Springtime and IEP

This is a photo of my Aunt Gail, who had a major stroke but who is doing well, and Griffin. We love to go visit her and always look forward to visiting her especially when we get to take her outside and give her favorite... Pepsi.

 I am off the Geodon and have my human-self back, no more robot. I am playful and have emotions again. I am animated and alive! We laugh and it feels good and Griffin follows rules more now than he used to. We do much better in public. Hope that you are reading this Carrie, Liz, and James. I know that you have been reading this blog all along. We follow our own plan now and it is not up-to-the-minute like yours, we do fine with a more relaxed schedule. There is not the pressure to get things done so quickly and that way we can have more fun. I had a lot of anxiety when the family preservation team was here because I felt like I had to live up to what they set up for me and now I know that I don't! I can be the parent that I know is right and good for Griffin, the one that he loves and respects, now that I have a different attitude and I am not so stressed out.

We had the IEP and some changes were made but I didn't have the advocate there that I wanted and I guess that things went as I wanted. He is going to be pulled out of his mainstream classroom for 45 mins. for reading in a small group since his teacher gave him an F which means to me that he was not doing his job of helping Griffin understand the material or communicating to me that Griffin needed the help. All he told me was that Griffin needed to do his homework not that he was having trouble in class. He is going to have less math homework and easier because his teacher was giving him trigonometry and calculus that he was giving his peers and expecting him to complete it in a short period of time at home and all it did was cause sheer frustration and meltdowns.....every night! Most of it I couldn't figure out nor could the Intensive Home Team, they were having to practically do every single step for him.

We are going to have an OT evaluation for him because I had asked his private OT Sarah to fax over a letter to them about Griffin and some additional information and it was an alert to them that something needed to be done about his handwriting and his sensory needs in the classroom. This will be done before he goes to his new school in the fall.

In the transition meeting in May we will address the issue of bullying again if Griffin still has a problem with it. We will address the issue of communication with the teachers and staff in the new school and what is expected of Griffin because he will be in 5th grade and his peers may not be so kind and forgiving and so accepting as his elementary peers have been.