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Where is Abba?

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So, as I mentioned on my tweet feed, I’m on a business trip this week.  I don’t travel often for work – perhaps two or three times a year – and it’s as disruptive as you can imagine.

As I write this, I’m looking out my hotel window at La Vista, Nebraska… and the mostly empty terrain around my hotel.  (Apparently there was supposed to be a shopping district put in here, but it fell through.)  I’d be out doing something else, but I’m more than a little tired due to the hour I had to get up so I could get here, so I’ll be going to bed shortly to try to get myself reset for tomorrow. Continue reading →

But They Mean Well

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Hopefully, this is my last IEP-related post for a while.  🙂

As most parents of special needs children with IEPs know, the process can either be very easy or very tiring, with most tending towards the latter rather than the former.  It’s the reading over the reports before showing up at the meetings, figuring out what the reports are missing and where you have documentation to fill those gaps, where you have evidence to contradict the reports from the teachers, where you have doubts… and then showing up for the meeting to slug it out and sure that you’re writing a document that has the child’s best interest involved in it. Continue reading →

Something to Hide

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Tomorrow is yet another IEP meeting, to discuss the fact that we think there are additional adjustments that need to be made to the Monster’s IEP for the 2014-2015 school year.

In the current IEP, the Monster is being transitioned back to his home school – Mount Washington – and put into a mainstreamed first grade class with some push-in and pull-out services specified.  There’s a nice list of the supports he needs for success in class… but one that’s not included in the document is an aide. Continue reading →

No More Teachers…

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Next Monday is the last day of this school year.

I don’t know that either of us has tried to explain yet to the Monster that he’s not going to school for a few weeks, after Monday morning.  It’s a kind of abstract concept anyway, and besides, the week after, he’ll start summer camp, which will also involve his riding a bus each day. Continue reading →

Growing Options

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Yesterday, my family went to the “Rock the Block” party over at the JCC of Greater Baltimore.  It was advertised as a “community block party”, featuring inflatables, art projects for the kids, games, shopping and booths from community partners.

To us, the more important thing was getting out into the sun and enjoying the weather with the kids.  But the interesting surprise to us was the number of booths dedicated to services for children with disabilities. Continue reading →

Breaking It Down

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As you’ve all noticed, no doubt, I’m hardly shy about the fact that the Monster has Autism.

The biggest obstacle I’ve seen is really the fact that Autism is invisible – it’s not like a lot of disabilities where the matter is visible to anyone who can see the affected person.  Because the Monster (usually) looks like a happy, healthy boy, folks just assume he’s normal until he does something that’s “not normal”. Continue reading →

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

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Several times over the last two years, I’ve made comments about how claims made by various parties are untrue.  But let’s be honest – some claims, be they from the anti-vaxers or PETA, seem to be backed up with what looks like credible scientific research.

Many of these papers are not the conclusive scientific proof that their supporters claim.  But how can one tell what is good research and what is not? Continue reading →

Removing All Doubt

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My parents once gave me some wonderful advice: Better to keep silent and let others think you a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Clearly, I speak a lot, so we all know I’m a fool.  But I also don’t position myself as superior to others in my conduct – Heaven knows I’m flawed.  And then you get groups with Holier-than-Thou attitudes who decide to shoot off their mouths about topics they know nothing about.

Yes, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, I’m looking at you. Continue reading →

Getting Around

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In my last post, I mentioned that we had the Monster’s IEP meeting.  This obviously means that I was at his school, in the morning, rather than my usual Thursday afternoon stop to grab my kid.  While I was waiting for the meeting-time, I saw a school bus pull into the school lot, discharging their kids and then going on its merry way.

The problem?  It was 9:25, and the school starts at 9 AM. Continue reading →