New chapter

So much for catching up during Thanksgiving break.  I feel like I've been even busier than usual this week, even though I don't have a set schedule I need to follow.  I think I need to catch up on this month in reverse order, so that I can at least write about the recent events while they are still fresh in my mind.

Last week, I had Jack's parent-teacher conferences and a meeting to discuss his IEP through the school district.  For those of you who may not know what an IEP is, it stands for "Individualized Education Program."  It legally documents the school district's obligation to provide special education services for the children who qualify for them.  Jack has had his IEP since he turned three and the services that he received from the Regional Center transferred to the school district.  Part of the legalities of an IEP is that children are to be reassessed every three years, and this was the year for his triennial review.

Based on conversations and correspondence that I've had with Jack's IEP case manager (also his speech therapist) and teachers, I had an idea which way the wind was blowing.  I hired an advocate to come with me to his meeting, just so that I had someone to be my sounding board and reality check, because I didn't want to feel steamrolled, no matter what happened.

As I suspected, the team (which consisted of Jack's Mandarin and English teachers, the speech pathologist, the occupational therapist, the school psychologist, and the special education resource specialist) recommended that Jack's IEP be closed. 

Everyone was incredibly kind and understanding, which had not been my experience with Jack's last case manager.  Jack currently attends a half hour small group speech therapy session every week, during which they also work on social skills.  The speech therapist agreed to continue these sessions for the remainder of the school year.  However, they told me that they would not be able to justify keeping the IEP open to the school district.

This really is the best outcome I could have hoped for.  Even though I am so pleased and proud at the progress that Jack has made, it's hard to trust that three magical months of kindergarten will stick after six years of worry.  But it was so gratifying to hear all the wonderful things that his teachers and the other educational professionals said about him.  Jack tested in the second grade level across the board in his academics.  His English teacher called him a "perfect angel."  His Mandarin teacher told me, "I don't always want to tell the rest of the class, 'Just do what Jack is doing,' but if I had 20 kids like him, I could just sit back and drink my coffee all day."

The one thing everyone told me that they would like to see Jack do is smile and laugh more.  They all said that he is so serious.  I didn't want to tell them not to wish for silly behavior, because that is definitely a slippery slope with my boy.  It's so interesting how different our children are when they are not with us.

It is a bittersweet moment that this chapter of Jack's life is closed (although I was told that I could always ask for reassessment if I ever felt that we needed to reopen the IEP).  I am so happy that he is doing so well right now, and it's a little difficult to let go of the supports that helped get us here.  It's strange that this journey that we've been on with Jack for the past four years is all of a sudden over, at least from a legal standpoint.  I just pray that he continues to be the happy, healthy, wonderful little guy that he is turning out to be.