Soccer practice...

Begins tomorrow. At long last. It took forever to get enough of a team together and then the coach had to bail out. But it seems to have been resolved and we will be practicing here in Manassas Park, at Signal Hill, tomorrow night. We went for team photos and everything. Of course, to keep Jimmy in the photo, I had to be in it as well. The girls doing the photos were over the moon about our inidividual photo, but I didn't the the digital. Guess I have to wait for the hard copy.

He was right...

From Time magazine...

"According to Kim Hyang Sik, in one of these calls, just last New Year, her nice Kim Hyang Im — Seung-Hui's mother — confessed to her aunt and other relatives that her son had been diagnosed in the U.S. with autism."

I feel ill.

An interesting observation

My husband commented on the man who committed the horrible atrocity at Virginia Tech. He was chilled by the comments that the shooter was an individual who could not make eye contact with other, a person who wasn't capable of speaking in conversation. Asperberger's? It sounds familiar. Not that many spectrum people grow up to be mass murderers, but it does sound, according some press accounts, that he wasn't fully understood by his own family.

IEP Meeting

I am sure some of you were wondering if I survived it. The answer is yes. We got everything we wanted... consult and direct services are now written into the IEP as well as parent training. The speech language goals are much more appropriate to his disability. The occupational therapy stuff - well, the therapist is fantastic, so we are always well covered there. I finally got a chance to apologize to Jimmy's teacher about all of the drama. I didn't like the Rifton chair, but I hated the way the administration handled the situation after that initial conference. I think some good is coming of the situation, but someone got hurt in the process. I am never going to feel great about that. I think the thing that was most interesting about my IEP meeting is that the principal did not come. I did have the head of special programs, but he always attends.

I also have my pet SEAC cause for next year. I need to convince the city to hire a second speech therapist. The regulations state that they only have to employ one speech therapist for every 68 students served. We have one serving 70. Moreoever, no other district in the area is making the same demands of their therapists. The one I know outside of Manassas Park serves 50 and that keep too busy. When you have children with issues like severe articulation problems, being completely non-verbal, etc..., 20 minutes a week is ridiculous. And no one picks up the slack. Health insurers aren't required to do it (that whole habilitative versus rehabilitative thing again), they pawn it off on the schools which don't have the resources to do it correctly. It's insane. I had these great goals in Jimmy's IEP and I realized that the person who wrote them won't be there at the next meeting. As a matter of fact, I have not had the same speech therapist at Jimmy's annual meeting ever. From one year to the next, it changes.

We have parent training tomorrow night to work on the poop issues. He was playing in it again this evening. I also have to figure out what to do about getting my homework done for Wednesday. My timing is such that I can't take a personal day. Blah.

A big Jimmy week

A quick post... I have SEAC tonight, in preparation for next week's school board meeting. And Thursday is the IEP meeting, the first since the Rifton chair incident. I will give a lengthy post of the proceedings Thursday evening.

My family doesn't schedule visits...

They just show up. I pull into my parking spot just before Jim pulls in his, shortly after 6pm. Jim runs in the house to go to the bathroom before we split the kids to do errands. I had just gotten back from the doctor after being diagnosed with strep and needed to go to the pharmacy. As I am sitting in the car, a man walks up to my window. It's my brother-in-law Jamie. He is up from Texas for business in Richmond for the week. No one told me a thing. Not a word. Didn't think anything about my sister's multiple phone calls to work today. Nope. We went to dinner and he played with the boys for a while before heading back. He is returning tomorrow night too. He could be hitting the bars while he is away from my sister, but no, he wants to see his nephews. He is nothing if not family oriented. I think its sweet. Of course, the timing is horrible as I have a presentation for class Wednesday night, meetings tomorrow, and a raging case of strep. But I am happy. Jimmy and Jacob are both having the best time with him.

We're Back

And our washer is working. An Easter miracle?

Going Home

Hopefully today. I hate going away. With kids, its not really a vacation, more a change of venue. This venue doesn't have enough toys, doesn't have all the safety mechanisms that we have set up - the gates, the doorknob handles. I keep finding Jimmy out on the balcony, stacking chairs and getting on top of them. I am terrified he is going to go over the side. I don't sleep as well, because I am trying to listen for him. Oh, and we only have dial up - our wireless card is dead and we aren't investing anymore in this laptop. If I get a summer school contract, I am lobbying for a iBook.

I'll post pictures when I get home. Hope you all had a great week.

Greetings from Massanutten

We are currently on vacation. It's going okay. Getting out of the house was a joy - our washer died before we got the last of the laundry done. First order of business is to purchase a new one, as the laundromat isn't an option for even a week. The trip itself has been uneventful. Well, except for the urinal cake incident - I invited the husband to guest post, but he doesn't want to talk about it. He was fascinated and reached in while a guy was doing his business. There's a story he'll be telling for a while.

Massanutten actually has a Kids Rec program and they actually take autistic kids. We actually had a meal without them. It's pricey (more than $10 an hour each), but it was nice to have a break. My in-laws were up yesterday, so we also got out to see "Blades of Glory," which was dumb, but hysterical. There isn't a whole lot up here for small kids. The new indoor waterpark's small fry area is so small, it isn't even worth admission. They have a great playground, which we have hit everyday. I'd be more relaxed if I wasn't lamenting the washer. Oh well.

Hit you again when I get back.