Looking Better....

Hi
I'm back. I know its been a while. There has been a lot going on here in addition to Bearz situation. Since I wrote, I spoke with a lot of people regarding what we can do for Bear. I'll do my best to shorten it for now. I contacted three places that I thought could help him with his social/ communication problems. I heard back from none. So, I called two of them back again. One called back and said they couldn't help. Sadly it was one that had financial assistance and was run by my Alma Mater. Their program was more for children with articulation type speech problems. Then, I heard from the one that I was most interested in based on the testimonials I heard. They invited us to come for an assessment. We went about two weeks ago Tuesday and he seemed to take to the place and people really well. The leader, Ms. B showed me all around and described how the group works. It is run by a Speech Pathologist and an OT together. The kids are put into a social situation playing together to encourage natural conversation skills. Then, they have what is the equivalent of a Calendar Time and they talk about current things going on. Following that, they have a craft activity and they basically force the kids to have to ask for supplies by having only one of something each child needs. They do realize that they willl have to tell him that and where it is so he will know who to ask. He will begin that program Nov 3. I am very excited!! I have heard great things about this program. I also spoke with one of the head Speech Therapists for our school system , who is also on the Autism Cadre. She is going to observe him, as will the Speech Therapist for our building . Then, they are going to try to pull him into a group of speech kids during the week sometimes. Our Guidance Counselor has a group of kids that she works with on social skills. We tried that, but it didn't work out to be a good fit for him or the counselor.
I think I knocked on as many doors as I could though to try and help him. We also got to meet with the lady who observed him from the Autism Cadre. She made some suggestions for helping him, like to have a Playground Buddy who might encourage him to do more than he currently likes to do. She also suggested one of the other SPed teachers at our school who is really good with social skills training maybe could come and work with him in a small group during Literacy Stations because that is a social time for the kids. He had a screening from the School System Dr. I was there as well. The Dr agreed that although he doesn't think Bear has true Autism, he would classify what he has as an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although, I don't love that label, it will open up more doors for services. We (the IEP team)now have to decide whether we want him to continue in his current classroom, but have a paraprofessional with him most of the day who has been trained and approved by the VI and the autism teacher. Our other choice would be for him to be in a self contained environment either full or half day, with other children who have ASD- however, some are nonverbal and they are of different ages. I am planning to push for the Paraprofessional. I don't think I want him self contained. I think he needs to be in the regular Inclusion classroom, just with the additional services. Luckily, his classroom teacher agrees with me that self contained would not be his best option, so I won't feel like she wants him out of her room.
Overall, things seems to be going fairly well. He has been having green days. : ) so, we have been listening to all kinds of things on the computer. Yesterday, we went to the pumpkin patch and he picked out a pumpkin. Today, he helped me to pull out the guts and told me what shape to make the eyes, nose and mouth for a Jack-o-lantern. That was kinda fun.
We are working on a play date with a friend in his class. I wrote a note to the mom of a little boy who seems to enjoy Bear in class. I told her a little about him and asked if she would be interested in doing a play date. She called me back and said yes. She sounded really nice. Now, we just need to work out the details. That excites me. I really want him to have a friend and enjoy doing things with him and have friends stay over one day. Will he be able to do that? Is he going to have relationships like other kids do or will he just not care? These are questions I have. However, God is the only one who has the answers and I guess in due time, they will be revealed to me as well. Hope everyone is doing well.
If you have a blind child or special needs child in kindergarten this year, I would really like to hear how your experiences are comparing to ours.

Blessings,

BEARZ Mom