Monday, September 24, 2012
Decision
Well, we had our meeting today regarding Braeden. It's so very hard to be at meetings where there are definitely things as a parent I'd LOVE to say, things that maybe even NEED to be said, but at the same time could jeopardize my job because they'd criticize co-workers, bosses, friends. So I bite my tongue and choose my battles and speak when absolutely necessary with carefully phrased words. BUT, mind you, I would NOT hold back if I thought it were truly placing Braeden, or any of my kids, in a negative placement or light. And today was no exception. I spoke up about how I thought "we" (read: they) had let this get out of control by not meeting soon enough, by not having a plan in place once we began to see behaviors, by not doing what needed to be done. But bit my tongue on just how wrong I thought this was. We (they) set him up for failure and now they don't want to pay the "cost" and ride out the behaviors to get them under control, but would rather he be "gone". The consensus was that a regular education placement just was not / is not the best placement for Braeden at this time. But instead from fighting it because I see how he was set up to fail, I agreed because when it comes down to it, I don't think the regular ed. setting IS the best placement for him. Maybe not in the future, but at least for now. So my list of questions has begun in order to prepare for visiting these placements. I'm glad I have a couple of days to wrap my head around this and prepare questions. Anyone out there have things they think I should ask, or wish you had asked in a similar situation???
Aside from this, I am working on contacting Easter Seals to get a complete work up done for/on Braeden. It will include not only an intense work up with regards to Autism possibilities, but also input with a specialized OT, pediatrician, etc. I myself wonder not so much about Autism as I do Sensory Processing Disorder. The work up covers approximately 6/7 hours of testing, info gathering, etc over a span of a number of days and sounds like a highly in depth look into "who" Braeden is and how he best functions, including write ups for school, etc. I have spoken with another parent who had this done and was very impressed, but know too it could be a wait to be started.
That all said, it looks like the Special Ed Director, School Psychologist, and I will be going to three separate placement options and touring/asking questions on Wednesday. Obviously Braeden knows nothing about this yet. Of the three placements, just going into the visits, I am 90% sure I am not interested in one of them. Regarding the other two I'm at a standstill and will be very interested in seeing them up close and personal. They both hold strong Pros and Cons for me right now, so we'll see how they play out.
I know that the smaller class size, less chaos, accessibility to sensory items, work reduction, etc will be so beneficial to Braeden. I do worry that his day will be done before mine and what I will do with him during that time between our two programs. I just continue to pray that although I may not see the end right now, God knows all about it and has it mapped out perfectly. It's one step at a time.
Aside from this, I am working on contacting Easter Seals to get a complete work up done for/on Braeden. It will include not only an intense work up with regards to Autism possibilities, but also input with a specialized OT, pediatrician, etc. I myself wonder not so much about Autism as I do Sensory Processing Disorder. The work up covers approximately 6/7 hours of testing, info gathering, etc over a span of a number of days and sounds like a highly in depth look into "who" Braeden is and how he best functions, including write ups for school, etc. I have spoken with another parent who had this done and was very impressed, but know too it could be a wait to be started.
That all said, it looks like the Special Ed Director, School Psychologist, and I will be going to three separate placement options and touring/asking questions on Wednesday. Obviously Braeden knows nothing about this yet. Of the three placements, just going into the visits, I am 90% sure I am not interested in one of them. Regarding the other two I'm at a standstill and will be very interested in seeing them up close and personal. They both hold strong Pros and Cons for me right now, so we'll see how they play out.
I know that the smaller class size, less chaos, accessibility to sensory items, work reduction, etc will be so beneficial to Braeden. I do worry that his day will be done before mine and what I will do with him during that time between our two programs. I just continue to pray that although I may not see the end right now, God knows all about it and has it mapped out perfectly. It's one step at a time.
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1 comments:
Stumbled upon your blog from a yahoo group. I am having a uphill battle as well when it comes to documenting my son's hypo-reactive Sensory Processing Dysfunction. I have had to get our distrrict office involved, as well as outside OT documentation and recommendation of a sensory diet. There have been other, unethical issues that i have basically uncovered and had to file formal statements regarding FERPA. Please contact me privatley via email and I can discuss it more.