Sincere thanks to all that have prayed for Jo & our struggles in previous post. He IS doing much, much better now. The day that his teacher returned to the classroom, he did a 180 & jumped back into routine. When I saw her back at school I ran to her, hugged her & told her how very grateful we were for her return. She seemed to appreciate that & told me that Jo was doing goofy things to “punish her for going away” all day.
This week has been a little of a challenge for different reasons. Jo is scheduled for his annual ARD (Admission, Review & Dismissal Process). Basically a team of teachers, therapists, administration & the parents meet (without the child present) to go over assessments, competencies, progress measured, goals/objectives, services needed & duration of services. History has proven that typically Jo’s ARD meetings have about 8-12 folks around a conference table for 2 ½ hours or more. It’s quite a process, but is very, very necessary to ensure that Jo is being given the very best opportunities to thrive in a regular classroom environment.
Along the way both the hubster & I have had to learn about laws, types of therapies available, gain a lay person’s PhD of educational lingo & processes, & advocate, advocate, ADVOCATE. It’s stressful & consuming. However, Jo is God’s gift & we will both go to the ends of this world doing the best for him. Everything we do for him now only better equips him for a successful, full life later.
It’s been quite an education for all of us & I can become emotional about it. I will start preparing for the process of these ARD meetings by digging into all the school’s paperwork & data results on Jo (present & past). Pray a whole lot for God’s wisdom & guidance. Then I will read a little on services & assess where Jo is in his progress. Somewhere in that rig-a-ma-roll I will usually have an emotional fall out & ended up in a heap of tears. All the while mentally/verbally spewing hot words of frustration, helplessness, feeling stupid & incapable of making sure everything is for his best. After that is said & done, God always returns my strength & perseverance to fight the good fight for Jo’s sake.
The main thing that is so difficult about the meeting scheduled for this week is that all of the goals & objectives we agree to NOW, are for NEXT school year. How in the world can we see that far into things? It makes me upset! 3rd grade will be very different from 2nd grade, both academically & performance wise. Throw into the mix a new teacher & students. Whew, stressful decisions to be made during this ARD.
Great news, however….TX got hit with 6 inches of snow yesterday!! Several of the staff that were to be involved in the meeting didn’t make it to work. So, we have to reschedule for later date! Hallelujah!!! Now, there is much more time to prepare. It’s as if a boulder has temporarily been lifted! I can play, instead of stress, for now.
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