- Both days he’s gone to the bathroom for the teachers at school at least once. This is huge, as he’s super shy about using the bathroom for anyone other than Mom/Dad.
- Both days, he’s been happy to see me when we got there, but independently said “byebye” to the teacher. Well, in honestly, he grabbed my hand and went walking out while saying byebye.
- Neither day has involved tears at the drop off.
I am on the impressed side right now with the communication at CPCD. Specifically, on Monday during our Teacher home visit, we told his teacher that Dominic gets private speech therapy on Tuesday mornings, so if the school ST could be some other day we would appreciate it. Tuesday, he brought home an introductory letter from his speech therapist with a phone number and I called and left a message. Wednesday, she called me back, and let me know that Lori had advised her about the private speech therapy being on Tuesdays, and that as a result she would schedule his school therapy for Friday. We chatted for a bit about the history behind his speech regression, and she mentioned that she had a set of pictures on a ring to help him start using verbs (most of his independent words are nouns right now) that she’d give us. She sounds very nice and on top of things.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
teacher home visit
Our home visit with Dominics teacher was yesterday. She came in, sat at the dining room table with Rod and I, and we talked for an hour. We both really felt better after our conversation. She really put us at ease.
Some tidbits
we did history of Dominic's experience at BV, and from a teachers perspective, she suggested that the whole having him start right at age 3, interrupting an established class, etc, could very well have added to his dismay. she expects all her 3 year olds to have a rough first week or so as they get used to the new routine. She had one last year that cried for 2 hours straight. The first few weeks of school that doesn't really interrupt her class plans, whereas it could later in the year. Made sense to us.
She pointed out they WANT him in class, whereas at BV we didn't even meet the teacher before dominics first day, and she sort of was the recieving end of a new policy by the priniciple to start kids as early as possible.
We went over his likes and dislikes, strengths and fears. she took notes.
She did get to hear some of Dominic's babbling, as well as him speak a completely clear sentance (mommy, watch a movie), so she got a good impression of that. He also took himself to the bathroom while she was over, so she knows he can do that.
anyway, today is his first day - fun fun
Some tidbits
we did history of Dominic's experience at BV, and from a teachers perspective, she suggested that the whole having him start right at age 3, interrupting an established class, etc, could very well have added to his dismay. she expects all her 3 year olds to have a rough first week or so as they get used to the new routine. She had one last year that cried for 2 hours straight. The first few weeks of school that doesn't really interrupt her class plans, whereas it could later in the year. Made sense to us.
She pointed out they WANT him in class, whereas at BV we didn't even meet the teacher before dominics first day, and she sort of was the recieving end of a new policy by the priniciple to start kids as early as possible.
We went over his likes and dislikes, strengths and fears. she took notes.
She did get to hear some of Dominic's babbling, as well as him speak a completely clear sentance (mommy, watch a movie), so she got a good impression of that. He also took himself to the bathroom while she was over, so she knows he can do that.
anyway, today is his first day - fun fun
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Down the Rabbit hole
We got Dominic an IEP through the school district at the end of last year so that he would receive services (speech therapy, mainly, but there were some other nuances listed like gentle transitioning, etc) in the classroom this year. We had the option of staying at the school he was at last year (and paying ~$280/mo in tuition) or moving him to our neighborhood school and paying nothing (due to the IEP). So, we chose the neighborhood school. In our school district, some of the schools run their own preschools, and some of the schools have preschool run by the community partnership for child development - which is Head Start and the Colorado Preschool program. Both of those are primarily geared towards very low income and special needs kids
so today was our parent orientation.
What rabbit hole did we fall in?
No fewer than 4 of the presenters made clear that they're mandated reporters for the state for child abuse and informed us that if Dominic has a bruise, we need to announce it to them when we arrive and tell them what happened. (this kid is a classic boy, he climbs, runs, jumps, etc. he's always got bruised shins)
At least three times, the "family advocate" stopped the teacher and said that if for some reason we couldn'ta fford XYZ (the jacket, the extra set of clothes, the medical appt, etc), to call her and she would make sure we had it.
We have "home visits" with both the teacher and assistance (that'd be for monday, and my insistence, we want to be very clear about the things Dominic has going on with therapy, etcy) AND witht the "family advocate".
this is so not the reality we're used to.
At least there will be diversity, tho - there was one family who brought their interpreter because they only spoke Swahili, at least one set of Lesbian moms (i think two, but at least one), a family who spoke only spanish, again with an interpreter. All the paperwork was in both English and Spanish
so today was our parent orientation.
What rabbit hole did we fall in?
No fewer than 4 of the presenters made clear that they're mandated reporters for the state for child abuse and informed us that if Dominic has a bruise, we need to announce it to them when we arrive and tell them what happened. (this kid is a classic boy, he climbs, runs, jumps, etc. he's always got bruised shins)
At least three times, the "family advocate" stopped the teacher and said that if for some reason we couldn'ta fford XYZ (the jacket, the extra set of clothes, the medical appt, etc), to call her and she would make sure we had it.
We have "home visits" with both the teacher and assistance (that'd be for monday, and my insistence, we want to be very clear about the things Dominic has going on with therapy, etcy) AND witht the "family advocate".
this is so not the reality we're used to.
At least there will be diversity, tho - there was one family who brought their interpreter because they only spoke Swahili, at least one set of Lesbian moms (i think two, but at least one), a family who spoke only spanish, again with an interpreter. All the paperwork was in both English and Spanish
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Updating the blog
Okay, way behind in updating the blog.
Since my last Post, Dominic has:
-Gone to speech and occupational therapy 2x a week each. He now goes back willingly with the therapists while Mom or Dad sit in the waiting room. The speech therapist sends out lists of words that he said independently and words that he repeated. Its growing every week. The Occupational therapist still finds that spinning him around helps him to focus (her word is organize), so that after spinning, he will sit and do a quiet activity at a table like color or play with theraputty.
-Really learned to love swimming. We go to Villa Sport, which has an amazing kids pool (2-3ft deep, big climbing structure with lots of water spraying, a slide, etc) that he just runs right into when we get there. Mom gets to sit in the SHADE (the other big reason we love Villa) and watch. He’s got a swim belt thing on to keep him floating, but he kicks and paddles and rolls, and generally has a fabulous time. He doesn’t like to leave. Even better, an hour of swimming means really good sleep that night. The outdoor pool will be open until September, and after that we’ll switch to the indoor pool which won’t be as much fun.
-Graduated to riding our friends horse with a saddle, instead of bareback. He’s to the point where we don’t need to hold onto him while he’s on the horse – he sits up so tall and has amazing core balance. Carol (my friend who owns the horse, who has taught horseback riding for years) says he does better than most adults. He takes great pleasure in the horse – when we arrive at the barn, he RUNS over to Raven’s stall waving. And Raven comes out to say hello. Its extremely cute. Yesterday we stayed with Carol and brushed Raven, and fed him his special dinner. (Raven is 27 and fairly geriatric, so he gets special food at night). Dominic loves to give Raven Carrots. And kisses. He kisses this horse on the lips. Its very funny.
-Started enjoying coloring. I got him a bunch of cheap art supplies at Target during their back to school sale, and he’s really been having a good time with them. He’s actually sitting down at his little table and coloring. Its very cool.
-Been enrolled in the Colorado preschool program through the Community Partnership for Child development. He starts school Tues-Fri from 1-4pm on Aug 26. WE’re supposed to hear from his teacher this week for a home visit, which is a little odd, but that’s okay. This organization does a lot w/both low income families and special needs kids. With his IEP, he qualifies as a special needs kid.
-Gone to the Zoo several times. They’ve got a new grizzly bear exhibit that’s really neat. There’s a glass wall in the viewing room that buts into a pond with fish where the bears play and swim. Dominic will watch the fish and bears for ages.
-Played very well with his friend Maya who came to visit in late July. They interacted together much better than last May. It was good to see.
We have good days and not so good days. On the good days, he really does do more talking and interacting, and on the not so good ones, its hard to get eye contact. There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to what makes a day good or bad, so we just go with the flow.
Since my last Post, Dominic has:
-Gone to speech and occupational therapy 2x a week each. He now goes back willingly with the therapists while Mom or Dad sit in the waiting room. The speech therapist sends out lists of words that he said independently and words that he repeated. Its growing every week. The Occupational therapist still finds that spinning him around helps him to focus (her word is organize), so that after spinning, he will sit and do a quiet activity at a table like color or play with theraputty.
-Really learned to love swimming. We go to Villa Sport, which has an amazing kids pool (2-3ft deep, big climbing structure with lots of water spraying, a slide, etc) that he just runs right into when we get there. Mom gets to sit in the SHADE (the other big reason we love Villa) and watch. He’s got a swim belt thing on to keep him floating, but he kicks and paddles and rolls, and generally has a fabulous time. He doesn’t like to leave. Even better, an hour of swimming means really good sleep that night. The outdoor pool will be open until September, and after that we’ll switch to the indoor pool which won’t be as much fun.
-Graduated to riding our friends horse with a saddle, instead of bareback. He’s to the point where we don’t need to hold onto him while he’s on the horse – he sits up so tall and has amazing core balance. Carol (my friend who owns the horse, who has taught horseback riding for years) says he does better than most adults. He takes great pleasure in the horse – when we arrive at the barn, he RUNS over to Raven’s stall waving. And Raven comes out to say hello. Its extremely cute. Yesterday we stayed with Carol and brushed Raven, and fed him his special dinner. (Raven is 27 and fairly geriatric, so he gets special food at night). Dominic loves to give Raven Carrots. And kisses. He kisses this horse on the lips. Its very funny.
-Started enjoying coloring. I got him a bunch of cheap art supplies at Target during their back to school sale, and he’s really been having a good time with them. He’s actually sitting down at his little table and coloring. Its very cool.
-Been enrolled in the Colorado preschool program through the Community Partnership for Child development. He starts school Tues-Fri from 1-4pm on Aug 26. WE’re supposed to hear from his teacher this week for a home visit, which is a little odd, but that’s okay. This organization does a lot w/both low income families and special needs kids. With his IEP, he qualifies as a special needs kid.
-Gone to the Zoo several times. They’ve got a new grizzly bear exhibit that’s really neat. There’s a glass wall in the viewing room that buts into a pond with fish where the bears play and swim. Dominic will watch the fish and bears for ages.
-Played very well with his friend Maya who came to visit in late July. They interacted together much better than last May. It was good to see.
We have good days and not so good days. On the good days, he really does do more talking and interacting, and on the not so good ones, its hard to get eye contact. There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to what makes a day good or bad, so we just go with the flow.
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