This year's IEP

Just got back from this year's IEP meeting. It went well overall. The usual "Mikey get's everything about the English language down pat except creativity and comprehension" "Mikey does great at math, word problems becoming an issue" etc etc.

There were a few new things. His teacher talked about another little boy who came in for resource and was also exceptionally intelligent but emotionally disabled and would often have meltdowns resulting in having to move the kids or change plans. Mikey would write about how he felt ("So and So messed up the classroom AGAIN!" or "So and So yelled and hurt my ears")... but over time.. actually ended up befriending the child. He still didn't like how he acted but he approached the child, he initiated activities and played with the child. It helped the kid also knew about computers but either way.. it's a huge step for Mikey.

His teacher said of all the kids she has taught over the years (15 if I recall) that Mikey had the most potential. That was a proud Mama moment, let me tell you. As for next year, he is gonna stay in a mild ESE classroom, but this is the 3-5 grade bracket. I wasn't even aware they HAD such a bracket for milder kids and I assumed he'd be headed into general education, which we had talked about.

But as she was never able to outsource him for math or reading this year (teachers were either unable or unwilling to take on another student) she wasn't ready to make that move for him yet. It's a goal for next year and she has actually written INTO his IEP to be outsourced for math and they will have to take him, but she already knows a teacher she is aiming to get him with, who has worked alot with ASD kids in the past and actually enjoys having them.

The good news is he'll almost be in the same classroom. The set up that it is now it's a huge room with a long wall and the other classroom is right on the other side. He already knows the teacher well and he will be close to Ms Korfage to help with the transition. ALSO, one of this best friends from last year who moved up to 3rd grade is in the class and he will be able to spend more time with him.

Next year is the FCAT.. *sighs* I am gonna be working alot with Mikey over the summer, they are sending stuff home to help get him ready, so that he can take this test. It's not a matter of whether he is smart enough to pass (duh) it's whether he can TAKE the test the way it's presented. They showed me all the accommodations they will be making to ensure he does his best and I am satisfied they are doing the best they can. I am still worried.

Anyways, it was a good visit and now I am egtting ready to send the kids to my Dad and stepmom's for the night WOOT!!!

Very Disturbed.. this and that

So I got a call from Stephanie around 11 pm tonight. The reason for the call?

My senior year boyfriend and prom date was arrested on child porn charges.

Can you say wow? I was like... OMFG.. I am glad I didn't sleep with him...

And in other news. Easter went well. We left Mikey and Jason home cause Mikey was having a bad day.. in retrospect I felt bad cause MY DAD WAS HERE!!!! Even still tough, it might not have been pretty. I was thrilled to see him though and Heather did very well. She's so damn cute.. noone has a clue what a monster she is..

Mikey had an appt with a special needs pediatric dentist.. they nearly fell over themselves after his initial consult about how smart he must be, they couldn't believe it. They had him 20 minutes I don't even know what he must have said.

Long story short.. its gonna cost a bundle.. if I am lukcy medical will handle the $1000 to sedate him for 90 minutes.. add that to $1000 dentist fees.. to do the three cavities and seal his back four permanent teeth so they dont get cavities.

If they dont I will be attempting the oral sedative first. Mikey did amazing with them.. so much better than the douchebag I first took him to. They obviously know what they are doing and he might be ok. I guess we'll see.

And potty training.. Heather will pee on the potty but not the other. I have tried numerous times and she is very scared about it. I imagine its typical, not knowing what this is coming out of you ... I have gotten her on the potty a few times for it but she freezes up.

I am considering naked day. I finally got her to relent to training pants but she doesn't use them as intended. She might as well be naked, I don't think she'll poop on the floor (I hope).

Today was fairly productive. I cleaned from top to bottom. Heather helped. In the future she's getting a tiny bottle of water cause all she wants to do it spray and wipe. But I cleaned kitchen, bathrooms, living room and got a bit of laundry done.

Then the kids helped me make cookies. They turned out more like.. sugar cookie muffins but not very sweet and Mikey loves them. I also made a big batch of pancakes to freeze, Mikey eats those like crazy.

I will try to blog more, when I get texts about whether my computer is broke or not I guess I am not blogging enough >< (Thanks Steph).

*bang* That's my head on the desk.

I was rolling through my RSS reader today trying to catch up on the 225 feeds sitting there. It seems like a lot? Well besides friends and family blogs I subscribe to frugal living blogs, recipe blogs, recipe websites, Harry Potter news, World of Warcraft news and some autism related sites.

When I came across this I very visibly twitched. Then I sighed. Then.. *bang*

Can I enter to win and then rip it into a thousand pieces? No? Kthxnvm.

Bah..

It's World Autism Awareness Day!

And as I sit here letting Mikey tell me exactly what I need to do with my computer I can't help but smile.. and alternately worry about his future.

In any case, regardless of all the struggles we go through I feel blessed to have him.. I have learned so much from him and I am betting I have more to learn.



That's my boy.