Observation Day.

Today was the infamous observation day for Preschool Services.

DS was in such a good mood this morning. I took him to McDonald's to get his all time favorite breakfast ---- pancakes! Eh, not the most nutritious of foods, but the smile it put on his face was worth it. I knew he was in for a lot of work in the coming hours.

We arrived in plenty of time to talk about what we were going to do. He was ready and willing to get to work. If my son could have a motto it would be: 'Work is play and Play is work'.

A very cautious Sally (Preschool Coordinator) greeted us and made sure that DS would be ok with some seated tasks, rather than the normal free play observation. I told her that he would certainly prefer that sort of thing and he would transition perfectly fine into that situation.

He proceeded to get into his chair. Observation #1. Got into chair OVER the back and then slid down and squeezed his legs under the table. Did they catch that? I do believe that is about the hardest possible way to get into a chair!

Then come the books. Flip books. Page Numbers. Lots of Pictures. Questions. Lot of Questions. Ace! Ace! Ace! Ace! This is what I expected. He aced the entire first book. I am not exactly sure what tests they were giving him, but it only took them about 10 pages of questions before the jaws started to drop. Whatever age this thing ended at, he pretty much got them all. I think they finally stopped when he got to early division. I admit, I did enjoy this part. Though, I knew it would come at a price. This is where they (professionals) get all googly eyed and lose sight that even though this really bright little kid has some quite amazing skills - he still needs help.

While all the questions were going on, Special Ed Teacher - Jeff, was chatting with me. He asked me how I felt Hyperlexia fit into DS's equation. He asked me to paint him a picture of grocery trips. He asked what DS does with magazines and books. He asked how social situations look with other kids. He looked as if he could not WAIT to jump out of his chair and start to get PLAYING with my kid. I really liked Jeff.

As I was chatting with Jeff, the Speech lady (sorry, you didn't leave enough of an impression for me to remember your name) passed me a 'Pragmatic Language Inventory' and I breathed a sigh of relief. Someone read my notes!!! About 5 seconds into her part of the evaluation she turned to me and asked if I had any concerns about articulation. It was littered with 'I hope she says no' & my answer was no. He used to speak as if he was an English Professor from Cambridge University. His improvement has been more like going from 'Yes' to 'Yeah'. I am pleased with that!

Then came the OT. "My you look familiar, where do I know you from?" Oh no! Are you the same lady who did his initial OT evaluation? Low and behold yes, you are. Good News! She didn't have much time & is going to rely on the recent OT evaluation (PRAISE GOD!!) and come observe during one of our home OT sessions. *second sigh of relief*

She did want to at least see him write and use scissors before she left today and she got to observe the disconnect. She asks "So, he can write with a pristine grasp, but he can't cut with scissors at all?" And there is demonstrated his Motor Planning and Fine motor issues. He really has a hard time even figuring out how to get ANY fingers in the scissors, let alone the right ones. We're working on it.....

Then came playtime with Jeff. At the same time the Psychologist (Sorry, you looked so much like the Speech lady I forgot your name too) did a parent inventory with me. DS started strong with Jeff, following his lead. But quickly he backed off and started using his coping skills. Observation #2. He won't do ANYTHING that comes remotely hard. His agitation was extremely mild compared to that of home --- at home he would have already been up running down the hall and crashing into the mirror.

Psychologist asked me a ton of questions about safety, language, eye contact, communication, etc... She *seemed* to be the most skeptical of the group. She made a noise under her breath when I answered that there was no ADOS or CARS administered (at22 months old) to diagnose his Autism. She littered her speech with 'If's' that made me leave less than confident that she would see the necessity in DS's need for services.

I absolutely LOVE how at the end of the evaluation they ask 'Is there anything that concerns you' as if this is your opportunity to interject a few small statements and leave the rest up to assumption. NO! I was prepared for that. HERE YOU GO! It's the 2 page summary we prepared for you last night so as to not miss this opportunity. Here's a copy for everyone.

Jeff seemed to enjoy this little 'challenge' that entered his evaluation room. He was excited to see the positive skills that they can hone in on and help him improve all the way around. I could tell that he was in agreement with me. He saw it. I hope he'll be the voice the others (if they are as skeptical as they seemed to be) need to hear when they are discussing the NECESSITY of giving this little boy services.

Our evaluation lasted for 2.5 hours. Well over the amount of time I THOUGHT it would take, but they did get to see a lot of stuff during that time. I just pray that the overload on 'cognitive' and preferred skills doesn't skew his results.

I was sent home with two more parent assesments. It took us a little over 2 hours to complete them both, but they are done. I also made phone calls to lock in 3 advocates from his current team at the IEP meeting. I was feeling a little skeptical, so I made sure my 'maybe's' turned into 'Yes's' because I feel like this team was a little hard for me and I will need all the help I can get.

I have to feel so proud of my little boy. He was an absolute angel. I think it could have been important for them to see some of the behaviors that we encounter at home ALL the time, but 2 of them will be coming out to do a home observation. At home, there are very few opportunities that he is not showing at least SOME of the behaviors that tell me he needs more help. I think they'll get to see it. But, I hope it's Jeff that comes and not the Psychologist. They were undecided when I left.

I joked with hubby the other day that I want to take a picture when we get to the IEP meeting. 3 people off his team volunteered to come to the IEP with us. That will make 9 people in on this IEP. They know he falls in a little area that is misunderstood! He is so loved. He has made such an impact on so many people and he doesn't even know it yet.

Before we were done today, I had several comments that showed me how special my little boy is. I got one "Maybe he'll be president one day", and a couple "I don't know what it is he's going to do, but he's going to do something big". I think I'll hold off on all the PRESSURE, but he's already doing big things in my mind.

He's so cool!!

OH and 2 HUGE, HUGE YAY's!!!!!

Speech will continue all summer!!!

OT will continue all summer!!!

Jen and Dawn will both continue services at least until we can re-evaluate and make sure he's getting what he needs from preschool services. We will have to travel to the OT center, but that is the least of my worries! YAY!