but still.  Everything that Chase has done, he has worked for, and worked HARD.  And he's had a team of people behind him cheering him on.

And although I am a little anxious and a tiny teary-eyed about Ian going to Kindergarten, all day, to live his life without the umbilical cord attached to me anymore, I am more ready for that.  He will do great at school.  And if he doesn't, he will tell me.

Chase, sweet Chase, can't yet.  To think that his days will be filled with someone other than me is just, well, sad to me (and a little scary, honestly).  I gotta say, I have a teeny feeling of displacement right now.

On the upside, I am kind of looking forward to this summer-- no daycare kids, no appointments...just the kids and I and a BUNCH of open time.  The projects I have planned!  The places we will go!!  Trips to the library, to the parks, to the greenways!  It will be glorious.  Glorious, I tell you!  :)