X-Men Update

We had two meetings today. The first and quickest was Blake's. We met with his special ed. teacher, the aide, regular kindergarten teacher and the principal to decide if he will need extended year services. They generally only do that if the child will lose the skills they've acquired if they have the summer off. We reviewed his present levels and his recent progress. Some of the things he's doing are:

*Blake now knows 37 words and can read them when presented on flashcards.

*He names objects and actions and uses them in conversation.

*Blake is able to tell about things in a story he's heard previously.

*He has mastered the skill of playing a game and is able to wait his turn appropriately.

*Is learning coins, though he still confuses nickel and quarter sometimes.

*Has learned to use the computer appropriately, can open a program by double-clicking. Can type sentences. Still having trouble with clicking and dragging.

We determined that he does not need extended year services. Yeah Blake!

Drew will be transitioning from the Nicholas School (special ed. private school) to Fort Loramie School next year. We had a meeting today to set up a 90-day IEP. The principal of the private school and his math teacher came along to help give the new team support in the transition. They gave a three page overview for Drew's areas of strength and weakness, strategies they use successfully with him, and made some recommendations.

The meeting went well. We had the IEP mostly done before we got to the meeting. The Nicholas School math teacher (also my cousin!) wrote goals for us in draft form and sent it home to us on Monday. Monday night, Eric and I went over it and made some modifications. Several emails were sent between us and the director of special education to work out the details. So there wasn't too much to do when we got there. Some final tweaks and discussion about transportation and we pretty much wrapped it up.

I am concerned that the transition will be difficult for Drew (and therefore his saint of an aide) I do think his new teacher seems great. She showed us her classroom and we talked about the International Fragile X Conference in Detroit this summer. She said she'd be interested in going and would talk with the district about it. How cool is that?!

We'll be bringing Drew to the school over the summer several times to help him get acquainted with it. He has anxiety about going up and down flights of stairs and his classroom is on the second floor. I am going to try to work with him to practice going up and down those steps. There is an elevator which he could use, but I'd like to try to get him to use the stairs if possible.

Some of the cool things Drew can do:
*Drew tells time to the hour and half hour

*Drew can count dimes, nickels, and pennies

*He can read level one books with prompts

*Drew can tell how objects are used

*Use words to describe a physical state

*He can name objects when that object is described.

Overall we are happy with the progress he is making. He does have more challenges than Blake in that his anxiety prevents him from being as productive as we'd like, but we are hoping that a good sensory diet and acquainting him with his new school ahead of time will help this area, too.

And that is the latest on my X-Men.