It is official, and no surprise

SR received his official diagnosis Friday. The moment is frozen in my mind, even if it was no surprise to my Husband or I. It is done.

First off how much does the family loves SR's psychologist? We adore her, and I have been thanking God for her for weeks. Funny how God puts you on a path that is winding and confusing, and places such people in your path. She is a blessing. She has made none of this as scary or as painful as I thought it would be. She has made it what it is, and we will try and help SR navigate his way.

Our team met at school, as we always do, with a cooperative spirit. A lot of DH pep talking me, telling me to breath and smile, because I am tired. DH is diplomatic, and quite frankly my fire and his diplomacy makes us a great team. I do not cut loose at these meetings, or accuse people of anything. SR is hard, he does require EXTRA help SOME of the time. I know teachers are strapped for time, I understand all of this. DH are on PTO, so we can advocate for OUR teachers, and OUR children.

The meeting was large, lots of staff present, his science and math mentors, OT, ST, councilors, and anyone in the school we allowed to test him. In good news, our Dr. reported his expressive, and receptive vocabulary were in 99.9%. His fine motor within normal high for age, and is gross motor! This was a surprise to me, and I was expecting his fine motor to be lagging, but it is not. His handwriting is the most beautiful in class, when he is in a good place. When he cannot make an inference or settle his thinking down......shwoop he goes into the sensory place and fast. His stress re: his writing disorder is causing him to hit hyperarrousal fast, and at the beginning of the year we were having him identify his stress and leave the room, recollect and return, then the teacher thought the hyperarrousal, sensory stuff was hoooey so she made him stay in the room. This caused an entire group of new behaviors btw.... All agreed this has been WRONG way to handle this.

So now we are working on an IEP, with several professionals specializing in sensory issues. SR has most difficulty understanding where he is in space @ times, stims, craves pressure, and deep hugs, and of course the SOUNDS, SMELLS, and SIGHTS at school, can be a bit much. When he gets breaks through the day, it seems as though it helps. He has some difficulty in social situations at times, but WOW has he come far. He will also be getting assistance with social learning with others. He will not have to go to the gymnasium in the morning with hundreds of other children because it is overwhelmingly noisy. He can choose to eat in the office with friends as opposed to the cafeteria. DH and I had already arranged his mentors for the end of his day because he was so tired that last year the regular classroom drove him nuts in the afternoon. The mentors in science and math come now @ the end of his day for 60 minutes each. I am thrilled he is learning science and math 1:1 at his level in the afternoon. He enjoys working at his level, and is learning a great deal. He is also building wonderful relationships with his mentors. He will also get to use technology when writing is too much.

So there is more planning to come. I hope the homeroom teacher is on board now. It is very difficult for people to understand SR behaviors and problems when intellectually he seems capable. It is also very hard to understand that anything is wrong or different, because he does adapt so well MOST of the time.

We will continue to work.