IEP meeting

So we had my younger sons IEP meeting. Now mind you, we went to look at this private school before hand and they informed us that they don't take kids mid year. If anything, he might be eligible for next year.

I have repeatedly told people how lucky we are with this school district, and I was getting nervous that there was going to be a fight around placement.

They mentioned an out of district school, which i was happy about.

so this is what we are going to do. For the reminder of the year, he will be getting 1:1 tutoring plus after school tutoring three times a week, and in April we will reconvene and see if there is any improvement, if not, they will be willing to look at out of district placement.

The meeting lasted longer then I anticipated and it seemed like everyone was on the same page.

I am not sure if we didn't know about the school not taking kids mid year, if we would be in their fighting for the switch, but this way it looks like we are working with them and they will be working with us. Give and take, but in reality, there was nothing we were really giving away. But hey, they dont need to know this.

Take about bizarre

I left my job of 15 yrs in July 08. It was a huge risk for me, but i wanted to work closer to home to be nearer to the kids in case anything happened. You know those calls you get from the school.

I am now working, get this, working with families in a treatment facitlity to reunite them with their kids who for many reasons were taken away.

Kinda of an odd job for someone who has seen first hand what abuse and neglect can do to children, but here I am, working with the families on getting the kids back and keeping them.

even though I am an adoptive parent, i still am a true believer that kids should be with their birth families if at all possible. But I also feel there needs to be a time when when the parents rights are terminated so the child does not have to stay in limbo/ foster care, for a long time.

Ok, so here is the bizarre part.

A new family came in and they were assigned to me. It turns out, that the father, is my childrens birth Uncle. I wasnt sure when we first met, but after putting all the pieces together, it is clear he is.

Whats even weirder, his SO has the same last name as mine.

After realizing this, I quickly took my kids pictures off my desk and told my supervisor that I cannot have this family for my clients.

To be honest, I really wanted to keep them so I can find out some stuff, but I knew it would be unethical if I did, so I gave them up.

He really is a nice guy and I keep wondering what would happen if i told him.

He has no contact with his sister anymore (my kids birth mother), stated he hadnt seen her in years.

oh, their little one, is the cutest kid also. Whats even odd about this, is when the little boy, he is 2 yr old, gets upset in the day care room, he comes looking for me. I can re-direct this kid real easy.

Im sure he must be picking up some vibe that I think hes special.....(as hard as I try to treat everyone the same).

This really has caused some rift with me, as I sit in clinical meetings and they discuss this family, I have this need to protect them. I have to sit on my hands and hum a little tune in my head so I dont yell "you have no idea what your talking about, you dont know what his childhood was like....blah blah blah...."

The good part is, they dont suspect a thing. We just hired a new social worker and this was the newest family that came in and thats why they went to her. They were disappointed, but understood.

I really like them though. He was 14 or 15 yrs old at the time of the removal of my kids. I even have a picture of him in my kids lifebooks.

So, that my bizarre story. Not sure where this will go, but it really is interesting to be so close to a blood relative of my children.

So here i am, hands under my legs, biting my tounge, pretending he is just like every other client, when we all know, he really isnt just like every other client, hes my kids Birth Uncle.

bullet has died

yes folks, my sons anole has finally died. I know it might sound cruel, but I am really happy about it.

why just yesterday, I was at the pet store buying crickets for this thing and asking the clerk if there was a way I can kill it.

Now before you go thinking I am mean hearted, let me explain.

This anole my younger son had, was given to him by a friend from Florida. It was a wild anole. We took good care of it, then all of a sudden it got sick. He was a wild reptile that should not of been in captivity in the first place. but he had him for quite a while.

Eventually the poor thing stopped eating and for the last 2 months, yes 2 months, this thing has been wasting away to nothing. His ribs started to show and you can see him breathing real heavy.

At one point we thought he had died and when we went to bury it, the thing moved its head. It was kinda freaky. He just didnt want to die, and we didnt know what to do.

Everynight we would watch this poor thing, drink the drips of water off the side of its glass cage. My son had a hard time watching it, as I did too.

So you see, my hopes for this thing to die, was that it appeated to be suffering. I have no idea why it hung on as long as it did. It was very painful for my younger son and I watch.

oh, In case you dont know what an anole looks like, here is a picture of a healthier time. Funny, but that lizard kinda grew on me.

Quiet time

Everyone is still sleeping so i have some quiet time. I love this time of the day, I get my coffee and just sit. Ill start cleaning in a little bit, but for now, i can just catch up on the news and think about what my day will bring.

I have been sick for the last few days with a head cold and it wiped me out yesterday. At least I am feeling better today, so i hope that its on its way out.

Were in for another snow storm on Tuesday, and I gotta tell you, I'm done with the snow. I look out my dining room window and wonder if i will ever see the ground again. Its piled so high. But hey, Its New England, what do I expect.

As i mentioned before about my younger son has a learning disability, I just received a phone call from my older sons school. The psych at his school told me that he is not sure if this school is the right placement for him.

He just entered middle school this year. To be honest, my older son is, well, how shall I say this...slow.

He has been in a behavioral classroom pretty much his whole life and this year they took him out because his behaviors have gotten so much better. But now he is starting to act out. I got a note sent home that he turned over a desk and chair. He does not do this stuff at home.

He is VERY sensitive and kids make fun of him, he will go off. His biggest fear is that he mentally retarded. His IQ is very low when we got him tested 3 yrs ago, but there was so much going on for him at that time, we kinds took it with a grain a salt.

I am going to get him tested again and see where he is at.

Well, there you have it, my two kids are pretty much being asked to leave public school.

Sometimes when i think we have overcome so much, there seems to be something always lurking, waiting for our defences to be down and then crash. Life isn't suppose to be easy.

The weird thing is, I go through this jealousy stage, its not a long stage, its only when i start to stress about taking time off from work to go to meetings, start going on new school tours, doctors appts. etc. I start to get angry at 'normal parents' with 'normal kids'. I don't want to hear about them or see them or even talk to them. Yea, I'm bitter, I said it.

The stage really only lasts a short time but when its hear, it really is bothersome. I have this knack to project, and its always seems to be doom and gloom, kinda like looking at the glass half empty.

But then as I take the steps, one step at a time, the sun does come out and the glass becomes half full again.

IEP

well, Monday is my younger sons IEP meeting, after having him tested, it is clear he has an LD.

We did go to the open house that offers orton gillingham. The school sounds really good.

I guess what pisses me off the most is that his social worker and teacher told us that he probably needs this school but they always end it with "you didn't hear it from us" because it will cost the town alot of money to send my kid there.

He is 11 yrs old and doesn't know the alphabet yet and cant read, when does the school finally say "uh, we just cant teach him?"

the doctor that did the testing felt that we need to hire an attorney. The school probably wont pay for it.

Sometimes i think to myself "why cant these kids get a break"

now my older son, well, that's a whole other story. They called and the psych at school feel he is in the wrong school. That it is not an 'appropriate setting' due to his IQ being low.

I have been saying this for a while, but they just wouldn't agree with me. So now the kid is 13, and he is feeling so different then all the other kids.

I don't know, just a vent, just frustrated, not sure what we are going to do.

school issues again

My younger son, who is 10, has been having a read hard time with learning, his self estemm is shot. He has "severe case of dyslexia" per the school. We noticed the signs, but didnt realize it had gotten so bad.

he apparently is doing about 5-10 minutes of work a day at school, due to his defiance. He is at a place now where he wont even try. He wont do any 1:1, wont even count to 10 stating "I cant do it"...his mantra at the moment. I know he can count to 10.

He cant read or write.

We are at a loss, they suggested that maybe a different school would be in order and i checked into one of the schools they mentioned, and it seems like a great school, its a few towns over (which bothers me) but apparently its really hard to get in.

when my son was moved in kindergartin to another school, it was so traumatic for him but it was the best thing for him. This year, how our school is set up, kids with learning disabilities in 4th grade, get moved to the other school. He didnt want to leave his old school, but all his classmates and friends, were moving also so it was an easier transition.

they are stating that it is so diffulcult to see him suffer like he is because he just wont do the work.

He stated to me that he will kill himself/ runaway, or whatever if he has to leave the school he is in now.

he just doesnt want to move. (mind you, i never even mentioned that he might be leaving the school, he figureres when we have a meeting with the school, that is what we talk about (past history, but he is right)

Homework is also a struggle at home, it can take him quite a long time to do it, with alot of tears and screams.

i have asked for them instead of 45 minutes of reading, try 15 and use a timer to at least let him get back in the swing, and we also decided that his homework assignments might be real easy stuff that he can do with his eyes closed.

We started him back on clonidine again, to hellp with the anxiety, so we will see.

anybody out there with a kid with dylexia, he is on the wilson program, which is the program of choice with his disability, he just refuses to do the work.

medication issues

As most know, my son was put on risperdol and it worked wonders. He was on it for quite a few years with no major side effects, but then had this 'neck twitching' thing. It ended up being really bad that anytime he got nervous his neck would go through this twitching thing.

we took him off it, it was long slow process and put him on geodone. (sp?) this didnt seem to do anything, it just made him kinda hyper. His thoughts were all scrambling, and he appeared worse. Plus, his eyes would roll and twitch.

The doctor saw the eyes rolling, so we took him off that and put him on abilify.

well, he has been on abilify, which works a little like the risperdol, which is a good thing, but after a while, his eyes started to roll again, which seems to be worse then before.

I got nervous today and called the doctor. She basically said she is all out of ideas on meds. He seems to be having reactions to this anti-psycotic meds.

I am at a loss on what to do. she said she will look further into other meds but the only ones she knows of, are like haldol, thorazine, and she doesnt like putting kids on these older medications.

so, here I am pleading for HELP. Does anyone know any other meds out there that we might want to try before these others.

i wish i could say we should take him off of everything, but when he was coming for the risperdol. the paranoia set in then the hearing voices started again.

please help. Im desperate.