On Wednesday morning Dan and the boys and I attended a pre-IEP meeting with Elijah's care team. Honestly, I did not know what to expect. I went into it not knowing if I would leave smiling or crying.
The meeting was awesome. Seriously awesome. There were 7ish people in the room besides us Portas. Two teachers, a case manager, a psychologist, a speech therapist, a PT, a nurse, a special ed teacher and....maybe 1 or 2 more (it was overwhelming). They all spoke about their personal experiences so far with our oldest boy. Every single one of them had nothing but positive words.
In a nutshell, Elijah is well above where he needs to be academically. He is respectful in class, he communicates well with his teachers and he interacts positively with his peers. He still prefers to interact with adults over children, but when redirected he does great. One of his teachers made the comment that Elijah is particularly witty. She said that he interjects witty statements that are always time-appropriate. They were pretty impressed by that.
His speech therapist thinks he is doing great. There are a few sounds (ch, sh and th) that she continues to work with him on. She comes into the class two times per week to work with him. I love that she comes into the class (as opposed to removing him) so that his day is not disrupted.
The PT wants to do some evaluating to see where he is at in relation to his peers. She could potentially be working with him to strengthen his core and get him caught up with gross motor. He still sees outside OT/PT weekly, but we will take all the help we can get.
The nurse asked questions about his medical history and limitations he might have. We signed a handful of release forms so she could see his information for herself.
The psychologist asked about his potty issues, but since he does not have issues while at school she was minimally concerned.
At the end of the meeting, I looked at one of his teachers in the eyes and said, "You have encountered NO behavioral issues with Elijah?!" She said, "Nope!" This is great! He is saving it for us, which I am completely fine with.
While I was gone this week, Dan experienced relatively good behavior from Elijah. I think it was VERY timely that I left for a few days. I was at the end of my mommy rope. When I came home last night, I was more than happy to spend endless time with my precious boys. A little bit of time away, after a long summer together, was a good thing.
I will end with a few more funnies!
Sammy has grown very attached to Elijah's stuffed bear, Baloo. Baloo has been with Elijah through every single one of his hospitalizations and surgeries. He is a very special bear. Within the past two months, Sammy has taken a special liking to Baloo. He sleeps with him every night, and always needs to know where he is in the house. Tonight Sammy was playing with the new Goodwill ($2!) barn Dan bought for the boys, and I looked over to see that Sam had placed Baloo underneath the silo.
Elijah and I laughed for five straight minutes. Poor Baloo! Eventually Sammy removed the silo and gave Baloo "woves." (loves)
Here are some Elijah gems that I posted on Facebook this week..
Life is pretty weird and crazy these days, and so I appreciate these pre-bedtime words even more than usual:
"Mom, you are the Saturn in my outer space."
"You are the milk in my milk truck."
"You are the bee in my bee hive."
And then...
"I love you very, very much, pretty mom!"
"My favorite friend in school is Autumn. I used to think it was 'Bottom,' but it's not. It's Autumn."
"Mom, are there cages in heaven?"
"Mom, you are the 19 in my month of September."
"You are the ostrich in my jungle."
"You are the peach in my tree."
"You are the garbage in my garbage truck."
"You are the stairs in my castle."
"You are the fresh, sweet tomato sauce in my jar."
Hoping for a wonderful weekend for you all! Thanks for checking in...xo
1 comment:
Way to go Elijah!!! Great job at school!
I am happy that things are better and that you are liking your new job.
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