Yup, this spring is gonna be one of changes...a LOT of changes.
Michael's going to be in Kindergarten in the fall (he'll be 5 in May...OMG, where has the time gone????), so I've been getting up to speed with his transition into K. Here in Charlotte, your kid has a so-called "home school", but basically, it's a lottery as to where he/she ends up. Now, if you want your kid to go to a magnet, you have apply for it, and he/she may or may not get in. In that case, you'd better have a "back-up school." And you have the option to change the school your kid will go to, as long as your file paperwork before the deadline and...
Okay, confused yet? Yeah, so was I.
Michael, if he was a "normal" kid, would've gone to David Cox Elem. which is just up the road from us and I've heard is an EXCELLENT school...with an excellent PTA and parent involvement. Since he's special needs, and he needs to be in an autism class (not in a "mainstream inclusion class", since he isn't ready for it yet. I know he's not ready for a class w/25-35 other students with NO aide, there are THREE Elementary schools in my part of town who have self-inclusion Autism classes (AU). Two are relatively close to us, the other is actually close to Robert's work.
The transition meeting w/his teacher, IEP group, etc. isn't until May, but I'm planning on visiting the 3 schools to see for myself how they are.
In addition to all this, Christina will be 3 in January, and will be in CMS this winter, and CMS is ALREADY talking about transition meetings for HER as well. I thought it was kinda early...she's barely 2 1/2 years old, but there's been a lot of changes in the "Special Needs department" in CMS and Mecklenburg County, so...it's gonna be REALLY early to make sure everything's in place.
On the one hand, I'm like, "YIKES!!! I've got to deal with this NOW???" On the other hand, I don't mind getting it over with. Esp. since we're having some disagreements concerning Christina's various therapies and therapists.
She's been bawling throughout her sessions. For the past 6 months. Robert witnessed one of her "meltdowns" and talked with her case worker...needless to say, he was upset, and I have to deal with the aftermath. *roll eyes*
Connected with this...I've been active on the Aspberger boards...because I'm pretty sure hubby and father-in-law have it. It's similar to High-Functioning Autism, with some social issues, empathy issues, and other issues. It's really difficult dealing with 2 autistic kids, plus a husband on the Autism Spectrum (some might call it, "a third kid on the spectrum), but it HAS explained some of the issues we've had in almost 12 years of marriage, and it DOES give more evidence to my suspicions that Michael's and Christina's issues are partially due to genetic issues.
I now have another blog on Blogger, called Neurotypically Yours, Annie that deals with this other chapter of my life. It goes into how I deal with it (and how this affects my family) and hopefully will give hope and support to other NT (neurotypical) spouses dealing with ASH (Aspberger's husbands) or ASW (Aspbergers wives).
I've also been compiling my various writings into another blog archive: Wolfsinger's Stories, which will have all my scribblings in the same place. This will include poetry, my short stories and science-fiction stories on ff.net and elsewhere.
So yeah, a world of transitions in literally one month.
Annie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
