Well it was today! I had the usual butterflies going in. I know what to expect but still...going into this sort of meeting where you are not sure what's going to be said or etc can be a bit nerve wracking. My husband was able to come this time so that makes it that much easier. He's only missed one, and that was unavoidable.
For those unfamiliar, an ARD is an annual meeting REQUIRED by public schools for any child that has an IEP (basically a special learning plan designed for them due to some academic challenge or medical challenge). You go over the goals set last year, pick some for this year and next, and address any and all concerns over the child any side has. It is typically a parent, a diagnostician...any special ed teachers the child sees, the child's regular teacher, and Admin from the school. In our case, the Principal.
For all that they are a nervous time I also acknowledge that it is a pretty big deal to get to sit down once a year (or more if a parent calls for it) with all these people...in the same room, and discuss ONLY your child. That is huge and I honestly wish ALL parents could do this at LEAST once a year. I know it's pretty much impossible but still. Being able to raise a concern and have the Principal and every adult responsible for your child on a given school day...right there in front of you to discuss and talk with, is really something. They cannot hide from you, give you the run around...ignore you...foist you off etc. Not that all schools or school personnel do that...BUT..
So anyways it seems like our boy is doing about as well as he should be now. He is struggling with out of the box concepts in math and reading/writing...as to be expected with a person with Asperger's really. Speaking of that? I had in my head going in, asking for a re evaluation on him for that very thing. Right now his IEP is ONLY addressing issues with his ADHD, as he was found NOT to meet the criterion for a SCHOOL Asperger's dx last time in Kindergarten. I was wanting to re-visit that because I am seeing more of an effect of being Aspie as relates to schoolwork and such...
Turns out the wonderful Diagnostician at the school brought that up even BEFORE I had a chance! She was very frank in saying she see's more NOW than then...when he was younger and see's some of the social and academic deficits he has NOT narrowing in the way they would if he was just a "late bloomer", and so she herself suggested we try again for the dx of Asperger's. BUT, and here is where she differed from me...she wants to delay the re-assessment until next year as opposed to doing it now.
Her reasoning was...sure right now he MIGHT pass because he DOES have some deficits...BUT if we wait a year, when he is in 3rd Grade and doing 3rd/4th grade work...those deficits will be MUCH easier to spot, harder to ignore and she WANTS him to get a "yes" this time from the Board because she thinks he can benefit from it and needs some services that would afford him. I had to think about it for a bit because my first instinct is to get him re-assessed NOW. But in the end the important thing is to GET THE DIAGNOSIS put onto his file because then it STAYS and goes with him as he moves along. If we try again, and get another "no"...well that wouldn't be so good. And bottom line right now he could not be picked out in his current class by much else from his poor writing as "special needs"...and therein is the worry about testing now. He is an average student doing average work, and struggling in some things the way other kids are.
So the decision was ours at that point and given how much his teacher is doing already and plans to maintain and ADD to this year, we agreed to wait. The assessment itself involves time out of the class and he is holding his own right now and we just don't want to mess with it or make him worry etc right now and throw that all off.
BTW his teacher is just in love with him, you could tell thru the whole thing. She talked about his little idiosyncrasies and such with such candor and amusement and tenderness that we could tell that. She is doing A LOT in the course of the day to make his experience in the classroom better, and she is using his resource time well. That made me much more comfortable waiting. One cannot stress enough the importance of a teacher willing to accept a difference and learn to work with it and most importantly not look on it as a dreaded, mandated duty or "ugh", but as something she wants to do to help a student she genuinely would like to see succeed. I am so grateful to her :)
I also am going to share that the work I did with my therapist was in force here too. I felt so different leading up to it. Butterflies and nerves but not that loin-girding...battle axe rattling momma Grizzly like RAWR facade over myself. It's hard to describe but before I did that work I felt almost like I put on a different person over the real me because the real me wasn't strong enough or assertive enough. Today I felt like it was just me...and momma bear was still there but she was behind me (just in case I needed her but it would be MY call to make), and we were working together. I hope that doesn't sound to nuts but if it does...consider the source. LMAO!
Anyways. I am happy with how things went, grateful to not be alone in this, my husband and family and my friends are all so helpful and supportive of us. I thank them each and every one!
Christmas and New Year's passed remarkably well here at our place. I am making some headway in dealing with my "mommy issues" and so far we've had some successful attempts to spend time together without any drama. I am hopeful on that front. I did some work just after Christmas with my therapist that was tremendously helpful. Hoping to continue that later this month.
All the Christmas gear was stowed away within a couple days of the day passing. If I don't do it then it tends to linger on way past NYE lol!
On the kiddo front, Elias's ARD meeting is next week and I am just a BIT jumpy/antsy about it. I am really torn between wanting them to RE-evaluate him for Autism and what it would mean if they did and found he was. Right now his IEP is only addressing his ADHD issues and honestly I think his Aspie stuff is more what's holding him back this year, the retention...openness to new concepts...and fine motor is just not there. I am hoping that the meeting yields a consensus on these items so we can formulate a new plan for him. So that's been giving me a couple of sleepless nights. He is doing WELL, but is still IMO behind where he should be and right now he just doesn't seem like a "3rd Grader" even with several months left. Fingers crossed.
Lily and Eli both tho, went back to school yesterday and both had a good day. Eli claims he doesn't want to go but he is truly, happier within all the structure and routine vs kinda vegetating her at home. The school's short week, tho mystifying seems to be a good "getting back into the swing of things" approach.
We are headed up north this weekend to "do Christmas" so that should hopefully be nice. At least there's always booze! LOL.
Kindle Fire that is. After a mostly impatient wait...I have one. I am in the main pleased with it. Hard to find something else that costs $200 that is as happy making these days. I'll kinda give you my first impressions here.
I have had it for all of two days so...grain of salt yes?
First...out of the box impression? It's big...but also, small. It was big enough that I notice it because I typically have my iPhone attached to my hand. It is, obviously...bigger than my iPhone. It is also small. Smaller than my netbook...and my reading Kindle (an ancient but still awesome gen 1)...and of course, smaller than an iPad. I've never held an iPad...but this little Fire has a bit of heft. A solid feel vs a hefty one. Just enough that I knew I'd want a case almost immediately to give me a way to distribute that heft a bit and balance it. It was nice in feel...sleek and nothing portruding or glaringly ugly. The rubberized stuff on the back imprinted with KINDLE, is pretty snazzy. The glass display looked shiny and sleek too.
I found the wee button and pressed it and she awoke. I admit to being extremely giddy at this point. I plugged in the AC and d/l the software update that was present. The Fire came with no instructions really aside from plug her in and turn her on, and honestly? If you are used to either Apple products or Kindles you don't really need a "book" here...just your brain and your fingers! She woke up completely after the post d/l restart and we were ready to rock n roll.
After connecting her to the house wi-fi (no 3g here folks, so hotspots and house wi-fi are your choices unless you want to buy something else)...I poked around the home screen and found the on board manual, which I mainly ignored in favor of self guided exploration. I am SUCH a maverick! I figured out most of it inside an hour...but the web experience took longer.
The web browser...is different. I will say that. But it is FAST...faster than my netbook by a BIG margin. The cloud seems to indeed, hasten things up online. The keyboard is rather a interesting conundrum. It's big enough where thumbs are not gonna cut it. It's small enough that two hands are probably too much. I have been hunt n pecking a lot, and I've yet to find a truly comfortable way to use it. I have a feeling this will take some run in time on my part.
The movie streaming experience on Netflix at least was smooth. The more devices in your home using it at the same time tho, the crappier the picture. This is not a Kindle issue, but a bandwith issue. Once we had just the Kindle running a movie...it was sharp, clear, and beautiful. I have no quibble with the display...it's lovely. The sound on high...is not very loud...BUT, most of us use headphones of some type when listening to music or watching streaming content online I think? It's hardly a medium for crowds to gather around and share. But for what it is...the sound is nice.
Reading...what's it like to read on a FIRE? Depend on where you are, and what you're reading. I knew going in that a backlit display was NOT my preference for long term reads. Articles, comics, magazines etc? GREAT experience. Most format nicely and the page turning is seamless. Books? I will always prefer e-ink for that. There is a rather hardcore glare on the screen in ANY type of outdoor setting. I would wager this is par for the course using anything with glass up front. I am going to look into anti glare coatings/coverings. If there are none out now...there will be soon almost for sure.
Oh! Battery life seems pretty darned good too...especially considering it uses wi-fi and the amount of streaming content we've had going. 7-8 hours straight takes it down quite a bit...BUT...that's MUCH better than my iPhone gets truth be told!
Gaming? Angry Birds and similar games run smooth and look fabulous. There is every now and again a bit of a brainfart on where your finger is. the touch response is not like iPhone...BUT I believe iPhone has the most sophisticated and above everyone else kind of finger sensitivity. I am used to such quick tapping that often my Fire doesn't even know I was there LOL! I have to get used to leaving my finger there perhaps a 1/4 second longer. I loaded up and played my kids Animal Jam flash based game just fine. The screen size can be an issue...bit to narrow lengthwise in landscape, and in portrait too. But the game played fine, not quite the way it does on the puter with the mouse....but MUCH improved of the painfully slow grinding progress of the netbook.
In short...if you will or will not like the Fire will depend VASTLY on what you are buying it to replace. Your reading Kindle? Your computer? Your super fast lightning quick 3g use anywhere laptop? Nah, probably wouldn't bother. There are better options. It's not going to replace your camera or phone obviously because it IS none of those. But if you, like me...bought a netbook when those were so "in' for gaming, checking email and websites from where ever you are at home or at a hotspot, watching streaming content on a bigger screen than your phone while not occupying the home TV set? then the Fire is probably a great buy at $199. the app store was a lot more fleshed out, than I thought it would be too...and hopefully Amazon will see to it that it continues to grow.
Kids, also...will love this. It is just enough tablet to sate their iPad frenzy...but it is cheap enough that you can give them one and not wince every time they shake it or halfway sorta drop it. Kids apps and books are amazing looking and there are lots of interactive storybooks on offer for FREE in the app store...others that cost a very little. I have had VERY little time with my Fire owing to my kids simply being fascinated with it. especially it's capacity for streaming content...it's like a tiny TV they can carry off to where ever they want to watch.
I am sure I've left stuff out...I always do when I try to organize my brain in ANY form or fashion ;) Feel free to drop a comment if you have a specific question and I'll do my best to give you my honest opinion! Love all! Kindle on!
So it's that time of year, time to make a decision on where Elias will land next year. I know they are going to pass him out of 1st Grade but not 100% sure that will be okay with us.
Hubs and I have had many discussions on Eli and his status next year. We almost are ready to send him along to 2nd grade but the fact that his IEP and extra help plan ONLY got enacted about 2 months ago is holding us back.
He is making some real progress filling those gaps that were glaringly apparent when we all discussed the goals for his IEP...but I think about how much MORE they could have closed if only it'd been a FULL YEAR under the plan and I pause to consider. I think it would benefit him...and if we send him along it seems like tho his IEP would still be there, he'd now have the gaps remaining from THIS year...and adding IN the ones still to come because the cirriculum builds upon itself.
Lily's year has been all about that TAKS test and she looks ready to ace that thing...but I honestlly cannot see Eli being as comfortable or ready if we send him on now.
I called the Counselor today and she said she'd discuss it with She Who, and his Special Ed teachers to get their thoughts...and they'd call me back to discuss it. It's completely up to us but I would like to hear what they have to say since they know him from a "school" point of view likely more than I do.
Just want to get this right, make sure we give him every chance. I know retaining him now in 1st will carry a lot less stigma than him getting held due to that TAKS test in 3rd...where the kids are much older and quite a bit crueler from what Lily tells me. He relates better to younger kids anyways...and he will ONLY be turning 7 come August just before the 2nd Grade year starts...so he'd hardly be older if at all, than the kids entering 1st.
I think at this point, the best thing would be to give him that extra year NOW...as opposed to regretting not doing it. He will NOT be happy because he is already talking about 2nd Grade...not sure how I will handle that part of things, but I guess we will deal when it happens.
IN OTHER NEWS! My dearest husband dropped the news today that the Browns have a game in New Orleans right on our ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND! I mean how big a coinky-dink is that?? We must go...you simply do not ignore things like that LOL. I know they'll get CREAMED but it will still be fun...I am really looking forward to the trip. It was hard to pick between Las Vegas and Nawlins but I am really excited about headed to the Big Easy now.
The kittens are growing too fast! But that's how babies are..*sigh*
Enjoy your Wednesday, all!
Hey all. Not much to report since the last blog BUT I did want to share something about Lily,
She is headed out to the Texas Rangers game tonight with a little girl from school. This is BIG news for her because it's the first time she's done something with a friends "sans parental units". So needless to say she is very excited and nervous too I think.
I admit I am worried...I have such a hard time allowing space for them sometimes. Remnants of some pretty serious trust issues. I can count on one hand...the number of people I trust with my kids. Something to work on...cautiously LOL!
I am spending today presentifying the house so they won't be assaulted by dog hair when they walk in LMAO, 'tis the season. Or by cat stink...yeah we got that too thanks to Flopsy and crew! But all will be well. I've met the gal's pop before at a school function and he seemed very nice...if a bit conservative.
Let's hope Lily keeps the bare chest comments to herself tonight folks! (she's been noticing boys and men without shirts and clucking her tongue or saying PUT ON A SHIRT...SHEESH!). I had a talk with her about not everyone being as silly as we are as a family and trying her best to respect their rules and still enjoy herself at the game.
I need to get outside and blow out this DOG of mine, no sense vacuuming like I did if she is still dropping it like it's hot! Have a GREAT Friday all. Busy weekend so I mighn't see you's til Monday!
yep...somebodies watching me.
You put your dog outside to do their business...stretch their legs...get some mental stimulation beyond watching you move from room to room from a prone position on the tile...
Suddenly as you make your coffee you feel that itch...you know that itch? *no not THAT one you sicko, besides the medication cleared that all up*, and you KNOW someone is watching you.
Creepy. Who can it be?...you look around...almost expecting someone to be behind you...
Nope. No such excitement. It's just the above mentioned DOG sitting someplace in the yard when they can STARE at you thru the windows. In a snit...you slam down the blinds and move out of there to another room...maybe the dining room where you can Facebook in peace...
*chhchcchcch* that itch AGAIN....you whip your head around like an owl on crack...and yes yes THERE...again...from behind a frickin TREE, the dog...AGAIN. Staring at you.
WHY DOES THIS HOUSE HAVE SO MANY WINDOWS!!
It's scary because you didn't even hear the tags jingle that time as the dog moved from peeping place to peeping place, almost like they did it ON PURPOSE to be sneaky. You slam down the blinds again...and then go on a mad blind slamming spree thruout the entire house.
Chest heaving you finally finally are ALONE...
at least that's what you THINK...until you feel it again...and, insanity now not just lurking but pounding on the door to your brain, you see right in the notched out hole in the blinds, where one's end has snapped off thanks to one of the cat's efforts....a brown eye...unblinking, piercing thru you.
*AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*
The End.
Lemme tell you a little story about buying a couch.IT SUCKS.The end.I kid, but not really. So we are buying a new couch. We have some very nice secondhand Bassett deals right now...probably super expensive new, and owned by some snooty rich folks so gently used when we got them a year or so back. But it's time for new ones...and therein lies the dilemma...First, you always have a budget and the budget dictates that custom furniture...is out. Picking your own configuration and size, style and color, fabric etc is a wonderful thing, but only if you can affford it. We can't lol. So we are stuck with the run of the mill stuff at the various chain furniture places.We found a couple that we liked well enough (nothing that I loved) in such places...then we (I) decided to change things around in the room and having done that, we realize that the room can take a sectional and that a sectional is really a good choice. Back to looking within these new parameters...Yep, back to looking again with these new bigger more grand ideas of what would fill the space best and offer the most comfort. We're not tailored people but neither are we squooshy people. Not microfiber people...or leather people. *sigh* you see the issue?Well I did manage to find a semi custom sectional...we can pick the fabric BUT the bad thing? It's only online...no opportunity to sit, or feel, or measure IRL, but the price is LOVELY...and the reviews are positive. I think we need to make a leap of faith on this...but gosh it is hard to commit to something you have not seen.Buying a couch should not be this big a production....after all, you put your ASS on it. But, you don't want to end up with something your ass, don't like.
