The ARD

Micah's "Big Daddy ARD" was last Thursday. It went well. Chris had the day off. We took Micah to school and then stayed for Coffee and Conversations. The Superintendent was there for questions and Chris and I pretended to know what they were talking about.

It was entertaining. There is going to be a vote on a bond for a lot of improvements to the school district. The biggest one being Micah's school being re-build elsewhere. The school is older and it can be re-purposed into offices for the district. There were all sorts of people there. There was tax Mom. All the questions she had revolved around taxes. There were people who were concerned about all sorts of things. There was laptop Mom. I think she was checking her email. Apparently she is on some committee and she would give other parents the funniest looks. Parents have been testing the schools for safety and one parent talked about how her and a neighbor went to one of the Jr High schools to check out each others kids. They wanted to see if they would check ID's and such. So the mom was complaining that they didn't check. One dad said that part of safety is teaching your kids not to go with strangers. He said, "It's not like they shove your kid in a van just because that person checked your kid out.' Chris and I thought that was the best part of the entire meeting. Coffee was #2.

After the coffee thing, we ran back home to pick up Bob (my brother) and went straight back in to go to the ARD. I was nervous and kinda hyped up on strong coffee.

ARD meetings are tedious. There are things that have to be legally said and reviewed. There was a lot of paperwork involved, but it wasn't too bad. We laughed and talked about how amazing Micah is. He has some work to do. Sometimes he does things that disrupts the classroom. He has a habit of getting up when he is supposed to be sitting down and paying attention. He needs work on communication and being social. He doesn't look the other children in the eyes.

He has already improved on goals they put on his IEP. (Individual Education Plan) I got to see some of the stuff Megan has made for him. The new protocol sheet has Velcro and they can move the pictures around to make sure he doesn't get stuck in a pattern. Micah's teachers use patterns of behavior to help encourage him to learn new things and they do things to make sure he doesn't get stuck into a pattern. I am so glad I am not the only one teaching him anymore. There is a speech therapist, a teacher, a special education teacher, and an occupational therapist who comes in to give ideas. His class has 2 teaching assistants and another teacher who is in the class. There are the Kinder teachers, assistants, lunch room peeps, the adults he waves to as we walk up to the school, volunteers, subs, and SO many other people pouring into his life. I work to teach Micah everything I can, but there is no way he would be as far along as he is without others helping me.

They asked me if I want to let Micah take the bus to school. It is very tempting. Micah has always wanted to ride a bus. He thinks they are cool and I know he would enjoy it. Also, that would mean one less thing for me to do. I may do this for him next year. I'll miss dropping him off and picking him up. I love seeing all the kids and people, but I think it will be good for him. I think mornings would go much smoother if he got to get on the bus every morning. (Sometimes he isn't very motivated to go to school...or wear a jacket. Even if it is 30 degrees outside.)

Overall, the ARD was great. I like the team of people who work with Micah. They all adore him, so naturally I think they are brilliant. None of them take the process too seriously and are able to smile and joke. The district is dedicated to thinking outside the educational box. This is very important with all children, but crucial when teaching a kid like Micah. It was one of the things the Superintendent talked about at the coffee thing.

Today we skipped gymnastics. Micah tripped over his own feet and hit his head. He has a big smushy bruise on his head. I didn't want to chance him falling in gymnastics and hitting the same spot. Just seemed best to play it safe. Plus, the kiddo is tired. Mondays we get up a little earlier and leave early for speech therapy. He goes first thing Monday mornings. He hasn't even asked to go to gymnastics, so it wasn't too disappointing for Micah.

Have a good week. I think I'll be writing my next post on how I got Micah to start talking.

-jozlin