Services

Today we had another eligibility meeting (in regards to PT/OT/Speech), and I'm happy to say that Noah qualifies for everything. Not everyone can say that their child gets OT, PT, Speech, Teacher of Vision, O& M Teacher, Teacher of the Deaf, and a one on one aid. I feel like I should be sending our neighbors thank you cards for paying their taxes or something.
At our meeting we also talked about assistive technology. They've ordered the Mangold Braille series and a Mountbatten Brailler for Noah, and we discussed many of the other options/ideas available. They wanted to give Noah one of those pager things that you get at a restaurant to hold in his lap at circle time or whenever so that they could page him when it was his turn to speak. I vetoed that idea. A little boy holding a lighted vibrating "toy" isn't going to eagerly listen while awaiting his turn, he's going to play with the toy. Silly people!
In Teacher of the Deaf news the school will be videotaping Noah and sending the tape to her so hopefully that'll help. I just don't see how it's possible to adequately serve a child who you've never met at all, let alone seen in a classroom setting. I'm definitely going to be pushing for some new or different services at our next IEP. It's just not working for me. (Although I'd be willing to stand corrected if this video tape thing works...)

School

School is still a challenge. If it's not one thing, it's another. We're still not receiving the services that are on the IEP, and Noah is really struggling because of it. Noah is growing more and more frustrated at the work that they expect him to do: work that involves multistep directions that he doesn't understand, fine motor tasks that he can't yet do, and touching of items that are aversive to him. Noah does need to be pushed to experience things that he's not yet comfortable with, but if he's pushed too far things'll get worse instead of better. I just don't know what to do, and I'm weary of the battle. I know I just had a vacation, but I'm ready for another one.

P.S. I know that picture and this post are completely unrelated, but isn't it cute?