Being that it is the last day of Autism Awareness Month and as part of Blogging for Autism Awareness, I’ve decided to close it with an amazing update that I’ve received about my son, Christopher, during the IEP meeting I had with his teachers last week. I want people to know that I’m not trying to brag about my son, I am just so happy about the progress he has made, and I feel the need to share it and hopefully Christopher’s story will give hope to those parents out there, that are dealing with a similar situation.

First, these meetings always make me nervous. This time, I had a feeling it would turn out good, because of the wonderful progress reports that were being sent home. There was no doubt in my mind. But at the beginning of the year, things started out quite rough.

Christopher was having trouble adjusting to the schedule and his teacher, and I have to admit, I was very discouraged. You see…when Christopher was first enrolled and evaluated, it was recommended that he be placed in a 4 to 5 year old preschool class, that would allow him to be in a more restrictive environment. Whatever that means, but upon hearing this, my husband and I were not very happy about this placement. I wanted him to be placed into a regular Kindergarten class. Given, my son had issues, but we knew how smart he was, and we strongly felt that this was not the correct placement for him.

So, after discussing this with the SPED department, they agreed to put him in an inclusion Kindergarten class (a mainstream class, consisting of typical children and children with special needs). First day of school wasn’t too bad, but after going one day, Christopher started refusing to go, crying and pleading for me not to leave him. Now remember, this is my first child, on top of that, he has special needs, so I didn’t know what to do, but to just bring him home with me. I immediately called the school and arranged for a meeting to discuss our options. I was feeling like I had made a mistake having him placed in the Kindergarten class. The meeting was held, and although the topic of moving him back to the pre-school class was discussed, it was ultimately decided that he just be switched to the other inclusion class. The teacher in this class had a different teaching technique and her class was not as structured and a little more laid back. And I’ll admit the minute I met this woman, I took one look at her and immediately knew that she would be the perfect teacher for my son.

The transition wasn’t perfect in the beginning. He would still get upset when I would leave him, and it took some time, but he finally adjusted to the routine. He has become very attached to his teacher and SPED assistant teacher and they to him. On many occasions, his teacher told me that she loves Christopher as if he was one of her own. The exact words out of her mouth, “No really, I feel like I’ve given birth to the child.” I couldn’t help but laugh, and then I cried, because she told me that she feels so fortunate to have met Christopher, and that teaching him has been such a rewarding experience for her. This was her first experience in dealing with an autistic child and she even mentioned that knowing and teaching him, has inspired her to go back to school and get her Masters in Special Education. Now, you can imagine, as a parent…how wonderful it is to hear that about your child. I was in tears and so proud.

Getting back to the meeting, here is a summary of the present levels of his performance. I have to tell you, my mind was blown when I read this.

“Based on informal teacher evaluation, Christopher loves to draw. His artistic skills are very advanced for his age. Christopher also enjoys the computer and is adept at using the computer as a reference tool.”

Yes, my son knows how to look up stuff on Google, and his teachers say that this is amazing for a child his age.

“Christopher has pronounced acquisition and retention skills. Based on observation, Christopher is an auditory learner and absorbs ideas and facts without seeming to listen or to be aware of activities happening within his surroundings.”

In the begninning, the teachers made a decision to allow Christopher, given his disability, to move around the classroom at times. This has proven to be a successful accommodation for him, and they have no problem allowing it. They did say, that he does it less frequently and will now sit down to work on his worksheets. Especially the math sheets, he did one all by himself, without any assistance the other day!! Also, at floor time, where the kids have to sit on the rug during the Reader’s First Program, he would sit in his SPED assistant’s lap, but the other day, he got up and she tried to stop him and he said, “I want to go sit on the rug.” And she said, “Well you do that then.” And she said he sat there the whole entire time.

“Based on informal teacher evaluation, Christopher’s academic skills are on or above grade level. He reads both sight words and phonetically-spelled words with equal ease. His vocabulary is advanced and enhances his ability to read a number of words above grade level. He can recognize, identify, and write numbers to 100. He adds and subtracts one digit numbers.”

And can you believe after seeing this, it finally dawned on me….My son can read!! I honestly did not know this. Of course, the minute he got home from school that day, I found one of the little books they have sent home with his school work, and asked him to read it to me. And guess what? He did. I was astonished!

Then, the meeting was wrapped up. They said that they recommend him moving on to the First Grade. I was so worried about this, because I know that some of the parents that had SPED students, didn’t get the same outcome. I can imagine how hearing that your child has to repeat Kindergarten can be such a blow, and my heart goes out to them. They did say that they are going to request certain accommodations for Christopher such as: small group setting; preferential seating; allowing breaks during work periods, between tasks and during testing; provide cues and prepare for transitions in daily activities. These are only accomodations that are there if they need them. They will try to work with him, to see if he can accomplish task normally, like all of the other students first. And I was very relieved to hear this.

Transitions were really hard for him, but they say that he understands a need for change when it is explained to him before it is expected to happen. And I was also told that a little girl in his class, whom he has become very fond of and she of him, has really helped him with these transitions.

And that’s it!! I want to personally thank Genevieve for getting Blogging for Autism together and all of the people that participated. I apologize for not posting much throughout the month, due to the fact that I’m constantly chasing four kids, it’s hard to find the time. I just hope that our story will give hope to parents out there that are dealing with Autism, and help them know that eventually, you will start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t give up!!

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