IEP Day

First off, Drake's botox injections got delayed because he got a chest cold days before the procedure and we had to reschedule. He is now slated to get them on 8/17. Hope he stays healthy!

We had Drake's IEP meeting today. He qualified for an an IEP for Orthopedic Impairment. It went as well as can be expected, I guess. I mean, we got what we were pushing for, which is placement in an integrated preschool classroom. The class is a CDC, Children's Development Center, and will have 20 3-4 year olds, 14 of whom are typically developing, mostly low income kids, and 6 of whom have special needs. There is a general education teacher in the class as well as a special needs teacher for the 6 special needs kids. We don't know what types of needs the other kids have, except that this type of classroom is the highest functioning group cognitively. There is also supposed to be have a great special needs teacher in that class and a great speech therapist (he qualified for once a week group speech therapy at school).

I am happy they thought he could do well here.I am a little worried about the idea of 20 3-4 year olds running around if he is the only one crawling and also that the large size of the class could be tough on his easily distracted mind.

Hubby and I have yet to see the school or classroom since it's summer, so we didn't sign the IEP. We want to meet the teacher, get a feel for the place first. So we are going to check it out in early Sept once school starts. If we think that class will be too much for him we can look at an all special needs classroom that only has 8 kids max. He would get more 1:1 attention in that class, but there will be kids with more severe cognitive issues. It is still an option in my mind.

The last option is trying to find a private preschool that will take him or keeping him home with a nanny. We feel a nanny is the worst option as he is so ready for school socially. He talks about school constantly and wants his lunch in a lunch box since his sister has been going to preschool camp this month. We also feel a private preschool isn't ideal as he would be the only kiddo with special needs most likely and we don't want him to feel like he is the only one in the class who has a hard time doing things, needs more help, etc.

Ah, it's been a long day. Lots to process, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised... so far!

Big month

This is a big month for Drake. He has his first IEP evaluation tomorrow: speech and psych testing. On Thursday, he has the PT and OT evaluation. At the end of the month, they are supposed to make his classroom recommendation.

Next Tuesday is Drake's first Botox injections. It will be under general anesthesia. I am a little worried about that. And the fact that the appointment isn't until 10 am and he can't eat for 12 hours before. He will be cranky and starving without his normal 8 am breakfast.

Okay, back to cramming for the IQ eval tomorrow. We are doing overtime on colors, numbers, alphabet, shapes, etc... :)