Processing

So…

The IEP meeting.

It’s never bad. Not really. I read about other mothers who have to prepare and do research and having print-outs of services and why they’re child needs them.

We’ve never had to do that and this is Olivia’s second school system.

I supposed we’ve been lucky that the IEP meetings have been so easy.

Because they are. There are never really any surprises. I know Olivia’s strengths and weaknesses. And even though her strengths totally outweigh her weaknesses both at home and at school, her weaknesses are definitely more visible at school.

That’s not a surprise either. I mean, every child is different at home from who they are at school. Alyssa recently became a member of the Bomber Courtesy Club at school because of her exemplary behavior and manners while at school. At home…well, let’s just say her manners need a little work. But that’s because she’s comfortable at home and is more than willing to push me and Tom to our very limit of patience.

Olivia is the same way. She’s more comfortable at home so she talks to us more and she exhibits more sociable behaviors.

At school, she tends to withdraw and just sit back and take it all in. She listens to everything, brings it home and processes it there, regaling me with stories and songs from her day.

I love this yet…I wish she’d show them all that she is in those three hours while she’s there.

The school psychologist needed to classify Olivia today in order to set her up for services. Obviously, with the 5p- diagnosis, we have a medical classification but Olivia’s not sick, not really. She doesn’t need special services due to her medical condition.

No, she needs special services that provide speech therapy (to continue to build upon the foundation of verbalizing her needs/wants and sharing in back and forth conversations with her peers and teachers the way she does at home.)

She also needs physical therapy to continue to build up her muscle tone and help her be more comfortable with her own abilities so she can participate in gym classes as well as play with her peers on the playground.

She needs occupational therapy because she’s a weak writer. She’s just beginning to use the tripod grasp with pencils and crayons. She won’t trace letters and can’t write her name. She also can’t draw a person with distinct body parts. Though she can write and A and put a face in it and declare that it’s Alyssa as an A. I know, cute, huh?

In order for Olivia to receive all of the above therapies, she needs to be classified. The psychologist gave us (me, the therapists, O’s preschool teacher and the school principal) two options. We can classify Olivia as on the autism spectrum or as learning disabled.

He (the psychologist) was leaning heavily toward the autism classification. He assured me that if he were to observe Olivia without knowing about her genetic diagnosis, he’d put her on the spectrum. He gave me his reasons for that: She tends to withdraw while in the classroom, preferring to do solitary activities rather than participate in group activities. She does not transition well from one activity to another. She needs almost constant adult supervision to ensure she’s following directions and continuing to participate in the classroom agenda. She’s easily distracted from tasks. Her social skills are the weakest part of her entire development. She no longer pulls her hair out but she does need space when processing the things going on around her.

In the end, after much discussion about inclusion and how her therapists would try and provide her services in the classroom with typical peers present as much as possible, we agreed to go with the classification of autism. I was assured over and over that this will be revisited at each meeting and this does not put Olivia into a box from which she can never emerge.

The autism classification will allow Olivia to receive more one on one help if it is deemed necessary down the road. Her ST was insistent that Olivia needs as much exposure to her typical peers as possible and that we need to try very hard not to put her in a classroom with atypical peers and just leave her there. I agree with that. I’m so grateful for insightful therapists who have taken the time to get to know my child.

Olivia’s teacher was quick to point out that Olivia is not a distraction to her peers. She doesn’t act out in a way that pulls their attention away from the teacher. Olivia’s social issues are more to her own detriment than those of her classmates. Which is why the speech therapist wants to continue to keep her in the classroom with typical kids as much as possible. She’s seen that Olivia learns from example and watching her peers interact is how she’s going to build her own social cues.

I feel like I should be bothered by the autism classification. Maybe I will be after I process everything that was discussed today. But for now, I’m just grateful that we have such a dedicated team working with us and Olivia. We all want her to succeed in school and eventually, in life. What more could a concerned momma want?