Griffin is Talking Much More

I knew that we would miss Kathleen and sure enough we miss her really bad. I miss her in more ways than just one. Not only was she an excellent teacher but a great friend and advocate for Griffin. Pictured here is Kathleen reading a book "Oh The Places You Will Go" by Dr. Suess (My all time favorite Dr. Suess book) while I am crying and trying to take a photo. I haven't given the new teacher a chance yet but I am trying to do my best to get to know her and her teaching methods. I plan to go in there and observe her and Griffin to see how things are going. I put a note in Griffin's backpack this morning to her asking how he is doing and some concerns of mine but she did not respond. I am hoping to keep the lines of communication open with her and discuss what is going on with Griffin if not on a daily basis at least on a weekly basis. It is imparitive that I keep up with how he is doing, how he is progressing, and how his behavior is. I got upset the other day because I had discovered that the bus driver was talking on her cell phone while driving the bus. This greatly concerned me so I called transportation and talked to the supervisor of the bus drivers who pretty much made excuses for the driver and didn't even care that it was going on. She said that it was her personal cell phone and that the aide couldn't answer it because of that fact. I was becoming really quite frustrated at this point and decided to go over her head on the matter so I called the district office and spoke with a man there. This guy basically laughed in my face when I asked him if he agreed with me that it was a safety issue, he told me that he wasn't going to comment on that at this time. He did, however state that it was their policy for the drivers to NOT use the cell phone while driving the buses. So, now I guess that the morning bus driver is not too thrilled with me since she is the one that I reported even though I doubt that anything has changed except for her attitude towards me (and hopefully not towards Griffin). One day soon I am going to call the bus driver again and see if she is on the cell phone while driving the bus and if she is then I guess that I will have to go over the head of the guy at the district office and see what happens from there. Otherwise, Griffin is doing great and I am too. Griffin's speech has really taken off and he has been talking up a storm and everything that he is saying meaningful and has a purpose. I am so proud of him and he seems to be proud of himself too. He gleams with pride whenever he accomplishes a sentence or two and gets his point across. Griffin's communication has become easier to hear and understand and I attribute that to being around my parents and hearing more people talk all the time as opposed to the time he spent at home alone with me and I didn't talk that much. Things are definitely looking up for us in many ways. Life here is not without its drawbacks that's for sure but I am doing my best to remain positive and hopeful that everything will turn out for the best.